◄ Exodus 22:31 ►
You are to be My holy people. You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field; you are to throw it to the dogs.
Study Bible
You are to be My holy people
This phrase establishes a foundational identity for the Israelites as God's chosen people. The Hebrew word for "holy" is "qadosh," which means set apart, sacred, or consecrated. In the ancient Near Eastern context, holiness was not just a moral or ethical quality but a status of being dedicated to the divine. The Israelites were called to be distinct from other nations, reflecting God's character and purposes. This call to holiness is echoed throughout Scripture, emphasizing a life of purity, obedience, and devotion to God. The concept of being "holy" is not just about ritual purity but encompasses the entirety of life, including moral and ethical behavior, worship, and community relationships.

You must not eat the meat of a mauled animal found in the field
This command reflects the dietary laws given to the Israelites, which were part of their covenant relationship with God. The Hebrew word for "mauled" is "trefah," which refers to an animal that has been torn by beasts. Such meat was considered unclean and unfit for consumption. This prohibition served both practical and symbolic purposes. Practically, it protected the Israelites from potential health risks associated with consuming meat that might be diseased or contaminated. Symbolically, it reinforced the idea of holiness and separation from practices that were common among pagan nations. The dietary laws were a constant reminder of the Israelites' unique identity and their call to live according to God's standards.

You are to throw it to the dogs
In ancient Israel, dogs were not typically kept as pets but were scavengers that roamed the streets. The instruction to throw the unclean meat to the dogs underscores the complete separation the Israelites were to maintain from anything that defiled them. This act of discarding the meat to the dogs highlights the importance of obedience to God's commands and the seriousness with which the Israelites were to regard their covenant obligations. It also serves as a metaphor for rejecting impurity and embracing the holiness to which they were called. The imagery of dogs, often associated with uncleanness in biblical times, reinforces the distinction between what is holy and what is profane.

Persons / Places / Events
1. God (Yahweh)
- The speaker of the command, emphasizing His covenant relationship with the Israelites and His desire for them to be set apart as holy.

2. Israelites
- The recipients of the command, called to live as God's holy people, distinct from surrounding nations.

3. Mauled Animal
- Represents unclean or defiled food, which the Israelites are instructed to avoid to maintain their holiness.

4. Dogs
- Symbolic of impurity in ancient Israelite culture, often associated with uncleanliness and scavenging.
Teaching Points
Holiness as a Distinctive Mark
God calls His people to be holy, which means being set apart for His purposes. This distinctiveness should be evident in every aspect of life, including dietary practices.

Obedience to God's Commands
The command not to eat mauled animals underscores the importance of obedience to God's laws, which are designed to protect and sanctify His people.

Symbolism of Purity
The prohibition against eating defiled meat serves as a metaphor for maintaining spiritual purity and avoiding moral corruption.

Practical Separation from the World
Just as the Israelites were to avoid certain foods, Christians are called to avoid practices and influences that compromise their spiritual integrity.

God's Provision and Care
By instructing the Israelites to throw the meat to the dogs, God demonstrates His provision, ensuring His people have what they need without resorting to defiled sources.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the concept of holiness in Exodus 22:31 relate to the New Testament call for believers to be holy?

2. In what ways can Christians today practice being "set apart" in their daily lives?

3. How does the instruction to throw the meat to the dogs reflect God's care and provision for His people?

4. What are some modern-day "unclean" influences that Christians should avoid to maintain spiritual purity?

5. How can the principles found in Exodus 22:31 guide our understanding of obedience to God's commands in contemporary contexts?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Leviticus 11
This chapter outlines dietary laws, emphasizing the importance of distinguishing between clean and unclean foods, reinforcing the call to holiness.

Deuteronomy 14:21
Similar instruction regarding not eating anything that dies naturally, highlighting the theme of purity and separation.

1 Peter 1:15-16
Peter calls believers to be holy in all conduct, echoing the call to holiness found in Exodus.

Romans 12:1-2
Paul urges believers to present their bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, aligning with the concept of being set apart.
Sermons
Jehovah's DuesJ. Orr Exodus 22:29-31
People
Moses
Places
Mount Sinai
Topics
Animal, Animals, Beasts, Cast, Caused, Consecrated, Death, Dog, Dogs, Eat, Field, Flesh, Holy, Meat, Pieces, Throw, Torn, Wild
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Exodus 22:31

     1065   God, holiness of
     1443   revelation, OT
     4438   eating
     4478   meat
     4605   animals, religious role
     4630   dog
     7141   people of God, OT

Library
Excursus on Usury.
The famous canonist Van Espen defines usury thus: "Usura definitur lucrum ex mutuo exactum aut speratum;" [96] and then goes on to defend the proposition that, "Usury is forbidden by natural, by divine, and by human law. The first is proved thus. Natural law, as far as its first principles are concerned, is contained in the decalogue; but usury is prohibited in the decalogue, inasmuch as theft is prohibited; and this is the opinion of the Master of the Sentences, of St. Bonaventura, of St. Thomas …
Philip Schaff—The Seven Ecumenical Councils

Parable of the Importunate Widow.
^C Luke XVIII. 1-8. ^c 1 And he spake a parable unto them to the end that they ought always to pray, and not to faint; 2 saying, There was in a city a judge, who feared not God, and regarded not man [an utterly abandoned character]: 3 and there was a widow in that city; and she came oft unto him, saying, Avenge me of [rather, Do justice to me as to] mine adversary. [In Scripture language widowhood is symbolic of defenselessness (Ex. xxii. 22-24; Deut. x. 18; xxvii. 19; Mal. iii. 5; Mark xii. 40), …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Ciii. Zacchæus. Parable of the Pounds. Journey to Jerusalem.
(Jericho.) ^C Luke XIX. 1-28. ^c 1 And he entered and was passing through Jericho. [This was about one week before the crucifixion. Jericho is about seven miles from the Jordan and about seventeen and a half from Jerusalem.] 2 And behold, a man called by name Zacchaeus; and he was a chief publican, and he was rich. [See p. 76. It is probable that Zacchæus was a sub-contractor under some Roman knight who had bought the privilege of collecting taxes at Jericho, or perhaps the privilege of all …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Epistle Xl. To Mauricius Augustus.
To Mauricius Augustus. Gregory to Mauricius, &c. The Piety of my Lords in their most serene commands, while set on refuting me on certain matters, in sparing me has by no means spared me. For by the use therein of the term simplicity they politely call me silly. It is true indeed that in Holy Scripture, when simplicity is spoken of in a good sense, it is often carefully associated with prudence and uprightness. Hence it is written of the blessed Job, The man was simple and upright (Job i. 1). …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Appeal to the Christian Women of the South
BY A.E. GRIMKE. "Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not within thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place: but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this. And Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer:--and so will I go in unto the king, …
Angelina Emily Grimke—An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South

Epistle xvii. To Felix, Bishop of Messana.
To Felix, Bishop of Messana. To our most reverend brother, the Bishop Felix, Gregory, servant of the servants of God [246] . Our Head, which is Christ, to this end has willed us to be His members, that through His large charity and faithfulness He might make us one body in Himself, to whom it befits us so to cling that, since without Him we can do nothing, through Him we may be enabled to be what we are called. From the citadel of the Head let nothing divide us, lest, if we refuse to be His members, …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Feast of the Dedication. The Jews Attempt to Stone Jesus and He Retires to Peræa.
(Jerusalem and Beyond Jordan.) ^D John X. 22-42. ^d 22 And it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem: 23; it was winter; and Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. [The feast of dedication was one of eight days' duration and began upon the 25th Chisleu, which, according to the calculation of M. Chevannes, fell upon the nineteenth or twentieth of December, a.d. 29. The feast was kept in honor of the renovation and purification of the temple in the year b.c. 164, after it had been desecrated …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

A Summary of the Christian Life. Of Self-Denial.
The divisions of the chapter are,--I. The rule which permits us not to go astray in the study of righteousness, requires two things, viz., that man, abandoning his own will, devote himself entirely to the service of God; whence it follows, that we must seek not our own things, but the things of God, sec. 1, 2. II. A description of this renovation or Christian life taken from the Epistle to Titus, and accurately explained under certain special heads, sec. 3 to end. 1. ALTHOUGH the Law of God contains …
Archpriest John Iliytch Sergieff—On the Christian Life

Jesus' Last Public Discourse. Denunciation of Scribes and Pharisees.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) ^A Matt. XXIII. 1-39; ^B Mark XII. 38-40; ^C Luke XX. 45-47. ^a 1 Then spake Jesus ^b 38 And in his teaching ^c in the hearing of all the people he said unto ^a the multitudes, and to his disciples [he spoke in the most public manner], 2 saying, ^c 46 Beware of the scribes, ^a The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat: 3 all things whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe: but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus.
(the Temple at Jerusalem, b.c. 4) ^C Luke II. 21-39. ^c 21 And when eight days [Gen. xvii. 12] were fulfilled for circumcising him [The rite was doubtless performed by Joseph. By this rite Jesus was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 16, 17); that is, he became a member of the covenant nation, and became a debtor to the law--Gal. v. 3] , his name was called JESUS [see Luke i. 59], which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. [Luke i. 31.] 22 And when the days of their …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Development of the Earlier Old Testament Laws
[Sidenote: First the principle, and then the detailed laws] If the canon of the New Testament had remained open as long as did that of the Old, there is little doubt that it also would have contained many laws, legal precedents, and ecclesiastical histories. From the writings of the Church Fathers and the records of the Catholic Church it is possible to conjecture what these in general would have been. The early history of Christianity illustrates the universal fact that the broad principles are …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

The Blessing of Jacob Upon Judah. (Gen. Xlix. 8-10. )
Ver. 8. "Judah, thou, thy brethren shall praise thee; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; before thee shall bow down the sons of thy father. Ver. 9. A lion's whelp is Judah; from the prey, my son, thou goest up; he stoopeth down, he coucheth as a lion, and as a full-grown lion, who shall rouse him up? Ver. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto Him the people shall adhere." Thus does dying Jacob, in announcing …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

The Eighth Commandment
Thou shalt not steal.' Exod 20: 15. AS the holiness of God sets him against uncleanness, in the command Thou shalt not commit adultery;' so the justice of God sets him against rapine and robbery, in the command, Thou shalt not steal.' The thing forbidden in this commandment, is meddling with another man's property. The civil lawyers define furtum, stealth or theft to be the laying hands unjustly on that which is another's;' the invading another's right. I. The causes of theft. [1] The internal causes …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments

Exodus
The book of Exodus--so named in the Greek version from the march of Israel out of Egypt--opens upon a scene of oppression very different from the prosperity and triumph in which Genesis had closed. Israel is being cruelly crushed by the new dynasty which has arisen in Egypt (i.) and the story of the book is the story of her redemption. Ultimately it is Israel's God that is her redeemer, but He operates largely by human means; and the first step is the preparation of a deliverer, Moses, whose parentage, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links
Exodus 22:31 NIV
Exodus 22:31 NLT
Exodus 22:31 ESV
Exodus 22:31 NASB
Exodus 22:31 KJV

Exodus 22:31 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Exodus 22:30
Top of Page
Top of Page