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Exodus 23:19, UASV
The first of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of Jehovah your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
The phrase “you shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk” appears three times in the Torah: Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26, and Deuteronomy 14:21. The recurrence of this command within varying legal contexts has raised numerous lexical, cultural, and theological debates regarding its original purpose, cultural significance, and interpretive misuse—particularly in Rabbinic and modern Jewish dietary laws.
Let us begin with an analysis of the Hebrew terminology, the syntactic structure of the phrase, the cultural backdrop of ancient Canaanite ritual practices, and the dangers of overextension by later traditions.
Lexical Analysis: Preserving Literalness in Translation
Hebrew Text of Exodus 23:19b:
לֹא תְבַשֵּׁל גְּדִי בַּחֲלֵב אִמּוֹ
Transliteration: lo tevashel gedi baḥalēv immo
Literal rendering: “You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother.”
Key Lexemes:
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תְבַשֵּׁל (tevashel) – Qal imperfect second person masculine singular of בָּשַׁל (bashal), meaning “to boil” or “to cook.” There is no textual or contextual reason to render this as anything other than a literal act of cooking.
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גְּדִי (gedi) – A young goat or kid, specifically a suckling or newly born goat. The noun does not generically refer to “meat,” “animal,” or “livestock” but is species-specific.
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בַּחֲלֵב (baḥalēv) – “In the milk.” The preposition ב (bĕ) here indicates the medium or substance used in the cooking process.
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אִמּוֹ (immo) – “Its mother.” The possessive suffix makes this an intimate biological relationship, emphasizing the emotional and moral dissonance of the act.
The Hebrew is not ambiguous. There is no idiomatic or figurative construction in the grammar. It plainly describes the boiling (or cooking) of a young goat in the milk that belongs to and was produced by its biological mother. This level of specificity eliminates broad dietary implications that would cover all meat and dairy combinations.
The UASV renders this command with precision, reflecting the exact lexical choices and syntactic structure of the original Hebrew without theological or cultural extrapolation:
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
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Repeated Occurrences and Contextual Considerations
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Exodus 23:19 – Appears in a covenantal legal context, following instructions concerning festivals and offerings.
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Exodus 34:26 – Repeats the same instruction, again in connection with bringing firstfruits to Jehovah’s house.
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Deuteronomy 14:21 – Positioned within a list of dietary instructions, although the command itself does not conform to typical dietary language but is stated independently.
In all three passages, the command is presented as a standalone prohibition, distinct in grammatical form and thematic content. This strongly suggests that the injunction is ritualistic or symbolic, not broadly dietary in nature. The consistent pairing of this command with firstfruits offerings further strengthens the possibility that it pertains to ritual purity and reverence in offering life to Jehovah, rather than everyday food laws.
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Canaanite Ritual Background: Evaluating the Fertility Cult Hypothesis
The theory that this command addresses a Canaanite fertility ritual is often cited but not universally substantiated. Some scholars propose that ancient Canaanites practiced a ritual wherein a kid was cooked in its mother’s milk as a fertility or agricultural magic ceremony, intended to promote productivity and growth of flocks and crops. However, this interpretation relies on fragmentary Ugaritic texts (KTU 1.23) and conjectural reconstructions.
Issues with the Fertility Ritual Hypothesis:
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Lack of Direct Evidence: There is no explicit archaeological or textual evidence describing the practice of boiling a kid in its mother’s milk in pagan ritual contexts with enough clarity to directly link it to the biblical prohibition.
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Linguistic Discrepancies: The Ugaritic texts speak vaguely of “cooking in milk” but never specify the maternal connection. The biblical command, in contrast, is remarkably specific—the milk must come from the mother of the kid.
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Biblical Distinction: The Law frequently prohibits pagan rituals explicitly and with clear polemic language (e.g., Asherah poles, child sacrifice, divination). The absence of such framing here suggests the command may serve a moral or symbolic purpose rather than strictly anti-pagan polemic.
While it remains possible that a Canaanite ritual of this nature existed, the lack of corroborating cultural data argues against making this the definitive explanation. It remains a plausible but unproven background.
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Moral and Theological Interpretations
A more coherent interpretation arises from examining internal theological consistency and moral principles expressed throughout the Mosaic Law.
The Theme of Compassion and Natural Order:
Several related commands display a consistent divine concern for natural boundaries, maternal bonds, and compassion toward animal life:
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Leviticus 22:27 – A newborn animal must remain with its mother for at least seven days before it can be sacrificed.
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Leviticus 22:28 – “You shall not slaughter an ox or a sheep and its young in one day.”
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Deuteronomy 22:6–7 – One must not take a mother bird along with her young or eggs from the nest.
These commands highlight a principle of respect for the generational and nurturing roles of animals, particularly the maternal relationship. They also suggest that the Torah regulates the moral sensibility of the Israelites, even in dealing with animal life. The prohibition of boiling a kid in its mother’s milk mirrors this concern.
To use the very substance that sustains life (milk) to destroy that life (boiling the kid) reflects a perversion of divine order and is a moral affront to God’s design. It is a symbol of cruelty and inversion of what is natural.
Therefore, this law teaches a lesson not only about ritual conduct but about moral fitness in worship—that reverence for Jehovah includes respect for life and for natural relationships, even in food preparation or sacrificial practice.
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Rabbinic Misinterpretation and the Rise of Kosher Laws
Later Rabbinic Judaism misinterpreted this command by extrapolating it beyond its textual limits. The Mishnah (Hullin 8:1) and the Talmud transform the original prohibition into an elaborate dietary system forbidding all mixing of meat and dairy:
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No eating meat and dairy together.
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No cooking meat and dairy in the same pot.
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No deriving benefit from such mixtures.
These laws have been further codified in Jewish Halakha, but they rest on an interpretive overreach rather than on a grammatical, lexical, or contextual foundation in the Torah.
Flaws in Rabbinic Extension:
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The Hebrew does not prohibit cooking meat in milk generally, but only a young goat in the milk of its biological mother.
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There is no command prohibiting consumption, only boiling.
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No mention is made of beef, lamb, poultry, or other dairy sources.
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The command is not repeated in the Levitical dietary code (Leviticus 11), which would be expected if it were broadly dietary.
Rabbinic Judaism used this command as a legal seed from which to grow an entire corpus of dietary restrictions—a method that violates the literal-grammatical principle of interpretation and imposes later tradition onto divine revelation.
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Christian Application: Avoiding Misuse and Misreading
The Christian reader, especially one approaching Scripture from a literal, evangelical, and historically-grammatical perspective, must reject the interpretive expansions of this text found in Rabbinic tradition and some modern translations.
Modern translations like the NRSV and CEB, influenced by Jewish interpretive traditions or modern theological agendas, sometimes render or footnote this verse in ways that obscure its literal force and invite misapplication. The UASV maintains strict literal fidelity, refusing to project post-biblical interpretive systems back onto the inspired text.
This is not a command about kosher laws, nor about modern food ethics, nor about allegorical lessons. It is a historical moral-ritual prohibition, rooted in the sanctity of life, the importance of compassion, and the natural order God has established.
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Conclusion: Preserving the Original Prohibition Through Literal Translation
The command not to boil a young goat in its mother’s milk, repeated three times in the Torah, is a literal and specific prohibition. It is not a general dietary law, not a condemnation of milk and meat combinations, nor a reaction to definitively known pagan rituals. It reflects Jehovah’s concern for moral order, maternal bonds, and compassionate living. Any attempt to broaden the scope of the command beyond the literal wording and cultural context fails the test of sound translation and faithful exegesis.
Only a translation philosophy that respects the inspired form and content of the Hebrew text can preserve the original intent of Exodus 23:19. This is exactly what the Updated American Standard Version (UASV) accomplishes—maintaining precision, clarity, and theological integrity without human interpolation.
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