First Christian Voices: Practices of the Apostolic Fathers

Chapter 1: The Study of Scripture

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Spiritual Meaning in the Study of Moses B arnabas 10: Now, when Moses said, “You will not eat the pig, nor the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the raven, nor any fish which is not possessed of scales” ( Deut 14:8–12 ), he embraced three doctrines in his mind. Moreover, He says to them in Deuteronomy, “And I will establish my ordinances among this people” ( Deut 4:1 ). Is there then not a command of God that they should not eat? There is, but Moses spoke with a spiritual meaning. For this reason, he named the pig as if to say, “You will not join yourself to people who resemble pigs.” For when they live in pleasure, they forget their Lord, but when they have a need they acknowledge the Lord. And the pig, when it has eaten, does not recognize its master, but when hungry it cries out and on receiving food is quiet again. “You will not eat,” he says, “the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the kite, nor the raven” ( Lev 11:13–15; Deut 14:12–14 ). He means that you must not join yourself to people who do not know how to acquire food for themselves by labor and sweat. Instead, they seize on the food of others in their iniquity. Although wearing an aspect of simplicity, they are on the watch to plunder others. So, these birds, while they sit idle, inquire how they may devour the flesh of others proving themselves pests by their wickedness. “You will not eat,” he says, “the lamprey eel, or the octopus, or the cuttlefish.” 2 He means that you must not join yourself or be like people who are ungodly to the end and are condemned to death just like those fishes that are cursed, that float in the deep not swimming like the rest, but make their abode in the mud which lies at the bottom.

2 Source unknown.