Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 14:11
[Of] all clean birds ye shall eat.
11 20. Of Birds, cp. Lev 11:13-19; only the unclean are named; of clean birds we know of the dove, quail, partridge and barbur.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
11-20. Of all clean birds ye shalleat(See on Le 11:21).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Of all clean birds ye shall eat. Which the Targum of Jonathan describes, everyone that has a craw, and whose crop is naked, and has a superfluous talon, and is not rapacious; but such as are unclean are expressed by name in the following verses, so that all except them might be reckoned clean and fit for food. Maimonides p observes, that only the number of the unclean are reckoned, so that all the rest are free.
p Hilchot. Maacolot Asurot, c. 1. sect. 14.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verses 11-20:
The text lists the various birds or flying creatures designated as unclean. This list is the same as that of Lev 11:13-23, with two exceptions:
(1) The glede, raah, a species of vulture, included in the present text, but not in the list in Leviticus.
(2) Certain insects listed in Lev 11:22, q.v.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Deu 14:11
‘ Of all clean birds you may eat.’
Again the common birds such as the turtle-dove and pigeons could be eaten, along with many others. They flew in the air, and ate insects and seed. They kept to their proper sphere.
Deu 14:12-18
‘ But these are they of which you (ye) shall not eat: the griffon vulture, and the bearded vulture, and the osprey, and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind, and every raven after its kind, and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kind, the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl, and the pelican, and the black vulture, and the cormorant, and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat.’
But others were predators and ate carrion and blood. The ostrich, like the camel, wandered in desert regions, and was noted for her lack of care of her young and buried them in the dust of the earth (Job 39:13-18). The wading birds plunged their beaks into the mud. The bat came from dark secret places, and dwelt in tombs and burial places. All had about them that which was ‘unclean’.
This list is so close to that of Lev 11:13-19, even as to order, while expanding on it, that either one must be dependent on the other, or they must come from the same tradition. It could be explained by Lev 11:13-19 being in the memory of the speaker, but deliberately added to in speech, as the speaker thought of other similar birds, for in the end it is certain types of birds which must not be eaten, eaters of carrion, wading birds and the like.
Deu 14:19-20
‘ And all winged creeping things are unclean to you: they shall not be eaten. Of all clean ‘winged creatures’ (or ‘birds’) you may eat.’
Winged creeping things were necessarily of the dirt and could not be eaten, but some winged creatures (such as the locust) did not crawl in the dirt but leaped on their legs (Lev 11:21). The word used for ‘winged creatures’ regularly means ‘bird’, and does so in the parallel passage in Leviticus. But here it is clearly connected with winged creeping things. Possibly therefore it must be seen to take its wider meaning of winged creatures, in view of the fact that a different word for birds is used in verse 11. On the other hand it may simply be an added assurance that they can eat clean birds.
In all this we see how God’s people were to avoid all that outwardly had about them the taint of their behaviour. They were only to eat of what rose above the things that defile. In essence they could eat what ‘keeps its proper sphere’. This would bring home to them by constant example that they too were to live uplifted and pure lives on the higher plane, which was their proper sphere. Thus would they be worthy of Yahweh.
Unquestionably by following these principles the Israelites would avoid many kinds of disease, but the primary aim was not that but in order to inculcate a proper principle of life, to live wholesomely.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Deu 14:11-20
11You may eat any clean bird. 12But these are the ones which you shall not eat: the eagle and the vulture and the buzzard, 13and the red kite, the falcon, and the kite in their kinds, 14and every raven in its kind, 15and the ostrich, the owl, the sea gull, and the hawk in their kinds, 16the little owl, the great owl, the white owl, 17the pelican, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 18the stork, and the heron in their kinds, and the hoopoe and the bat. 19And all the teeming life with wings are unclean to you; they shall not be eaten. 20You may eat any clean bird.
Deu 14:11 This parallels Lev 11:13-19. The reason for the uncleanness is not stated, but it seems obvious that the listed birds ate carrion.
Deu 14:18 hoopoe This type of bird (BDB 189) eats all kinds of insects, including dung beatles. It became known for its eating in unclean places and having a dung-filled nest, therefore, it became an unclean migratory bird.
Deu 14:19 teeming life This phrase (BDB 481 CONSTRUCT 1056 & 733, cf Gen 7:14; Gen 7:21) refers to flying insects. This is paralleled in Lev 11:20-23, where some insects are clean to eat (i.e., locusts, cf. Mat 3:4; Mar 1:6). These insects are the food for many of the unclean birds listed.