Free group study handout
Deuteronomy 14: Group Study Handout
How to use: read Deuteronomy 14 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.
Overview
Yahweh identifies the Israelites as His children. They must not cut themselves or make baldness for the dead (vv. 1-2).
Key verse
“You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself. You may give it to the foreigner living among you who is within your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
Deuteronomy 14:21 (WEB)
Outline
- Deuteronomy 14:1–2 Identity as Children of Yahweh
- Deuteronomy 14:3–8 Dietary Laws Explained
- Deuteronomy 14:9–20 Clean and Unclean Animals
- Deuteronomy 14:21 Prohibition Against Certain Foods
- Deuteronomy 14:22–29 Tithing and Community Care
Discussion questions
- In v2, what does it mean to be a 'holy people' to Yahweh?
- What animals are designated as 'unclean' in vv. 7-8?
- The command about not boiling a young goat in its mother’s milk (v21): what cultural practice might this address?
- In v29, why are the Levite, foreigner, orphan, and widow specifically mentioned for provision?
- When have you set aside something for others, as seen in the tithing practices in this chapter?
Go deeper
Passages that echo Deuteronomy 14: Deuteronomy 12, 1 Peter 2, Deuteronomy 7.
Before next time: read Deuteronomy 15.