FOOD. That which sustains the body or soul, called “meat,” “victuals,” “bread” in KJV, and “bread,” “food,” and “provisions” in RSV, represents a variety of words in MT: אֹ֫כֶל, H431, מַאֲכָל, H4407, אָכְלָה, H433,—all meaning that which is eaten; לֶ֫חֶם, H4312, “bread”; and מָזﯴן, H4648, “sustenance.” These words are most frequently βρῶμα, G1109, or τροφή, G5575, in the LXX and NT.

Outline

I. Literal

A. Food supplies. Despite recurrent droughts (Gen 31:40 KJV; 2 Kings 4:38; Jer 14:1, 4-6; Hag 1:11), hail (Hag 2:17 RSV), other calamities (Amos 4:6-10) and resulting famines (Gen 12:10; 26:1; 41:1ff.; 1 Kings 18:2; 2 Kings 4:38), and periodic want brought on by the ravages of war (2 Kings 6:25), Pal. was to Biblical writers a land “flowing with milk and honey” (Exod 3:8, 17; Num 13:27; etc.; cf. Deut 8:8), in which food could be eaten without want (8:7-9; Josh 24:13; Judg 18:10). The description left by the fugitive from Egypt, Sinuhe, c. 1920 b.c., is in agreement: “Figs were in it, and grapes. It had more wine than water. Plentiful was its honey, abundant its olives. Every (kind of) fruit was on its trees. Barley was there, and emmer. There was no limit to any (kind of) cattle....Bread was made for me as daily fare, wine as daily provision, cooked meat and roasted fowl, besides the wild beasts of the desert, for they hunted for me and laid before me, besides the catch of my (own) hounds. Many...were made for me, and milk in every (kind of cooking) (## 80-90; ANET, pp. 19, 20).

Scarcity was a warning or a punishment from God sent upon His unfaithful people (Lam 4:9, 11; Amos 4:6). According to Sirach the necessities of life include salt, wheat flour, milk, honey, the blood of the grape and oil (Ecclus 39:26). The land produced a variety of food stuffs.

B. Food of animals. The Lord supplies His creatures their proper food in due season (Ps 104:27, 28)—a grace attributed in the Egyp. hymn of Ikhnaton to his god Aton. For the carnivorous such as the lion, there is flesh (Dan 6:24; 7:5; Nah 2:12); for the wolf, there is prey (Ezek 22:27); for the scavenger, there is carrion (Jer 16:4; 19:7; 34:20; Ezek 32:4); and the dog returns to his vomit (2 Pet 2:22). For the plant eaters there is herbage (Jer 14:6); for the ox there is grass (Dan 4:15, 25; 5:21) and straw (Job 6:5; Isa 11:7; 65:25). Swine feed on the carob pod (Luke 15:16); horses on barley and straw (1 Kings 4:28); the birds eat seed (Matt 13:4); and the locust devours plants (Joel 1:4ff.).

C. Food for humans

1. Plant foods. a. Cereal grains. The fields of Pal. produced wheat (חַטָּאת, H2633, LXX σῖτος, G4992; Gen 30:14; Ezek 4:9; etc.); barley (שְׂעֹרָה, H8555, LXX κριθή, G3208; Ruth 1:22; 2:23); millet (דֹּ֫חַן, H1893, LXX κέγχρος; Ezek 4:9), and spelt (כֻּסֶּ֫מֶת, H4081, LXX ὄλυρα; Exod 9:32; Isa 28:25; Ezek 4:9).

Corn (Indian maize) was unknown to the Biblical world. This term of the KJV should be understood as the cereal grains. In times of famine, grain was obtained in Egypt (Gen 41:49) where flax, barley, wheat, and spelt were produced (Exod 9:31, 32). Grain (דָּגָן, H1841, or שֶׁ֫בֶר֮, H8692, LXX σῖτος, G4992, [renders nine words]) might be shelled out as one went through the fields (Deut 23:25; Matt 12:1ff.). One of Elisha’s friends brought fresh grain to the prophet (2 Kings 4:42-44). When harvested, grain was ground into flour (קֶ֫מַח, H7854, or סֹ֫לֶת, H6159, LXX σεμίδαλις, G4947) and made into bread (לֶ֫חֶם, H4312, LXX and NT ἄρτος, G788) which was the staff of life (Isa 3:1). There are more than two hundred references to bread in Scripture. Bread is often a synonym for food in general. Bread was at times baked on coals (1 Kings 19:6), first on one side, and then properly turned over to bake the other (Hos 7:8).

A subsistence diet consisted of bread and water (Gen 21:14; 1 Kings 18:13; 22:27). In times of famine children cry for bread and wine (Lam 2:12). Both wheat bread and barley bread were used. In numerous cases barley bread (Judg 7:13; 2 Kings 4:42) or barley cakes (Ezek 4:12) are encountered. It was from five barley loaves that Jesus fed the five thousand (John 6:9, 13). Millet and spelt (KJV “fitches”) also could be used for bread (Ezek 4:9). Cakes baked for the queen of heaven formed a part of a Canaanite cult (Jer 7:18).

Grain might be parched and eaten (קָלִי, H7833, LXX πεφρυγμένα χίδρα, et al. Lev 23:14; Josh 5:11; Ruth 2:14; 1 Sam 17:17; 25:18; 2 Sam 17:28). The diet of the laborer at noon might consist of parched grain and wine (Ruth 2:14). Grain might be crushed and spread out to dry as was done over the well where Ahimaaz and Jonathan were hidden (רִיפﯴת, H8195, LXX παλάθας, cakes of preserved fruit; 2 Sam 17:19; Prov 27:22).

b. Nuts. Jacob sent to Pharaoh a present of produce of the land which included pistachio nuts (בָּטְנִ֖ים, LXX τερέμινθος) and almonds (שָׁקֵד, H9196, LXX κάρυον) along with balm, honey, gum and myrrh (Gen 43:11).

c. Vegetables. The wilderness generation complained over lack of cucumbers (קִשֻּׁאִ֗ים, LXX σικύοι); melons (אֲבַטִּיחַ, H19, LXX πέπονας) leeks (חָצִ֥יר, LXX πράσα); onions (בְּצָלִ֖ים. LXX κρόμμυα); and garlic (שׁוּמִים, H8770, LXX σκόρδα) which they had enjoyed in Egypt (Num 11:5). Later generations in Pal. doubtless enjoyed many of these. There were beans (פּﯴל, H7038, LXX κύαμος) and lentils (עֲדָשִׁ֔ים, LXX φακός, 2 Sam 17:28); and cucumbers (Isa 1:8; Jer 10:5). There were the bitter herbs of Passover (מְרֹרִ֖ים, LXX πικρίδιον Exod 12:8; Num 9:11); and the garden plants: mint, dill, and cummin (Matt 23:23). A dinner of herbs might suffice for the poor man (Prov 15:17; Rom 14:2). In times of want the carob pod (κεράτια) ordinarily used for cattle (M. Sabbath 24:2) might be eaten. There was also sweet cane (קָנֶ֥ה הַטֹּ֖וב, LXX κινάμωμον, G3072) from a distant land (Jer 6:20).

d. Fruits. The grape (עֵנָב, H6694, LXX ἄμπελος, G306) produced wine and vinegar (חֹ֫מֶץ, H2810, LXX ὄξος, G3954, Ruth 2:14) and raisins (Num 6:3; 1 Sam 25:18; 1 Chron 12:40; Hos 3:1). Fresh grapes might be eaten while passing through a vineyard (Deut 23:24). The spies brought a large cluster of grapes borne on a pole between two of them (Num 13:23). Sour grapes set the teeth on edge (Jer 31:30; Ezek 18:2). Wine (יַ֫יִן, H3516, LXX οἶνος, G3885) which cheers God and men (Judg 9:13) and makes glad the heart of man (Ps 104:15) might lead to intoxication as it did in the case of Noah (Gen 9:21), Lot (Gen 19:33, 35), and Nabal (1 Sam 25:37). It is therefore a mocker (Prov 20:1). The OT has a variety of words for intoxicants. The butler squeezed the grapes into Pharaoh’s cup (Gen 40:9ff.). The Nazirite refused all products of the grape (Num 6:1ff.; Judg 13:4, 14; Jer 35:1ff.). Cakes of raisins (צִמּוּקִים, H7540, LXX στάφις) were eaten frequently (1 Sam 25:18; 30:12; 2 Sam 16:1) as well as being used in the worship in Canaanite cult (Hos 3:1). In the NT that which comes from the grape is the “fruit of the vine” (γένημα τῆς ἀμπέλου; Matt 26:29).

The olive (זַ֫יִת, H2339, LXX ἐλαία, G1777) was perhaps eaten both green and ripe as today, though this is not specifically stated. Olives were beaten into oil (Exod 27:20).

The fig (תְּאֵנָה, H9300, LXX and NT συκῆ, G5190) was eaten fresh (Jer 24:1ff.) and dried (1 Sam 25:18; 30:12; 1 Chron 12:40). The first fig of the season (בִּכּוּרָה, H1136, LXX πρόδρομος σύκου) was a special delicacy (Isa 28:4; Jer 24:2; Hos 9:10; Mic 7:1; Nah 3:12). Every man under his vine and every man under his fig tree with none to make them afraid is considered the ideal state (Mic 4:4). Dried figs (דְּבֵלָה, H1811, LXX παλάθη ἐκ σύκων) were used for boils (2 Kings 20:7; Isa 38:21) and also eaten on journeys (1 Chron 12:40).

The pomegranate (רִמּﯴנ֒, H8232, LXX ῥόα; Exod 28:33; Num 13:23; 1 Kings 7:20; Song of Solomon 6:11; 8:2; Joel 1:12) and the apple (תַּפּוּחַ֒, H9515, LXX μῆλον; Prov 25:11; Song of Solomon 2:5; 7:8; 8:5; Joel 1:12) were available. The date palm (תָּמָר֒, H9469, LXX φοῖνιξ; Judg 4:5; Ps 92:12; Joel 1:12; John 12:13) and the sycamore (שִׁקְמָה, H9204, LXX συκάμινος, G5189, Amos 7:14) are in Scripture but no reference is made to their fruit as food. Summer fruits of unspecified variety are often mentioned (Jer 40:10, 12; Amos 8:1ff.).

2. Animal products. a. Flesh. (בָּשָׂר, H1414, LXX κρέας, G3200; Judg 6:20 etc.). In the KJV “meats” is a term for food in general and is not limited merely to flesh. For the Israelite the domesticated animals: oxen, sheep, and goats supplied meat. The mother and offspring were not to be slaughtered on the same day (Lev 22:28). The kid of the sheep (כֶּ֫בֶשׂ, H3897, LXX ἀμνός, G303; 2 Sam 12:3) or goat (גְּדִי עֵז, LXX χίμαρος ἐξ αἰγῶν) was a preferred dish (Gen 31:38; 37:31; Lev 4:23, 28; Luke 15:29). The stalled ox (שׁﯴר, H8802, LXX μόσχος, G3675; Prov 15:17; cf. Amos 6:4; Hab 3:17) or the fatted calf was reserved for slaughtering on special occasions (1 Sam 28:24; Matt 22:4). For such waste over the return of his brother the elder brother objected (Luke 15:30). After the Exile there was a Sheep Gate in Jerusalem doubtless so named because the sheep market was near (Neh 3:1).

Nimrod is said to be a mighty hunter (Gen 10:9). A variety of game existed to be hunted. Deuteronomy 14:5 lists seven varieties (cf. Lev 17:13). There was venison (צַ֫יִד֒, H7473, LXX θήρα, G2560, game; Gen 27:3), the wild goat (אַקּﯴ, H735, LXX τραγέλαφος), the ibex (דִּישֹׁ֖ן, LXX πύγαργος), the mountain sheep (זָֽמֶר, LXX καμηλοπάρδαλις; Deut 14:5), the roebuck (יַחְמ֑וּר, LXX βούβαλας), the gazelle (צְבִ֖י , LXX δορκάς), the hart (אַיָּֽל, LXX ἔλαφος; Deut 12:15), and the antelope (תְאֹ֥ו, LXX ὄρυξ; Isa 51:20, RSV, KJV “wild ox”; Deut 14:5).

In the wilderness the people missed the fish (דָּג, H1834, LXX ἰχθύς, G2716) they had enjoyed in Egypt (Num 11:5). Fish were in Galilee and in the sea (Jer 16:16; Eccl 9:12; Ezek 47:10; Neh 13:16; Matt 4:18; Luke 11:12) and in later times were sold in the Fish Gate (Neh 3:3). No specific species are mentioned except good and bad (Matt 13:48) and they are big and small (Jonah 1:17; Mark 8:7; John 21:11). Dried fish were available (Neh 13:16). Peter, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen prior to their being called to discipleship (Matt 4:18, 21). The five thousand were fed fish (Matt 15:34; Mark 6:38). The fish net formed the basis of one of Jesus’ parables (Matt 13:47-50).

From the insect family four types of locusts were eaten: (1) אַרְבֶּה, H746, LXX βροῦχος; (2) סָלְעָ֖ם, LXX ἀττάκης; (3) חַרְגֹּ֣ל, LXX ὀφιομάχος; (4) חָגָ֖ב, LXX ἀχρις (Lev 11:22f.; cf. Matt 3:4).

Various fowl were eaten (1 Kings 4:23); the partridge (קֹרֵ֖א, LXX νυκτικόραξ, 1 Sam 26:20; Jer 17:11); the quail (שְׂלָ֔ו, ὀρτυγομήτρα, Exod 16:13; Num 11:32); the pigeon (יﯴנָ֥ה, LXX περιστερά, G4361, Lev 12:6, etc); the turtledove (תֹ֖ר, LXX τυργών, Gen 15:9), and the sparrow (στρουθία, Matt 10:29; Luke 12:6). After the Pers. period chickens, the female of which is the ὄρνις, G3998, (Matt 23:37) and the male is ἀλεκτόρα (26:34), were available.

b. Dairy products. Dairy products included milk (חָלָב, H2692, LXX γάλα, G1128) of the cow, the goat, and the sheep (Deut 32:14; Prov 27:27) and was kept in skins (Judg 4:19). Use of camel milk also may be inferred from Genesis 32:15. Curds (butter, KJV) (חֶמְאָה, H2772, LXX βούτυρον, Gen 18:8; Deut 32:14; Judg 5:25; Isa 7:15, 22) and cheese (גְּבִינָה, H1482, LXX τυρός; Job 10:10 or חֲרִצֵ֤י הֶֽחָלָב׃֙, LXX τρυφαλίς τοῦ γάλακτος, 2 Sam 17:29) were eaten.

Honey (דְּבַשׁ, H1831, LXX μέλι, G3510, Deut 32:13; 1 Sam 14:25; Ps 19:10; Prov 16:24) both wild and domestic were known (Judg 14:8, 9; Matt 3:4). Honey was forbidden in offerings to God (Lev 2:11).

Eggs (בֵּיצָה, H1070, LXX ῳόν, Deut 22:6; Isa 10:14) were used.

3. Condiments. Food was seasoned with salt (מֶ֫לַח֮, H4875, LXX ἅλας, G229, Ezra 6:9; 7:22; Job 6:6). The covenant of salt signified fellowship and friendship (Num 18:19; 2 Chron 13:5; Ezra 4:14). Salt was obtained by evaporation, and for this the Dead Sea furnished an inexhaustible supply (Ezek 47:11). Not always pure, there was the possibility of its becoming mixed with foreign matter until it lost its power (Matt 5:13). Lot’s wife became a pillar of salt (Gen 19:26). All cereal offerings required salt (Lev 2:13) and Ezekiel prescribed it for all other offerings (Ezek 43:24; cf. Mark 9:49 TR). Elisha cast it into the spring to make the water suitable for use (2 Kings 2:20, 21).

Use of pepper is not mentioned in Scripture, but the condiments mint, anise, and cummin (Matt 23:23), coriander seeds (Exod 16:31; Num 11:7) and mustard (Matt 13:31; 17:20; Luke 13:19; 17:6) made food more palatable.

D. Food availability. One is not to suppose that all this abundance was available at all times and places. Patriarchal fare was doubtless scant. For guests there was bread freshly baked, curds, milk, and the slaughtered young calf (Gen 18:6, 8). Jacob, on the other hand, dined on bread and pottage of lentils, and for this Esau sold his birthright (25:34); and at other times there might be other pottage to make a meal (2 Kings 4:38). Roasted grain and wine (Ruth 2:14) or bread and wine (Gen 14:18) might make up the meal of the ordinary man. Victory in battle occasioned feasting from the supplies of the vanquished.

Settled life in Pal. brought a greater variety of foods. Abigail brought to David and his men two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five sheep ready dressed, five measures of parched grain, a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs when David was fleeing from Saul (1 Sam 25:18). Ziba brought two hundred loaves of bread, one hundred clusters of raisins, one hundred summer fruits and a skin of wine to David as David fled from Absalom (2 Sam 16:1). At David’s return Barzillai brought to him wheat, barley, meal, parched grain, beans and lentils, honey, curds, sheep, and cheese from the herd (2 Sam 17:28, 29). Solomon’s daily supplies included: fine flour, meal, oxen, pasture-fed cattle, sheep, harts, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl (1 Kings 4:22, 23). Tables of the rich were more luxurious than those of nomads and included “lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the stall” (Amos 6:4). An army on the march might have bread, a cake of figs, and clusters of raisins (1 Sam 30:12). Jesse sent to his sons parched grain and bread and sent to the commanders cheeses (1 Sam 17:17). Foreign trade added to the variety of foods. Tyre trafficked in wheat, olives, early figs, honey, oil, and balm (Ezek 27:17).

E. Food of special periods. Adam in Eden was granted permission to eat of every green plant and of the fruit of all trees except of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 1:29; 2:16, 17). At the time of the Flood Noah took into the ark food of all that is eaten for himself and for the animals (6:21). At the end of the Flood he was informed that flesh was permitted (9:3). Many scholars conclude from the silence of Scripture and from this data that early man until the time of the Flood was vegetarian.

When Israel hungered in the wilderness, the Lord supplied manna which was gathered to the extent of an homer per person (Exod 16:16, 22). Manna was white and tasted like wafers made of honey (16:31). It could be ground, baked, and boiled to make cakes that tasted as cakes of oil (29:23; Num 11:7, 8). Manna continued through the forty years until Israel crossed Jordan and came to Gilgal (Josh 5:12). Paul describes manna as spiritual food (1 Cor 10:3). When the people desired meat, the Lord supplied quail (Exod 16:13; Num 11:31; Ps 105:40).

Elijah was fed bread and meat by the ravens when he was at the brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:6). Under the law the priests ate of the sacrifices (Exod 29:3ff.; Lev 2:3, 10; 6:16-18; Deut 18:1; etc.) and of the shewbread (Lev 24:9; 1 Sam 21:6; Matt 12:4). Some portions of certain offerings were consumed by the offerer (Lev 7:15, 19, 20; 2 Chron 25:14); the tithe was consumed before the Lord (Deut 12:17; 14:23) as were the firstlings (15:20).

Daniel and his companions in Babylon refused the king’s dainties and wine and ate vegetables (זֵרֹעִ֛ים, LXX ὄσπριον, pulse; Theod. σπέρμα, G5065, seed) and drank water instead (Dan 1:8ff.). During the time of exile, when laws of clean and unclean could not be observed, unclean food was eaten (Ezek 4:13; Hos 9:3). Judith carried with her wine, oil, parched grain, a cake of dried fruit and fine bread, when she went to Holofernes’ camp (Judg 10:5). Judas Maccabeus and his companions lived on what grew wild, in order to escape defilement (2 Macc 5:27). Also to avoid ceremonial uncleanness Josephus and his companions lived on figs and nuts (Jos. Life 3).

The food of John the Baptist was locust (akris) and wild honey. Akris are insects and the effort to identify them with the carob pod has nothing to commend itself (Matt 3:4). Jesus and His disciples bought food from time to time as they journeyed (John 4:8; 13:29).

F. Food preparation. Though royal houses may have had male bakers (Gen 40:16) and both male and female cooks (1 Sam 8:13), and though some lesser figures like Samuel had cooks (9:23), the division of labor with the Israelites, as with us, made food preparation the woman’s work (Gen 18:6; 1 Sam 8:13; Prov 31:15). Either a wife or a slave might be engaged (Gen 18:6, 7). Tamar took dough, kneaded cakes, baked them, and served them to Ammon (2 Sam 13:8). Flour must be ground daily and the cessation of the sound of the grinding of the mill is the end of a civilization (Eccl 12:4; Jer 25:10; Matt 24:41; Rev 18:22). Since it was necessary for the continuance of life, the upper millstone could not be taken as a pledge for debt (Deut 24:6). Dough consisting of flour and water kneaded in kneading troughs and baked in an oven to make bread formed the staff of life (Isa 3:1). When baked in haste, it was unleavened bread (Gen 19:3; Deut 16:3) but when baked with leaven which was formed from a bit of sour dough left from a previous baking, it was the more usual bread. Bread may be baked on coals (1 Kings 19:6). In Jerusalem the bakers had a special street in Jeremiah’s day (Jer 37:21).

Meat was boiled in pots (1 Sam 2:13; Ezek 24:3-5) or roasted (1 Sam 2:15). The latter was used for small animals (Prov 12:27, KJV) and for the lamb at Passover which was eaten with unleavened bread and bitter herbs (Exod 12:8, 9). There are six different names for the types of pots or caldrons used in boiling. Water was first boiled and the meat added (Ezek 24:3 RSV) with salt. The broth left over also was eaten (Judg 6:19; Isa 65:4). Fish were broiled on coals (Luke 24:42; John 21:9).

G. Food prices. One knows little of the exact prices of food in ancient times. One se’ah of fine flour and two of barley sold for a shekel (2 Kings 7:1, 16). In times of want an ass’s head brought eighty shekels of silver (6:25). Josephus (Antiq. IX. iv. 4) assumes that it was used for a condiment (cf. 2 Kings 18:27). Two sparrows sold for a penny (“assarion,” Matt 10:29). In the Apocalypse a quart of wheat is worth a denarius and three quarts of barley are worth a denarius (Rev 6:6). Later prices may be seen in M. Menahoth 13:8.

H. Eating habits

1. Posture. Early Israelites prob. sat on the ground while they ate while the host might stand by to serve (Gen 18:8). Isaac sat when he ate (27:19) as did Jacob’s sons (37:25), the Levite and his concubine (Judg 19:6), Saul (1 Sam 20:5, 24) and Samuel (1 Sam 9:22). Those fed by the miracle of the Lord sat on the ground (John 6:10). Tables were used quite early. Adonibezek had seventy captive kings at his table (Judg 1:7). “Thou preparest a table before me...” sings the psalmist (Ps 23:5). In NT times crumbs fell to the dog under the table (Matt 15:27; Mark 7:28). Jesus sat at a table when Mary anointed him (John 12:2).

The guests at Esther’s banquet reclined on couches (Esth 7:8). Reclining on the left elbow was a normal posture in NT times (John 13:23). It is likely that the guests dipped food from the common dish. The Pharisees were strict in demanding the prior washing of hands (Mark 7:3). A blessing said over food was also an established custom in the 1st cent.

2. Time of eating. The OT has no reference to a meal earlier than noon; however, too much should not be made of the silence. The disciples of Jesus ate an early morning meal on the seashore after a night of toil (John 21:12). The main meals were at noon and in the evening. Peter could argue that the apostles were not drunken at nine o’clock. The custom of two meals prob. goes back to Scripture: “At even ye shall eat flesh and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread” (Exod 16:12). The ravens brought Elijah food in the morning and evening (1 Kings 17:6).

In Egypt there was a mid-day meal (Gen 43:16) as there was among laborers in Pal. (Ruth 2:14). It was at the sixth hour (noon) that Jesus rested at the well in Samaria while His disciples went to buy bread (John 4:6). Peter’s intended noonday meal was being prepared when messengers from Cornelius arrived (Acts 10:9ff.). This meal is the ἄριστον, G756, ([RSV and KJV: “dinner” see Dinner], Matt 22:4; Luke 11:38; 14:12). Supper came after the work was done (Ruth 3:7; Judg 19:16ff.). In some cases it might be prepared by a servant who had previously done field work all day (Luke 17:7ff.). This meal has no special name in the OT, but is the δεῖπνον, G1270, of the NT (John 12:2; 13:2; 21:20; 1 Cor 11:20; RSV and KJV “supper”).

I. Prohibited foods. In Eden every herb and tree yielding seed was for food (Gen 1:29) and only the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was forbidden (2:16, 17; 3:1ff.). Prohibitions of eating of the sinew of the hip (not otherwise attested in the OT) is traced to Jacob’s wrestling with the angel (Gen 32:32). Josephus thought this to be the broad sinew [sciatic nerve] (Jos. Antiq., I. xx. 2). In Rabbinic legislation a punishment of forty stripes is meted out to the transgressor (M. Hullin 7:1, 3).

Under the law, food regulations dealt with meat and not with vegetable products. There is no basis either in Scripture or in Rabbinic lit. for Justin Martyr’s accusation in Dialogue 20 that certain vegetables are prohibited. Recabites and Nazirites abstained from the produce of the vine (Num 6:2; Judg 13:14; Jer 35:1ff.), and Josephus, Life 2, speaks of a certain Bannus who was a vegetarian, but these are exceptional cases. The argument that early man was vegetarian is based on the prior silence of Scripture connected with the specific permission to eat meat given to Noah (Gen 9:3).

The eating of blood, prohibited in the days of Noah (Gen 9:4) and prohibited by the law (Lev 19:26; Deut 12:16, 23, 24, 25; 15:23; 1 Sam 14:34) was further prohibited in the apostolic letter (Acts 15:20, 29). Flesh of an animal found dead (Lev 7:24; Deut 14:21), flesh of an animal torn by beasts (Exod 22:31; Lev 7:24; 22:8), and a limb torn from a living animal are forbidden foods. The eating of fat (חֵ֖לֶב, LXX στέαρ; Lev 3:16, 17; 7:23) and the fat tail (אַלְיָ֣ה, LXX ὀσφῦς, G4019; Exod 29:22; Lev 3:9) is prohibited and carried the death penalty when this food was a part of a sacrifice (7:25). These parts belonged to the Lord (Gen 4:4; 1 Sam 2:16; 2 Chron 7:7). After the Exile the eating of “fat things” (מַשְׁמַנִּים, H5460, LXX λίπασμα, KJV “fat”) is commended (Neh 8:10; cf. Isa 25:6).

Deuteronomy prohibits the taking of the mother bird and eggs and young ones at the same time. The mother bird is to have her freedom (Deut 22:6, 7).

J. Clean and unclean foods. Laws of clean and unclean animals, already in part alluded to in the days of the patriarchs (Gen 7:2, 3) are the most significant regulations of the law in matters of food. These laws deal with quadrupeds, fish, birds, and insects (Lev 11:1-27; Deut 14:3-21). For quadrupeds, those which have parted hoofs and chew the cud alone are edible. The camel, the rock badger, the hare, and the swine are specifically rejected by name (Lev 11:4-8; Deut 14:8). It is specifically stated that swine’s flesh is an abomination (Isa 65:4; 66:3, 17).

Of fish, those which have fins and scales are edible (Lev 11:9-12). Of birds, a list of twenty are specified which are to be rejected (11:13-19). Of insects, the ones which have legs and leap may be eaten. The locust and grasshopper are specifically mentioned as being edible; while other flying, swarming, and crawling things are rejected (11:20-23). Distinctions in food broke down in times of want (Ezek 4:13).

Peter in his vision rejected the command to eat animals not conforming to these categories (Acts 10:12-15). Jesus is said to have done away with distinctions concerning foods (Mark 7:19). These were regulations of the first testament that have lost their significance (Heb 9:10) and cannot confirm the faith (13:9). The effort to try to connect these regulations of the law with modern laws of hygiene is arbitrary and breaks down when applied in details. It has no more to commend it than the earlier allegorical exegesis of the same laws.

The rabbinic prohibition of eating milk and meat at the same time is based on an exegesis of Exodus 23:19; 34:26; Deuteronomy 14:21 ASV: “Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” (cf. M. Hullin 8:4). Ugaritic discoveries have, from a reconstructed text (Gorddon, 52:14), called attention to a similar practice on the part of the Canaanites to that forbidden in Scripture.

K. Food offered to idols. A special problem with food faced the early Christian when he asked whether or not he could eat food previously offered to idols. The apostolic letter enjoined abstinence “from what has been sacrificed to idols” (Acts 15:29 RSV). When questioned about that offered to idols, Paul answered that food does not commend one to God. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink. One may eat what he is disposed to—whatever is sold in the market (1 Cor 10:25)—without asking questions for conscience’s sake; but if the eating causes a brother to stumble then the Christian abstains for the sake of his brother’s conscience (Rom 14:13ff.; 1 Cor 8:1-13).

L. Sharing food. Sharing one’s food with the hungry was demanded by John the Baptist as a sign of repentance (Luke 3:11). In the OT Job claims this trait among his virtues (Job 31:17). Those who are hungry are to be fed (Matt 25:35, 36). The duty extends to the hungry enemy (Prov 25:21; Rom 12:20). Faith that refuses to feed the brother or sister that is hungry is dead faith (Jas 2:15-17).

M. Life and food. As important as it is, food is not the chief ingredient of life. “Man does not live by bread alone, but...by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord” (Deut 8:3; cf. Matt 4:4; Luke 4:4). Failure of food should not destroy faith in God (Hab 3:17, 18). Life is more than food (Matt 6:25, 32; Luke 12:22, 30).

II. Metaphorical use

The basis for a metaphorical use of food is laid in the prophets when Isaiah rebukes those who spend their substance for that which does not satisfy (Isa 55:1ff.). Food is a frequent metaphor in the NT. Jesus’ comparison of Himself to the bread of life (John 6) is the chief fig. use of food in Scripture. As Israel ate manna in the wilderness, so Christ gives of Himself to the believer that he may eat of His flesh and drink His blood and have life in himself. The one eating this food shall never want.

In answer to the question of whether anyone had given Him anything to eat, Jesus answered “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work” (John 4:34). This, of course, did not imply that He could dispense with earthly food. Continuing the metaphor, the new believer is to desire the pure milk of the Word (1 Pet 2:2). Elementary teaching is milk for babes while advanced matters are solid food for the mature (1 Cor 3:2; Heb 5:14).

The preservative power of salt illustrates the powers of the disciple in the world (Matt 5:13; Mark 9:50). Its seasoning power is a figure of the proper choice of speech (Col 4:6).

The one who overcomes will “eat of the tree of life” (Rev 2:7). See Cooking.

Bibliography J. Behm, Brōma, TWNT (1933), I, 640-643; J. B. Pritchard, ANET (1950), 19, 20; H. N. and A. L. Moldenke, Plants of the Bible (1952); A. C. Bouquet, Everyday Life in NT Times (1954), 69-79; M. S. and J. L. Miller, Encyclopedia of Bible Life (1955), 199ff.