Cherish the Finer Instinct
Exodus 23:19
The first of the first fruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God…


The prohibition suggests the duty of cherishing the finer instincts of our nature. The act here forbidden could hardly be called cruelty, the kid being dead, but it was unnatural. It is beautiful to see the ancient Law inculcating this rare and delicate fineness of feeling. The lesson is that everything is to be avoided which would tend to blunt our moral sensibilities.

(J. Orr.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

WEB: The first of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of Yahweh your God. "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.




The Feast of Ingathering in the End of the Year
Top of Page
Top of Page