Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Deuteronomy
Chapter 14: Ye Are the Children of the LORD
Because Israel belongs to God, their whole way of life is to be different. 'Ye are the children of the LORD your God,' Moses says, 'a holy people... a peculiar people.' That identity shapes everything: how they grieve, what they eat, and how they give. The laws of clean and unclean food marked them out from the nations at every meal, and the tithe taught them to put God first and to open their hands to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. It is a chapter about belonging to God, living a set-apart life, and letting that holiness overflow in generosity to those in need.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Deuteronomy chapter 14. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. The chapter names Israel the children of the LORD, a holy and peculiar people, gives the laws of clean and unclean food that set them apart, and commands the tithe that taught reverence for God and care for the needy. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Children of the LORD
Israel belongs to God as His children, a holy and peculiar people set apart to Him.
Not Like the Nations
Even in mourning they were not to imitate the pagan practices of the peoples around them.
Clean and Unclean
The food laws marked Israel out from the nations at every meal as a separated people.
Truly Tithe
The tithe taught them to fear the LORD and to provide for the Levite and the needy.
Ye Are the Children of the LORD (Deuteronomy 14:1-2)
Israel's whole way of life flows from who they are: the children of the LORD, a holy and peculiar people chosen to be His own.
A Holy People, a Peculiar People
"Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead. For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth."
Hebrew Study
"holy," qadosh (קָדוֹשׁ). Set apart, consecrated, dedicated to God and therefore distinct from the common. To be holy is first of all to belong to God and to be marked off for Him. Israel was qadosh not because they were morally superior but because God had claimed them as His own, and that belonging was to shape their whole manner of life.
Explanation
Moses grounds the commands that follow in Israel's identity: "Ye are the children of the LORD your God." Because they are His children, they are not to grieve like the pagans, cutting themselves or making baldness "between your eyes for the dead," self-mutilating rituals common among the nations. Instead, "thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth." Their status as God's own children and treasured people was the reason their lives were to look different, even in the way they mourned.
Gospel Focus
Notice the order: identity first, then behavior. "Ye are the children of the LORD your God," and therefore your lives are to be different. God does not merely hand His people a list of rules; He tells them who they are, and the rules flow from that. This is the pattern of the whole Christian life. God says of believers, "will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:18), and on that basis He calls us to holiness: "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). We are a holy and peculiar people, not because we are better than others but because we belong to God, and that belonging shows even in our grief. Where the world without hope mutilates itself in despair, God's children "sorrow not, even as others which have no hope," for we grieve as those who know the resurrection. Live out of your identity: you are a child of God, chosen and holy, so let your whole life, even your sorrow, reflect the Father to whom you belong.
Clean and Unclean (Deuteronomy 14:3-21)
The food laws set Israel apart from the nations at every meal, a daily reminder that they were a holy people belonging to God.
Thou Shalt Not Eat Any Abominable Thing
"Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. These are the beasts which ye shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois. And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat. Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase. These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat: And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you. Of all clean birds ye shall eat. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, And every raven after his kind, And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant, And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. And every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. But of all clean fowls ye may eat. Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself: thou shalt give it unto the stranger that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto an alien: for thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk. Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year."
Hebrew Study
The food laws are grounded in identity, not merely diet: "for thou art an holy people unto the LORD... the children of the LORD your God." Every meal drew a line between Israel and the nations, a daily reminder of belonging to God. The distinctions were real but provisional, a schoolmaster until Christ, when God would declare all foods clean (Mark 7:19; Acts 10:15) and press the true separation inward — a people set apart in heart, not merely in menu.
Explanation
Moses restates the dietary laws given in Leviticus. Israel could eat animals that both parted the hoof and chewed the cud, "the ox, the sheep, and the goat," and the like, but not the camel, the hare, or the swine. Of water creatures they could eat "whatsoever hath fins and scales," but nothing without them. Certain birds and flying things were forbidden. These distinctions were not primarily about nutrition; they were about holiness. Every meal became a reminder that Israel was a separated people. What they put on their tables set them visibly apart from the nations around them, and taught them, day by day, to distinguish between the clean and the unclean.
Gospel Focus
These food laws served their purpose for a season, marking Israel out as holy to God among the nations. But the New Testament makes clear that the dietary code itself was a shadow, now fulfilled and set aside in Christ. Jesus, by declaring that food enters not the heart but the belly, was "purging all meats" (Mark 7:19), and to Peter God said, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." Paul teaches that "every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving." So the believer is no longer bound by clean and unclean foods; the wall these laws built between Jew and Gentile has been broken down in Christ. Yet the deeper principle abides forever: God's people are to be holy, set apart, distinguishable from the world. What was once pictured in what Israel ate is now to be lived out in holiness of heart and conduct. We are not marked off by diet but by lives that are visibly consecrated to God. The shadow has passed; the substance, a holy and peculiar people, remains.
Thou Shalt Truly Tithe (Deuteronomy 14:22-29)
The tithe taught Israel to put God first and to fear Him, and every third year it was to provide for the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
That Thou Mayest Learn to Fear the LORD
"And thou shalt eat before the LORD thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always. And if the way be too long for thee, so that thou art not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from thee, which the LORD thy God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD thy God hath blessed thee: Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household, And the Levite that is within thy gates; thou shalt not forsake him; for he hath no part nor inheritance with thee. At the end of three years thou shalt bring forth all the tithe of thine increase the same year, and shalt lay it up within thy gates: And the Levite, (because he hath no part nor inheritance with thee,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within thy gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand which thou doest."
Hebrew Study
The tithe (ma'aser, a tenth) is brought to God's chosen place and eaten there "before the LORD" with rejoicing — worship expressed in glad feasting on God's bounty. And every third year the tithe is stored up "that the Levite, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow... may eat and be satisfied." Giving to God and caring for the needy run together; true worship overflows into provision for those with no inheritance of their own.
Explanation
Israel was to "truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year," bringing a tenth of their grain, wine, oil, and firstlings to the place God chose, and there eating before Him with rejoicing. The stated purpose was formative: "that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always." Giving God the first and best trained the heart in reverence and trust. For those who lived far from the sanctuary, God graciously allowed them to convert the tithe to money, travel, and buy what they needed to feast before Him there. And every third year the tithe was to be laid up within their towns so that "the Levite... and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow... shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand."
Gospel Focus
The tithe was never merely about money; it was about the heart. Its purpose was "that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always." Giving God the first tenth of the increase trained Israel to put Him first, to trust Him with their provision, and to hold their possessions with an open hand. God does not need our gifts, but we need to give them, for giving loosens the grip of greed and teaches reverence and dependence. The principle of putting God first with our substance runs right through Scripture: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse... and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing" (Malachi 3:10). And notice how the tithe overflowed toward the needy, the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, the widow, so that worship and compassion were joined. The New Testament breathes the same spirit: "God loveth a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7). Whether we speak of tithes or freewill offerings, the call is to honor God first with what He has given, to hold our wealth loosely, and to let our giving reach the poor. Put God first with your substance, and learn thereby to fear and trust Him always.
Chapter 14 in Review
Deuteronomy 14 draws Israel's whole way of life out of their identity. "Ye are the children of the LORD your God," a holy and peculiar people, and so even their mourning was not to imitate the nations. The laws of clean and unclean food set them apart at every meal, a daily reminder of their consecration. And the tithe taught them to put God first, "that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always," while its third-year gathering provided for the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow.
For the Apostolic reader, this chapter teaches that holiness flows from belonging to God. We are His children, chosen and holy, and that identity is to shape everything, even our grief. The old food laws that marked Israel out have been fulfilled and set aside in Christ, but the call to be a set-apart people remains, now lived out in holy hearts and conduct rather than in diet. And the tithe reminds us to put God first with our substance and to let our giving overflow to the needy, for God loves a cheerful giver. Live out of your identity as a child of God, be holy as He is holy, and give as one who fears and trusts the Lord.
- "Ye are the children of the LORD," a holy and peculiar people; identity shapes life (14:1-2; 1 Peter 1:16).
- God is "a Father unto you," and calls His sons and daughters to holiness (2 Corinthians 6:18).
- The food laws set Israel apart, a shadow now fulfilled in Christ (14:3; Mark 7:19).
- The tithe trained the heart: "that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always" (14:23; Malachi 3:10).
- Giving overflowed to the Levite, stranger, fatherless, and widow (14:29; 2 Corinthians 9:7).
Questions for Reflection
- Does your life flow from your identity as a child of God, set apart and holy?
- Is your holiness a matter of the heart and conduct, visibly distinct from the world?
- Do you put God first with your substance, and let your giving reach the needy?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). The Hebrew terms are standard and can be checked in any Hebrew lexicon. Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- Children of the LORD, a holy and peculiar people: Deuteronomy 14:1-2; 1 Peter 1:16; 2 Corinthians 6:18.
- Clean and unclean food, a shadow fulfilled in Christ: Deuteronomy 14:3-21; Mark 7:19.
- The tithe, learning to fear God and care for the needy: Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Malachi 3:10; 2 Corinthians 9:7.