It’s really hard to maintain a position throughout most of the book of Deuteronomy that God has no double standards, is precise and fair in His dealings with people, and doesn’t tip the scales of justice…only to stumble on Deuteronomy 14:21.
The verse just oozes Jewish exceptionalism: While Jews may not eat anything that dies of itself (outlawed by verses like Leviticus 22:8 as a paragon of holiness), foreigners and “the alien who is in your town” can eat all they want.
It’s almost as if God doesn’t care that they’re unclean.
But first, let’s clarify some terms here. Moses uses the idea of “foreigner” to describe someone who lives in another area, whereas “aliens in your town” are foreigners who live among the cities of Israel. Those are most likely poorer members of society, which explains why you can sell to foreigners, but give the meat to aliens. One group could support themselves, whereas another group could not.
Getting back to the idea of holiness, though, does God not care about the purity of foreigners versus the purity of Israelites?
Put simply, no, He does not.
To refresh earlier passages on this subject, there is a difference between ritual impurity and sin. Impurity keeps you from worshipping in the Temple and participating in holy days, but sin is something condemnable by God. It’s a violation of the covenant; ritual impurity is just a fact of life. A leper is not necessarily in sin; they’re just “impure.”
For foreigners then, God isn’t concerned with their ritual purity. None of them are participating in these types of activities, so whether they’re impure or not is irrelevant.
This does pose a problem when you compare this passage to Leviticus 17:15, though. There, God tells the people that neither stranger nor resident may eat this type of meat, and if they do, they are to bathe and remain unclean until evening.
How do we handle this? Read in a straightforward way, God’s command to the Israelites is clear: In both passages, God forbids Israelites to eat meat that died from natural causes. If they were to eat it, they would become unclean and go through the purification process in Leviticus 17:15-16.
Deuteronomy 14:21 punctuates this, allowing an exception for the sale or donation of this meat to Gentiles, but still commands Israelites not to eat it because they are “a holy people to the Lord.”
If we’re to interpret this in the most consistent way, then it makes sense (to me) to say that any Israelite worth their salt should care about ritual purity. Without it, they’re ostracized from the community and from Jehovah worship.
I would argue that even Gentiles who live near or interact regularly with Israelites should have the same compunction. However, if you are a gentile who has respect for God (Exodus 12:43-49; Numbers 15:14-16), then you should keep yourself from it because you also care about ritual impurity.
But if you’re a gentile with little regard for Jehovah (even though you should), there is no such law for you. Eat whatever meat you want.
What do you think, though? How would you reconcile these passages?
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