And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.
The coney is declared unclean because, though it chews the cud, it does not divide the hoof. It stands within God's distinction given through Moses between clean and unclean animals, which identified certain animals and their flesh as unfit for food and forbade Israel to eat them. That prohibition included all unclean meats and every unclean thing, so that the Hebrews were not to eat them.
The restriction was not an arbitrary exercise of authority but a wise health principle and sanitary law for the preservation of life and health. The forbidden flesh was not the best food and was hurtful, likely to fill the blood with impurities and to shorten life, while the appointed simple, healthful food would keep the blood pure. It was given in the strict training in the wilderness before entering Canaan to reform a people who came from slavery with unclean and unhealthful habits.
Eating what the law calls unclean defiles a person, and for that reason Daniel's chosen food excluded meats pronounced unclean, in order to preserve clear mental powers and sound physical health for God's service. Obedience to the prohibition would have removed what was injurious to health and left no sickness among the people, but disobedience and lusting for the forbidden food brought disease. The Pharisees perverted the divine limits by not leaving them as given but extending them into burdensome rules and traditions beyond what God required, keeping people preoccupied with external observances. They required straining all water used lest the smallest insect in it might be classed with the unclean animals, turning a healthful prohibition into trivial exactions while neglecting great sins.
The coney is declared unclean because, though it chews the cud, it does not divide the hoof. It stands within God's distinction given through Moses between clean and unclean animals, which identified certain animals and their flesh as unfit for food and forbade Israel to eat them. That prohibition included all unclean meats and every unclean thing, so that the Hebrews were not to eat them.
The restriction was not an arbitrary exercise of authority but a wise health principle and sanitary law for the preservation of life and health. The forbidden flesh was not the best food and was hurtful, likely to fill the blood with impurities and to shorten life, while the appointed simple, healthful food would keep the blood pure. It was given in the strict training in the wilderness before entering Canaan to reform a people who came from slavery with unclean and unhealthful habits.
Eating what the law calls unclean defiles a person, and for that reason Daniel's chosen food excluded meats pronounced unclean, in order to preserve clear mental powers and sound physical health for God's service. Obedience to the prohibition would have removed what was injurious to health and left no sickness among the people, but disobedience and lusting for the forbidden food brought disease. The Pharisees perverted the divine limits by not leaving them as given but extending them into burdensome rules and traditions beyond what God required, keeping people preoccupied with external observances. They required straining all water used lest the smallest insect in it might be classed with the unclean animals, turning a healthful prohibition into trivial exactions while neglecting great sins.