Back to THE TORAH CONNECTION Table of Contents
not scavengers, carnivores, or omnivores
Only unclean birds are specified. Some birds that we know are clean (though not mentioned here) are: quail (God gave them for food; Exo 16:12, 13; Num 11:31, 32), pigeon/turtledove (used for sacrifices). These are seed-eating birds. Chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese are questionable; they are not vegetarian.
Lev 11:13-21 And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey, And the vulture, and the kite after his kind; Every raven after his kind; And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckoo, and the hawk after his kind, And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier-eagle, And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.
Deu 14:11-20 Of all clean birds ye shall eat. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey, And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, And every raven after his kind, And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckoo, and the hawk after his kind, The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, And the pelican, and the gier-eagle, and the cormorant, And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. But of all clean fowls ye may eat. (quail, pigeon, turtledove, sparrow)
Insects–have legs to leap
Lev 11:22, 23 Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you.