Deuteronomy 14:7
Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you.
The verse belongs to the instructions given through Moses identifying animals unfit for food. It forbids the camel and the hare and the coney because they chew the cud but do not divide the hoof, standing alongside prohibitions of swine and certain other animals. The ban on eating such unclean animals was not an arbitrary exercise of authority but was given to protect health and to preserve the life of the people. Those prohibited animals were regarded as likely to pollute the blood and shorten life, and the law aimed to keep the blood pure by simple, healthful food so that the faculties of mind and body could be retained, specifying the animals least objectionable for food.
Later Jewish leaders wrongly carried these prohibitions to unreasonable lengths. They extended them into excessive rules about external cleanliness. Eating and drinking was thus made a burden of ceremonies and restrictions that kept the mind under continual strain in distinguishing clean from unclean.