Food and Meals Oxford Biblical Studies Online (original) (raw)

2009, The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Law./Oxford Biblical Studies Online

The purpose of this article is to review biblical laws connected with food and meals, both as they are described in the Hebrew Bible and as they are interpreted subsequently in New Testament texts. Food and Meal Laws in the Hebrew Bible. In the Hebrew Bible, the laws concerned specifically with food and meals fall into three main areas: the laws prescribing (1) sacrificial meals that distinguished priests from non-priests, (2) the dietary rules that applied to all Israelites, and (3) foods specific to certain festivals like Passover and Sukkot. These food rules are of particular interest of the P (Priestly) source, so Leviticus presents a systematic exposition of the priestly sacrificial offerings (Lev 1-7), the dietary rules concerning clean and unclean animals for all Israelites (Lev 11), and specific foods and meals for the holidays (Lev 23). The D (Deuteronomist) source makes significant amendments to the priestly rules by permitting consumption of meat apart from the priestly sacrificial service due to centralization of the cult (Deut 12:15-15, 20-25). Elsewhere, it reiterates the dietary rules for all Israelites about clean and unclean animals in Deuteronomy 14:3-21. Most of the Hebrew Bible's food prescriptions focused on what kind of animal meat could be eaten, who could eat it, how it should be prepared, and when it could be eaten. There were also some rules concerned with the eating and apportionment of vegetable items, and agricultural rules specifying when produce was "eligible" to be eaten. What all of these food laws share is the assumption that by self-consciously making distinctions about what can be eaten-and by implication who can eat it, how it should be prepared, and when it should be eaten-Israelites would make themselves "holy" (qědōšîm), that is, separate and distinct. They were to be set apart, holy like "I Yhwh am holy" (Lev 11:44FF; 20:24-26). The priestly system of sacrifices in effect legislated rituals of "playing house" with God. The Israelites were to intimately experience God's company through regular "meals" with Him, albeit in ways that maintained the hierarchical distinctions of holiness the priests promulgated as God's "house rules." There are several main distinctions prescribed for the priestly meals. Some sacrifices were to be "consumed" entirely by God (the ʿōlōt) by being burnt up completely. Some were consumed by priests and God, that is, sacrifices with portions (like the kidney fat) prohibited to any human, the other parts prohibited to all non-priests and permitted only to male priests (the sin and guilt offerings-ḥaṭṭāʾt and ʾāšām, respectively). Other sacrifices could be consumed by priests; their female, minor family, and other household members; and God. And some sacrifices were divided and consumed by priests, their families, God, and ordinary Israelites. In addition to these meat sacrifices, there were vegetal sacrifices, like the grain (minḥâ) offerings and wine libations. Where, when, how it was cooked, and for what purpose effectively determined who could eat the minḥâ. While the minḥâ offering consisted of the same basic ingredients, such as the "choice flour," olive oil, frankincense, and salt (but without leaven or honey), it could be baked in an oven, or cooked on a griddle or pan. Only the male priests and God (in the form of a token handful burnt up into smoke on the altar) could eat parts of the minḥâ offering that were cooked and brought to the altar, but the first fruit offerings of parched grain that were brought "before God" but not to the altar per se could be eaten by the females and minors of the priests' families (Num 18:8-20). The priests and their families functioned as God's surrogates, eating on His behalf. Thus, the minḥâ offering, like the turtledoves or pigeons offered in lieu of sheep, goats, or bulls, permitted a less costly option for Israelites to participate in these sacred meals with God (Levine, 1989). Among the various types of sacrifices, a portion of them were voluntary, like the thanksgiving, vow, and Nazirite offerings; these were shared between the priests and the ordinary Israelites who made them. Other sacrifices were required but situational, like the guilt and sin offerings, of which ordinary Israelites could not eat. Certain sacrifices were time bound and were to be offered daily, or seasonally, including special ones like the Passover lamb or the goats on the Day of Atonement, or simply additional sacrifices on sabbaths and the pilgrimage festivals to distinguish those days from ordinary days. In addition to the sacrifices, the law considered the tithes for the Levites not only as compensation for their service in the sanctuary in lieu of holding land, but also as an "offering to Yhwh" (Num 18:24; Lev 27:30). The priestly laws require the priests who perform the sacrifices to be physically unblemished, like the animal victims they slaughter, and to be ritually clean. Furthermore, they or their families could eat the sacred offerings only when they were ritually clean, suggesting that these are the qualities of "the best" things fit to offer to God (