And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean.
This law belongs to the law of Moses given to Israel, which distinguished between clean and unclean animals and foods and forbade eating what is unclean. Its particular provision is that sowing seed intended to be sown remains clean even if any part of a carcass falls upon it. The restrictions were reasonable and wise, given to protect the health and life of the people rather than as arbitrary rules, and they show the attention to health and sanitation in that law. Eating the forbidden foods harms the body by filling the blood and system with impurities and shortening life, since those animals are not the best food; obedience would have removed what injures health and left no sickness among the people, while refusal to submit led to being given what was lusted for.
Swine's flesh in particular was never designed to be eaten under any circumstances because it is hurtful, and in that warm climate it often produced leprosy, with an influence far more injurious there than in a colder climate; swine instead preserve health by running free to devour decaying substances that would otherwise poison the atmosphere. The unclean meats forbidden by this law were included in the meat and wine appointed at the Babylonian king's table, which would not keep mind and physical structure in the best condition for service, and Daniel and his companions refused them in order to honor God, perfect character, keep the intellect clear and undimmed, and stand as representatives of true religion amid false religions. To those who refused, God's will was the supreme law of life, so they practiced temperance in eating and drinking, made decided efforts to resist temptation, and trusted God rather than enfeebling brain and muscle or imperiling physical and moral powers for appetite. The reasonable restrictions were later perverted by unwarranted extremes, such as requiring all water to be strained for fear it contained the smallest insect that could be classed with the unclean animals.
This law belongs to the law of Moses given to Israel, which distinguished between clean and unclean animals and foods and forbade eating what is unclean. Its particular provision is that sowing seed intended to be sown remains clean even if any part of a carcass falls upon it. The restrictions were reasonable and wise, given to protect the health and life of the people rather than as arbitrary rules, and they show the attention to health and sanitation in that law. Eating the forbidden foods harms the body by filling the blood and system with impurities and shortening life, since those animals are not the best food; obedience would have removed what injures health and left no sickness among the people, while refusal to submit led to being given what was lusted for.
Swine's flesh in particular was never designed to be eaten under any circumstances because it is hurtful, and in that warm climate it often produced leprosy, with an influence far more injurious there than in a colder climate; swine instead preserve health by running free to devour decaying substances that would otherwise poison the atmosphere. The unclean meats forbidden by this law were included in the meat and wine appointed at the Babylonian king's table, which would not keep mind and physical structure in the best condition for service, and Daniel and his companions refused them in order to honor God, perfect character, keep the intellect clear and undimmed, and stand as representatives of true religion amid false religions. To those who refused, God's will was the supreme law of life, so they practiced temperance in eating and drinking, made decided efforts to resist temptation, and trusted God rather than enfeebling brain and muscle or imperiling physical and moral powers for appetite. The reasonable restrictions were later perverted by unwarranted extremes, such as requiring all water to be strained for fear it contained the smallest insect that could be classed with the unclean animals.