What Does Deuteronomy 14:4 Mean in the King James?

These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,

Deuteronomy 14:4 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

The Hebrew root for “eat” also names food and devouring, so the verse makes consumption concrete by naming exactly which animals may be eaten.

THE MEANING

The verse sets a boundary around food by naming the ox, sheep, and goat as what may be eaten. Its permission is concrete: the reader can see which creatures the sentence includes.

THE ROOT

תֹּאכֵלוּ

to'khelu

GROWS FROM

אכל

Eat, consume, devour

“eat” in this verse is to'khelu. The act of eating and the noun for food grow from the same root: eating is taking in something concrete. That root can also describe devouring; here the verse names the creatures that may be received as food.

ALSO GROWS

ma'akal: Food; something eaten

מַאֲכָל

The noun for food shares the root of the verse’s verb “eat,” linking the act to what is received.

okhelet: Devouring or consuming; used of fire

אֹכֶלֶת

The same root can describe consuming beyond ordinary eating, while this verse specifies which creatures may be eaten.

THE PATTERN

Scripture puts food in view by naming what can be eaten.

Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Genesis 9:3 · KJVThe verse names living creatures and green plants as food.

Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.

Leviticus 11:3 · KJVIt identifies the animal traits that mark what may be eaten.

And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.

Acts 10:13 · KJVThe command makes eating explicit and places what may be eaten at the center of the vision.

THE THREAD

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Genesis 2:16 · KJV

Both verses use ⁨אכל⁩ (akal), meaning “eat.” Genesis names the garden’s provision broadly, while Deuteronomy names a specific set of animals; the shared root links the same act of eating to different objects and boundaries.

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