One of my resolutions for the new year is to read the entire Old Testament. I just finished Exodus and now I'm a few chapters into Leviticus. There is some pretty.....um......I'll use the word "interesting" (you can decide what that means).......stuff in these chapters. For those of you whose resolutions have something to do with changing your diet, I refer you to Leviticus chapter 11. Ready? Here's your new diet:
Don't eat:
Camel
Coney (Wikipedia tells me that a "Coney" is the English word for rabbit, but it also says that it's a translation of a Hebrew word which would mean "rock hyrax" in modern English.)
Hare
Swine
Eagle
Ossifrage (Now called the "Lammergeyer" or "Bearded Vulture". The old name - Ossifrage - means "Bone Breaker". It gets that name because of a curious eating habit. It lives on a diet that is 90% bone marrow found in the bones of dead animals. It will take a heavy piece of bone, fly up to a higher elevation, and drop the bone on rocks down below in order to split the bone into smaller pieces, which it then swallows whole. It has stomach fluids that are more acidic than battery acid, which break down the bone for digestion. Funny coincidence: I just watched another episode of the BBC series "Life" this morning. I watched the one on birds, which included the Lammergeyer.)
Ospray (Now spelled "Osprey". Wikipedia says that it is classified as a large raptor approximately two feet in length, with a wingspan of two meters. It is sometimes called the "Sea Hawk" or "Fish Eagle," because it feeds primarily on fish.)
Vulture
Kite (Another large raptor, like the hawk and eagle. There are many varieties of Kites, which is probably why the Bible says "...and the kite after his kind.")
Every kind of raven
Owl
Night Hawk
Cuckow (We call them "Cuckoos" now. There are many species throughout the world.)
Hawk "after his kind"
Little Owl
Cormorant (There are a lot of species of these birds too.)
Great Owl
Swan
Pelican
Gier Eagle (Wikipedia: Translated into English from the Hebrew word "Rachamah". Commonly known as the Egyptian Vulture.)
Stork
Heron
Lapwing (Wikipedia: "Noted for its slow, irregular wing beat in flight and a shrill, wailing cry.")
Bat
[Poor chicken. He didn't make the "don't eat" list of birds.]
Weasel
Mouse
Tortoise
Ferret
Chameleon
Lizard
Snail
Mole
Verse 20 says, "All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you." Can you think of a bird that goes on all four?
You can eat these:
Anything with fins and scales in the waters
Locust
Bald Locust
Beetle
Grasshopper
So, what do you think? Yummy, right? There are other rules in chapter 11 about the kinds of animals that can/cannot be consumed, but I mostly included the ones mentioned by name.
