What Does Deuteronomy 14:6 Mean?
And every beast that splits the hoof and is cleft through in two, and brings up the cud among the beasts, you shall eat.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.THE KEY
The verse names a creature as food through two signs held together: a split hoof and a returning chew.
THE MEANING
The verse sets out a boundary for what is received as food: the creature has a divided hoof and chews the cud. Both signs belong to the pattern; neither stands alone.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
One qualifying sign is enough to make something fit to receive. The verse requires both signs together.
THE ROOT
שֹׁסַעַת שֶׁסַע
shosaʿat shesaʿ
GROWS FROM
שׁסע
sh-s-ʿ
to split or cleave
“is cleft through in two” in this verse is shosaʿat shesaʿ. The phrase repeats the same root in the action and the noun: it is a splitting split. That repetition brings the divided hoof into focus, while the verse pairs it with a separate sign, chewing the cud.
ALSO GROWS
shesaʿ: a cleft or split
שֶׁסַע
This noun gives the split its name, echoing the root in the verse’s phrase “cleaveth the cleft.”
shasuaʿ: split or cloven
שָׁסוּעַ
This related form describes something divided, keeping the hoof’s visible split connected to the same root.
THE PATTERN
A thing is recognized by the observable marks it bears, not by a label alone.
Whatever splits the hoof and is cleft through, and brings up the cud among the beasts, that you may eat.You will know them by their fruits. Do people gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?THE THREAD
Whatever splits the hoof and is cleft through, and brings up the cud among the beasts, that you may eat.The Hebrew phrase שֹׁסַעַת שֶׁסַע (shosaʿat shesaʿ, “splits a split”) appears in both verses. Leviticus makes the repeated root and the paired signs easy to see together: the divided hoof and the cud-chewing form one pattern.
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