וְאֶת־הַ֠חֲזִ֠יר כִּֽי־מַפְרִ֨יס פַּרְסָ֜ה ה֗וּא וְשֹׁסַ֥ע שֶׁ֙סַע֙ פַּרְסָ֔ה וְה֖וּא גֵּרָ֣ה לֹֽא־יִגָּ֑ר טָמֵ֥א ה֖וּא לָכֶֽם׃
and the swine—although it has true hoofs, with the hoofs cleft through, it does not chew the cud: it is impure for you.
משֶׁה אָמַר (ויקרא יא, ז): וְאֶת הַחֲזִיר כִּי מַפְרִיס פַּרְסָה, לָמָּה נִמְשְׁלָה לַחֲזִיר, לוֹמַר לָךְ מָה חֲזִיר בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁהוּא רוֹבֵץ מוֹצִיא טְלָפָיו וְאוֹמֵר רְאוּ שֶׁאֲנִי טָהוֹר, כָּךְ מַלְכוּת אֱדוֹם מִתְגָּאָה וְחוֹמֶסֶת וְגוֹזֶלֶת וְנִרְאֵית כְּאִלּוּ מַצַּעַת בִּימָה. מַעֲשֶׂה בְּשִׁלְטוֹן אֶחָד שֶׁהָיָה הוֹרֵג הַגַּנָּבִים וְהַמְנָאֲפִים וְהַמְכַשְּׁפִים, גָּחִין וְאָמַר לַסַּנְקְלִיטִין, שְׁלָשְׁתָּן עָשִׂיתִי בְּלַיְלָה אֶחָד
Rabbi Pinḥas and Rabbi Ḥilkiya in the name of Rabbi Simon: Of all the prophets, only two publicized it:29They likened Edom to a pig. Asaf and Moses. Asaf said: “The pig from the forest gnaws at it” (Psalms 80:14). Moses said: “And the pig, because it has a split hoof” (Leviticus 11:7). Why is it likened to a pig? It is to say to you: Just as the pig, when it lies, it displays its hooves and says: ‘See that I am pure,’ so the kingdom of Edom engages in self-aggrandizement, and extorts and robs, while creating the impression that it is preparing a judicial platform.30It gives the impression that it outlaws and prosecutes these crimes, while it commits them itself. There was an incident involving a certain governor who would execute the thieves, adulterers, and sorcerers. He leaned over and said to the executioners: ‘I performed the three of them in one night.’
Why Does the Bible Prohibit Eating Pork?
Nicole J. Ruane, University of New Hampshire
One key way in which pigs are radically different from 'clean' land animals is not how they eat, but rather how they mate, and more specifically how they reproduce. That may seem like a strange concern, yet many cultures have pronounced cultural restrictions and taboos around reproduction and sexuality. In the Hebrew Bible, for example, both sex and birth are important sources of ritual impurity (Lev 12; 15). All the clean land animals listed in Deuteronomy have a reproductive feature that is different from pigs: they give birth singly or to twins. Unlike cows, sheep, goats, and deer of various kinds, pigs give birth in litters. In the modern world, the average pig gives birth to 12 piglets at one time; the record is 37! Thus pigs' manner of birth does not resemble that of clean animals, nor, importantly, does it resemble that of Israelites (and all humans). Reproductively speaking, pigs are incongruous with the Israelite community, yet uniparous (bearing singly) animals are considered a part of it, and even observe its Sabbath (Ex 20:10; Deut 5:14).
The biblical text does not directly discuss this reproductive aspect of pigs, yet the multiparity (bearing in litters) of pigs comes into direct conflict with other aspects of biblical ritual involving animals. Aside from the fact that no clean land animal is multiparous, and that most unclean animals are multiparous or egg layers, pigs' manner of reproduction does not allow them to bear a single firstborn (in Hebrew, the pe?er re?em, "womb opener," or bekor, "firstborn"). Either one would need to witness the birth to see which was born first, or possibly the entire litter would be considered the firstborn. This may seem inconsequential, but in biblical thought, the firstborn male of domesticated animals is the most sacred animal, and must be offered to God... Why exactly this is the case is not clear, but it seems to express some sense that the deity owns the firstborn and that by giving the deity the firstborn there will be continued fertility...
Another problematic aspect of pigs' reproduction also relates to ritual-cultural ideology. The Bible is a patriarchal and patrilineal text. It presents a culture based largely on paternity and paternal identity. (Witness the long genealogical lists of males that are so distinctive of biblical style!) The fertility of swine, in which one female bears many offspring at a time, would appear to highlight female fertility and motherhood instead of fatherhood. In fact, the rituals of many ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean cultures specifically use female pigs to represent female fertility. For example, the Hittite ritual text "The Benedictions for Labarna" states, "Just as a single pig gives birth to many piglets, let every single branch of this vineyard, like the pig, bear many grape clusters." Another ritual for the fertility of land (KUB 12.44 iii 16-19) involves throwing a sow's genitals into a ritual pit. Pigs were used in other Hittite rituals to ensure the fertility of women, as in a rite in which it is said "let her give birth often like the pig" (Bo 3617 i 4`-17`). Similarly, the relationship between the fertility of female pigs and human women appears in the Greek and Anatolian rite of the Thesmophoria, in which the fertility of both women and fields is reinstated and enacted. This event requires all married women to bring a piglet which also will be thrown into a ritual pit; at the end of the ceremony the previous year's piglets are dug up and spread onto the fields as a kind of fertilizer. This ritual was performed in honor of Demeter, the goddess of grain and mother of Persephone, who preferred pigs in most of her rites.
While we have no evidence that biblical pork avoidance was a direct polemic against goddess worship, the image of fertility enacted in these rites opposes the biblical concept of fertility...
Nicole J. Ruane, University of New Hampshire
One key way in which pigs are radically different from 'clean' land animals is not how they eat, but rather how they mate, and more specifically how they reproduce. That may seem like a strange concern, yet many cultures have pronounced cultural restrictions and taboos around reproduction and sexuality. In the Hebrew Bible, for example, both sex and birth are important sources of ritual impurity (Lev 12; 15). All the clean land animals listed in Deuteronomy have a reproductive feature that is different from pigs: they give birth singly or to twins. Unlike cows, sheep, goats, and deer of various kinds, pigs give birth in litters. In the modern world, the average pig gives birth to 12 piglets at one time; the record is 37! Thus pigs' manner of birth does not resemble that of clean animals, nor, importantly, does it resemble that of Israelites (and all humans). Reproductively speaking, pigs are incongruous with the Israelite community, yet uniparous (bearing singly) animals are considered a part of it, and even observe its Sabbath (Ex 20:10; Deut 5:14).
The biblical text does not directly discuss this reproductive aspect of pigs, yet the multiparity (bearing in litters) of pigs comes into direct conflict with other aspects of biblical ritual involving animals. Aside from the fact that no clean land animal is multiparous, and that most unclean animals are multiparous or egg layers, pigs' manner of reproduction does not allow them to bear a single firstborn (in Hebrew, the pe?er re?em, "womb opener," or bekor, "firstborn"). Either one would need to witness the birth to see which was born first, or possibly the entire litter would be considered the firstborn. This may seem inconsequential, but in biblical thought, the firstborn male of domesticated animals is the most sacred animal, and must be offered to God... Why exactly this is the case is not clear, but it seems to express some sense that the deity owns the firstborn and that by giving the deity the firstborn there will be continued fertility...
Another problematic aspect of pigs' reproduction also relates to ritual-cultural ideology. The Bible is a patriarchal and patrilineal text. It presents a culture based largely on paternity and paternal identity. (Witness the long genealogical lists of males that are so distinctive of biblical style!) The fertility of swine, in which one female bears many offspring at a time, would appear to highlight female fertility and motherhood instead of fatherhood. In fact, the rituals of many ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean cultures specifically use female pigs to represent female fertility. For example, the Hittite ritual text "The Benedictions for Labarna" states, "Just as a single pig gives birth to many piglets, let every single branch of this vineyard, like the pig, bear many grape clusters." Another ritual for the fertility of land (KUB 12.44 iii 16-19) involves throwing a sow's genitals into a ritual pit. Pigs were used in other Hittite rituals to ensure the fertility of women, as in a rite in which it is said "let her give birth often like the pig" (Bo 3617 i 4`-17`). Similarly, the relationship between the fertility of female pigs and human women appears in the Greek and Anatolian rite of the Thesmophoria, in which the fertility of both women and fields is reinstated and enacted. This event requires all married women to bring a piglet which also will be thrown into a ritual pit; at the end of the ceremony the previous year's piglets are dug up and spread onto the fields as a kind of fertilizer. This ritual was performed in honor of Demeter, the goddess of grain and mother of Persephone, who preferred pigs in most of her rites.
While we have no evidence that biblical pork avoidance was a direct polemic against goddess worship, the image of fertility enacted in these rites opposes the biblical concept of fertility...
Why Does the Bible Prohibit Eating Pork?
Nicole J. Ruane, University of New Hampshire
One key way in which pigs are radically different from 'clean' land animals is not how they eat, but rather how they mate, and more specifically how they reproduce. That may seem like a strange concern, yet many cultures have pronounced cultural restrictions and taboos around reproduction and sexuality. In the Hebrew Bible, for example, both sex and birth are important sources of ritual impurity (Lev 12; 15). All the clean land animals listed in Deuteronomy have a reproductive feature that is different from pigs: they give birth singly or to twins. Unlike cows, sheep, goats, and deer of various kinds, pigs give birth in litters. In the modern world, the average pig gives birth to 12 piglets at one time; the record is 37! Thus pigs' manner of birth does not resemble that of clean animals, nor, importantly, does it resemble that of Israelites (and all humans). Reproductively speaking, pigs are incongruous with the Israelite community, yet uniparous (bearing singly) animals are considered a part of it, and even observe its Sabbath (Ex 20:10; Deut 5:14).
The biblical text does not directly discuss this reproductive aspect of pigs, yet the multiparity (bearing in litters) of pigs comes into direct conflict with other aspects of biblical ritual involving animals. Aside from the fact that no clean land animal is multiparous, and that most unclean animals are multiparous or egg layers, pigs' manner of reproduction does not allow them to bear a single firstborn (in Hebrew, the pe?er re?em, "womb opener," or bekor, "firstborn"). Either one would need to witness the birth to see which was born first, or possibly the entire litter would be considered the firstborn. This may seem inconsequential, but in biblical thought, the firstborn male of domesticated animals is the most sacred animal, and must be offered to God... Why exactly this is the case is not clear, but it seems to express some sense that the deity owns the firstborn and that by giving the deity the firstborn there will be continued fertility...
Another problematic aspect of pigs' reproduction also relates to ritual-cultural ideology. The Bible is a patriarchal and patrilineal text. It presents a culture based largely on paternity and paternal identity. (Witness the long genealogical lists of males that are so distinctive of biblical style!) The fertility of swine, in which one female bears many offspring at a time, would appear to highlight female fertility and motherhood instead of fatherhood. In fact, the rituals of many ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean cultures specifically use female pigs to represent female fertility. For example, the Hittite ritual text "The Benedictions for Labarna" states, "Just as a single pig gives birth to many piglets, let every single branch of this vineyard, like the pig, bear many grape clusters." Another ritual for the fertility of land (KUB 12.44 iii 16-19) involves throwing a sow's genitals into a ritual pit. Pigs were used in other Hittite rituals to ensure the fertility of women, as in a rite in which it is said "let her give birth often like the pig" (Bo 3617 i 4`-17`). Similarly, the relationship between the fertility of female pigs and human women appears in the Greek and Anatolian rite of the Thesmophoria, in which the fertility of both women and fields is reinstated and enacted. This event requires all married women to bring a piglet which also will be thrown into a ritual pit; at the end of the ceremony the previous year's piglets are dug up and spread onto the fields as a kind of fertilizer. This ritual was performed in honor of Demeter, the goddess of grain and mother of Persephone, who preferred pigs in most of her rites.
While we have no evidence that biblical pork avoidance was a direct polemic against goddess worship, the image of fertility enacted in these rites opposes the biblical concept of fertility...
Nicole J. Ruane, University of New Hampshire
One key way in which pigs are radically different from 'clean' land animals is not how they eat, but rather how they mate, and more specifically how they reproduce. That may seem like a strange concern, yet many cultures have pronounced cultural restrictions and taboos around reproduction and sexuality. In the Hebrew Bible, for example, both sex and birth are important sources of ritual impurity (Lev 12; 15). All the clean land animals listed in Deuteronomy have a reproductive feature that is different from pigs: they give birth singly or to twins. Unlike cows, sheep, goats, and deer of various kinds, pigs give birth in litters. In the modern world, the average pig gives birth to 12 piglets at one time; the record is 37! Thus pigs' manner of birth does not resemble that of clean animals, nor, importantly, does it resemble that of Israelites (and all humans). Reproductively speaking, pigs are incongruous with the Israelite community, yet uniparous (bearing singly) animals are considered a part of it, and even observe its Sabbath (Ex 20:10; Deut 5:14).
The biblical text does not directly discuss this reproductive aspect of pigs, yet the multiparity (bearing in litters) of pigs comes into direct conflict with other aspects of biblical ritual involving animals. Aside from the fact that no clean land animal is multiparous, and that most unclean animals are multiparous or egg layers, pigs' manner of reproduction does not allow them to bear a single firstborn (in Hebrew, the pe?er re?em, "womb opener," or bekor, "firstborn"). Either one would need to witness the birth to see which was born first, or possibly the entire litter would be considered the firstborn. This may seem inconsequential, but in biblical thought, the firstborn male of domesticated animals is the most sacred animal, and must be offered to God... Why exactly this is the case is not clear, but it seems to express some sense that the deity owns the firstborn and that by giving the deity the firstborn there will be continued fertility...
Another problematic aspect of pigs' reproduction also relates to ritual-cultural ideology. The Bible is a patriarchal and patrilineal text. It presents a culture based largely on paternity and paternal identity. (Witness the long genealogical lists of males that are so distinctive of biblical style!) The fertility of swine, in which one female bears many offspring at a time, would appear to highlight female fertility and motherhood instead of fatherhood. In fact, the rituals of many ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean cultures specifically use female pigs to represent female fertility. For example, the Hittite ritual text "The Benedictions for Labarna" states, "Just as a single pig gives birth to many piglets, let every single branch of this vineyard, like the pig, bear many grape clusters." Another ritual for the fertility of land (KUB 12.44 iii 16-19) involves throwing a sow's genitals into a ritual pit. Pigs were used in other Hittite rituals to ensure the fertility of women, as in a rite in which it is said "let her give birth often like the pig" (Bo 3617 i 4`-17`). Similarly, the relationship between the fertility of female pigs and human women appears in the Greek and Anatolian rite of the Thesmophoria, in which the fertility of both women and fields is reinstated and enacted. This event requires all married women to bring a piglet which also will be thrown into a ritual pit; at the end of the ceremony the previous year's piglets are dug up and spread onto the fields as a kind of fertilizer. This ritual was performed in honor of Demeter, the goddess of grain and mother of Persephone, who preferred pigs in most of her rites.
While we have no evidence that biblical pork avoidance was a direct polemic against goddess worship, the image of fertility enacted in these rites opposes the biblical concept of fertility...
Why Does the Bible Prohibit Eating Pork?
Nicole J. Ruane, University of New Hampshire
One key way in which pigs are radically different from 'clean' land animals is not how they eat, but rather how they mate, and more specifically how they reproduce. That may seem like a strange concern, yet many cultures have pronounced cultural restrictions and taboos around reproduction and sexuality. In the Hebrew Bible, for example, both sex and birth are important sources of ritual impurity (Lev 12; 15). All the clean land animals listed in Deuteronomy have a reproductive feature that is different from pigs: they give birth singly or to twins. Unlike cows, sheep, goats, and deer of various kinds, pigs give birth in litters. In the modern world, the average pig gives birth to 12 piglets at one time; the record is 37! Thus pigs' manner of birth does not resemble that of clean animals, nor, importantly, does it resemble that of Israelites (and all humans). Reproductively speaking, pigs are incongruous with the Israelite community, yet uniparous (bearing singly) animals are considered a part of it, and even observe its Sabbath (Ex 20:10; Deut 5:14).
The biblical text does not directly discuss this reproductive aspect of pigs, yet the multiparity (bearing in litters) of pigs comes into direct conflict with other aspects of biblical ritual involving animals. Aside from the fact that no clean land animal is multiparous, and that most unclean animals are multiparous or egg layers, pigs' manner of reproduction does not allow them to bear a single firstborn (in Hebrew, the pe?er re?em, "womb opener," or bekor, "firstborn"). Either one would need to witness the birth to see which was born first, or possibly the entire litter would be considered the firstborn. This may seem inconsequential, but in biblical thought, the firstborn male of domesticated animals is the most sacred animal, and must be offered to God... Why exactly this is the case is not clear, but it seems to express some sense that the deity owns the firstborn and that by giving the deity the firstborn there will be continued fertility...
Another problematic aspect of pigs' reproduction also relates to ritual-cultural ideology. The Bible is a patriarchal and patrilineal text. It presents a culture based largely on paternity and paternal identity. (Witness the long genealogical lists of males that are so distinctive of biblical style!) The fertility of swine, in which one female bears many offspring at a time, would appear to highlight female fertility and motherhood instead of fatherhood. In fact, the rituals of many ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean cultures specifically use female pigs to represent female fertility. For example, the Hittite ritual text "The Benedictions for Labarna" states, "Just as a single pig gives birth to many piglets, let every single branch of this vineyard, like the pig, bear many grape clusters." Another ritual for the fertility of land (KUB 12.44 iii 16-19) involves throwing a sow's genitals into a ritual pit. Pigs were used in other Hittite rituals to ensure the fertility of women, as in a rite in which it is said "let her give birth often like the pig" (Bo 3617 i 4`-17`). Similarly, the relationship between the fertility of female pigs and human women appears in the Greek and Anatolian rite of the Thesmophoria, in which the fertility of both women and fields is reinstated and enacted. This event requires all married women to bring a piglet which also will be thrown into a ritual pit; at the end of the ceremony the previous year's piglets are dug up and spread onto the fields as a kind of fertilizer. This ritual was performed in honor of Demeter, the goddess of grain and mother of Persephone, who preferred pigs in most of her rites.
While we have no evidence that biblical pork avoidance was a direct polemic against goddess worship, the image of fertility enacted in these rites opposes the biblical concept of fertility...
Nicole J. Ruane, University of New Hampshire
One key way in which pigs are radically different from 'clean' land animals is not how they eat, but rather how they mate, and more specifically how they reproduce. That may seem like a strange concern, yet many cultures have pronounced cultural restrictions and taboos around reproduction and sexuality. In the Hebrew Bible, for example, both sex and birth are important sources of ritual impurity (Lev 12; 15). All the clean land animals listed in Deuteronomy have a reproductive feature that is different from pigs: they give birth singly or to twins. Unlike cows, sheep, goats, and deer of various kinds, pigs give birth in litters. In the modern world, the average pig gives birth to 12 piglets at one time; the record is 37! Thus pigs' manner of birth does not resemble that of clean animals, nor, importantly, does it resemble that of Israelites (and all humans). Reproductively speaking, pigs are incongruous with the Israelite community, yet uniparous (bearing singly) animals are considered a part of it, and even observe its Sabbath (Ex 20:10; Deut 5:14).
The biblical text does not directly discuss this reproductive aspect of pigs, yet the multiparity (bearing in litters) of pigs comes into direct conflict with other aspects of biblical ritual involving animals. Aside from the fact that no clean land animal is multiparous, and that most unclean animals are multiparous or egg layers, pigs' manner of reproduction does not allow them to bear a single firstborn (in Hebrew, the pe?er re?em, "womb opener," or bekor, "firstborn"). Either one would need to witness the birth to see which was born first, or possibly the entire litter would be considered the firstborn. This may seem inconsequential, but in biblical thought, the firstborn male of domesticated animals is the most sacred animal, and must be offered to God... Why exactly this is the case is not clear, but it seems to express some sense that the deity owns the firstborn and that by giving the deity the firstborn there will be continued fertility...
Another problematic aspect of pigs' reproduction also relates to ritual-cultural ideology. The Bible is a patriarchal and patrilineal text. It presents a culture based largely on paternity and paternal identity. (Witness the long genealogical lists of males that are so distinctive of biblical style!) The fertility of swine, in which one female bears many offspring at a time, would appear to highlight female fertility and motherhood instead of fatherhood. In fact, the rituals of many ancient Near Eastern and Mediterranean cultures specifically use female pigs to represent female fertility. For example, the Hittite ritual text "The Benedictions for Labarna" states, "Just as a single pig gives birth to many piglets, let every single branch of this vineyard, like the pig, bear many grape clusters." Another ritual for the fertility of land (KUB 12.44 iii 16-19) involves throwing a sow's genitals into a ritual pit. Pigs were used in other Hittite rituals to ensure the fertility of women, as in a rite in which it is said "let her give birth often like the pig" (Bo 3617 i 4`-17`). Similarly, the relationship between the fertility of female pigs and human women appears in the Greek and Anatolian rite of the Thesmophoria, in which the fertility of both women and fields is reinstated and enacted. This event requires all married women to bring a piglet which also will be thrown into a ritual pit; at the end of the ceremony the previous year's piglets are dug up and spread onto the fields as a kind of fertilizer. This ritual was performed in honor of Demeter, the goddess of grain and mother of Persephone, who preferred pigs in most of her rites.
While we have no evidence that biblical pork avoidance was a direct polemic against goddess worship, the image of fertility enacted in these rites opposes the biblical concept of fertility...