Deuteronomy 14:20 Meaning and Explanation
“But of all clean fowls ye may eat.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Where a reader expects the list to end in restriction, it ends in generosity. Nine verses of names close with a single sentence handing the rest of the sky back to Israel. That closing move says something about the God who gave the law, and it is easy to miss when we read only the prohibitions.
After a long list of exceptions, Moses returns to permission. Every bird outside the forbidden group remains available, so Israel finishes the section with freedom rather than a shrinking table.
The Context of Deuteronomy 14:20
Moses is speaking to Israel in Moab before the crossing into Canaan. Deuteronomy 14:11 opened the section on birds with permission, verses 12 through 18 listed the exceptions, and verse 19 ruled out flying creeping things. Verse 20 closes the section by restating the permission. Verse 21 then moves to what dies of itself and to the instruction about a kid and its mother's milk, grounding both in Israel's status as a holy people. From verse 22 the chapter turns to tithing and to eating before the LORD in the place he would choose.
What Does Deuteronomy 14:20 Mean?
The opening word turns the passage around after verse 19. 'Of all clean fowls' gathers everything the preceding list left untouched, which is the great majority of birds an Israelite would encounter. 'Ye may eat' is permission given to the whole assembly, plural and public. The sentence is short because the case is simple. Israel needed a boundary drawn clearly, and once drawn, the rest was open. The chapter never requires anyone to prove a bird clean; it names what is set aside and releases everything else. That structure keeps the burden light and the memory manageable.
Verse 20 repeats verse 11 and frames the whole list between two grants of permission. That framing matters for reading Deuteronomy well. The chapter begins by calling Israel children of the LORD and a people chosen above all nations, and it ends with a feast in verse 26 where a family eats and rejoices before God, and with provision in verse 29 for the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Restriction appears inside a chapter about belonging, celebration, and care for the vulnerable. Israel's food laws were never designed as deprivation; they carved out a shape for a grateful life.
1 Timothy 4:4 says that every creature of God is good, received with thanksgiving, and that line reads like a comment on this verse. The permission Moses gives is wide, and the wideness comes from the goodness of what God made. Jesus taught his disciples to pray for daily bread and ate freely with all kinds of people, and Paul urged the Corinthians to eat whatever is set before them, asking no question. Gratitude runs through all of it. The God who told Israel which birds to leave alone is the same God who filled the sky with birds they were free to enjoy.
Deuteronomy 14:20 in the Original Language
tahor (טָהוֹר), 'clean' -- an adjective for what is pure or fit, used across the law for people, objects, and creatures acceptable in Israel's worship and daily life. Applied to birds here, it marks the wide group left available after the exceptions have been named.
Bible Verses Related to Deuteronomy 14:20
“Of all clean birds ye shall eat.”
- Deuteronomy 14:11
“To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.”
- Leviticus 11:47
“Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.”
- Genesis 9:3
“For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:”
- 1 Timothy 4:4
Where Deuteronomy 14:20 Echoes in Scripture
Genesis 9:3 stands behind this permission. After the flood God told Noah that every moving thing that lives would be food for him, as the green herb had been. Deuteronomy 14 works within that grant and marks off a portion of it for one nation with a particular calling. Reading the two together keeps the shape of the law clear: a generous world given to all people, and a distinct pattern of eating given to Israel as a sign of belonging to the LORD.
How to Apply Deuteronomy 14:20 Today
Much of life is like this verse. A few things are marked off, and a wide field is left open. We often live as though the opposite were true, treating faith as a long list of denials and missing the enormous permission surrounding them. Verse 20 invites a recalibration. We can name honestly the handful of things we set aside, and then receive the rest with real pleasure: food, work, friendship, music, rest, the ordinary goodness of a quiet afternoon. Gratitude for what is given tends to make the few boundaries easier to keep than resentment ever does.
Reflection & Prayer
What good gift have we been treating with suspicion when God has plainly offered it? A prayer: Generous Lord, you drew a few lines and left a wide open field. Forgive us for imagining you stingy. Teach us to receive your gifts with thanks, to hold your boundaries with trust, and to enjoy what you have made without guilt.