So Leolaia, your point is that the best guess is that this is simply a mis-translation; the original meaning likely had nothing to do with either cabrito or leche? Do I have that right?
"You must not boil a kid in its mother's milk" - Huh?
by AlmostAtheist 28 Replies latest jw friends
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SixofNine
So Leolaia, your point is that the best guess is that this is simply a mis-translation; the original meaning likely had nothing to do with baby goats or said goat's mother's milk? Do I have that right?
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Leolaia
SixofNine....I.Wonder posted a link to an article that pointed to a Canaanite text discovered at Ugarit that seemed to attest the practice of boiling a kid in milk as a ritual that formed a part of the worship of Canaanite gods. However the text seems to make better sense if it refers to boiling "coriander" in milk, so it probably has no relation to the biblical prohibition.
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SixofNine
Ah, I see. I thought perhaps you were inferring that the bible version might have been referencing the Canaanite practice (which would explain the prohibition, a religious ritual to other gods), and that the common understanding (ie. baby goat.mother's milk.nein!wtf?!) might be a completely wrong retelling/translation. I'll go back to believing the writer was just an idiot in that case :)
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Narkissos
The prohibition seems to be older than any likely "anti-Canaanite" intent, and its inscription in the sex-birth-death triangle of taboos suggests it is not artificial.
There is also some structural parallelism to other prohibitions, such as Leviticus 22:27f; Deuteronomy 22:6, which imply separation between mother and young before killing.
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Crumpet
Jehovah floods the world and kills every animal on the planet except the handful that won a cruise with Noah, then he orders the Israelites to slaughter an animal every 15 minutes or so to atone for various sins, but he's concerned about the heathen nations and *their* "senseless" practices?!?
This made me laugh so hard I wet myself a little bit! Thanks Dave!
So back to whoever said that its possibly a kosher thing - not mixing dairy and meat products - this made me think of all the dairyu and meat meals I adore:
Chilli Con Carne with Cheese
Rare fillet steak with cream peppercorn sauce
Aberdeen Angus Burger with Monterey Jack cheese
Beef Stroganoff
Thank goodbness the Jdubs did not keep this rule as I would have missed out on so many delights of the palate!
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rebel8
There are so many bizarre commands in the bible.
What about circumcision? Was it really necessary back then for hygenic purposes as the borg claim? I don't understand why ancient man couldn't have figured out how to wash under his foreskin. Guys, help me out here--would it be that difficult to figure out?
I remember a jw mother not circumcising her son and actually being counseled about it!
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tijkmo
there is also a law that says you cant eat chicken and egg in a salad
and another that says you cant eat egg and chicken in a salad
not sure which came first
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peacefulpete
Thought I'd share this explanation suggests by a Rabbi centuries ago. First, the prohibition of boiling kid in mothers milk is repeated three times:
Exod 23:18 You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with anything leavened; and the fat of My festal offering shall not be left lying until morning. 23:19 The choice first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of YHWH your God.You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk(
(a doublet at ) Exod 34:25 You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with anything leavened; and the sacrifice of the Feast of Passover shall not be left lying until morning. 34:26 The choice first fruits of your soil you shall bring to the house of YHWH your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.
and the Deuternonymists revision at Deut 14:21 You shall not eat anything that has died a natural death; give it to the stranger in your community to eat, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a people consecrated to YHWH your God. You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.
In the Exodus context the emphasis is upon the notion of proper sacrifices, specifically not delaying sacrifice until the full crop has come in while the later Deuteronomist interprets the phrase as being a food prohibition.
R. Joseph ben Isaac Bekhor Shor (12th cent.) Sees the issue as a matter of mistranslation by the Deuteronomist himself.
He writes:
According to the plain meaning, the term “bishul” here means grow or complete, similar to its use [in the verse (Gen. 40:10)]: “its clusters ripened (הבשילו) into grapes.” This is what the verse is saying: do not allow [the kid] to grow up and be weaned from its mothers milk. [In other words, do not] wait until [the kid]’s mother grows it with her milk, rather bring it at the beginning. This fits with the context of the first part of the verse, “the choice first fruits of your soil [you shall bring].”
While, as was mentioned in this thread, there MAY have been some specific ritual in mind, this explanation certainly sounds persuasive.