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What Does the Bible Say About..Food?

What kind of food did Daniel and his friends refuse when the king offered his well respected food the food that when you eat you are the real man? I agree with you that there is nowhere where it is written that pork must not be eaten but when Jesus met Legion who was demon possessed where did he send the demons? Therefore I propose that pork is unclean.

Answer

All we know of the food Daniel refused was that it was the king’s food and wine. We don’t even know whether it included flesh, although it probably did. The word translated “meat” in the King James Version means any kind of food. In fact, when it appears in the Law of Moses it is usually an offering of grain flour or baked flour cakes. We can assume that it was a diet more than just vegetables and water, because that is what Daniel did eat.

Any speculation about why Daniel refused the king’s food is just that, speculation. It may be that he wanted to be different. My speculation is that the king sometimes ate food sacrificed to idols, and Daniel wanted to avoid that, whether it was flesh or bread. If it were flesh, it probably included beef and lamb, and possibly (but not necessarily) pork.

If pork is unclean just because Jesus sent the legion of demons into a swineherd that happened to be close by, does that mean that if it had been a herd of sheep or cows in the vicinity that beef or lamb would be unclean? That it was a herd of swine just shows that he was outside the Jewish realm. Besides, the swine that were inhabited by the demons all threw themselves into the lake and presumably died. Since they were a limited herd with no offspring after being demon possessed, how could other swine be unclean just based on this incident? Was Jesus unclean and, therefore, unfit to be a sacrifice for sin just because some people had demons? Certainly not. So this incident could not declare all swine unclean.

If you choose not to eat pork, good. If you choose not to eat any flesh, good. I respect your choice. If I were to eat with you I would honor those choices.