What Does Deuteronomy 14:7 Mean in the King James?

Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you.

Deuteronomy 14:7 · 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

In Hebrew, the word for “hoof” is tied to the root for “split,” so the missing sign is encoded in the very body part named.

THE MEANING

The camel, hare, and coney carry one sign: they chew the cud. Their hoof is not split, so they do not fit the paired description for animals that may be eaten. The verse holds the category to both signs together.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

One matching feature is enough to satisfy the whole stated standard.

THE ROOT

הִפְרִיסוּ

hiphrîsû

GROWS FROM

פרס

p-r-s

to split or break into parts

English presents “hoof” and “divide” as separate pieces; Hebrew ties the hoof-word to the root for splitting, lodging the distinction in the creature’s foot. The same root describes breaking bread apart, keeping its sense concrete: division into parts.

ALSO GROWS

parsah: hoof

פַּרְסָה

This hoof-word belongs to the split/divide root, so the feature being checked is bound to the name of the body part.

paras: to split, break, or deal out

פָּרַס

Isaiah 58:7 uses this root for dealing bread to the hungry: bread is divided and shared.

טְמֵאִים

ṭəmēʾîm

GROWS FROM

טמא

ṭ-m-ʾ

to be unclean or ritually impure

Here, tame’im marks the animals’ status within the food boundary. The label follows the bodily signs named in the verse, making “unclean” a classification in this passage.

ALSO GROWS

ṭāmēʾ: unclean

טָמֵא

This singular form names the same status assigned to the animals in the verse.

ṭumʾāh: impurity or uncleanness

טֻמְאָה

This noun names the condition expressed by the unclean classification.

THE PATTERN

Scripture marks food boundaries through named categories of clean and unclean, with those categories shaping what may be received.

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 · KJVThe verse states the paired bodily signs that define the permitted food category.

Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you.

Leviticus 11:4 · KJVThe same food boundary classifies the camel by its cud-chewing and undivided hoof.

And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

Acts 10:15 · KJVThe clean and common categories are named directly in a vision about what may be received as food.

THE THREAD

Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

Isaiah 58:7 · KJV

The Hebrew root ⁨פרס⁩ links “divide” in this verse with “deal” in Isaiah’s phrase for sharing bread with the hungry. In one verse the root marks a split hoof; in the other, divided bread.

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