What Does Deuteronomy 14:6 Mean in the King James?

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.

Deuteronomy 14:6 · 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

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

“cleaveth the cleft” 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.

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

Leviticus 11:3 · KJVThe same paired signs mark which beasts may be eaten: a divided hoof and chewing the cud.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Matthew 7:16 · KJVHere, observable fruit discloses what a thing is, just as the animal’s signs disclose its place in the verse’s food boundary.

THE THREAD

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

Leviticus 11:3 · KJV

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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