Reference: Clean
Easton
The various forms of uncleanness according to the Mosaic law are enumerated in Le 11-15; Nu 19. The division of animals into clean and unclean was probably founded on the practice of sacrifice. It existed before the Flood (Ge 7:2). The regulations regarding such animals are recorded in Le 11 and De 14:1-21.
The Hebrews were prohibited from using as food certain animal substances, such as (1) blood; (2) the fat covering the intestines, termed the caul; (3) the fat on the intestines, called the mesentery; (4) the fat of the kidneys; and (5) the fat tail of certain sheep (Ex 29:13,22; Le 3:4-9; 9:19; 17:10; 19:26).
The chief design of these regulations seems to have been to establish a system of regimen which would distinguish the Jews from all other nations. Regarding the design and the abolition of these regulations the reader will find all the details in Le 20:24-26; Ac 10:9-16; 11:1-10; Heb 9:9-14.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
You must take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, the male and its mate, two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate,
You are to take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe that is above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.
"You are to take from the ram the fat, the fat tail, the fat that covers the entrails, the lobe of the liver, the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and the right thigh -- for it is the ram for consecration --
the two kidneys with the fat on their sinews, and the protruding lobe on the liver (which he is to remove along with the kidneys). Then the sons of Aaron must offer it up in smoke on the altar atop the burnt offering that is on the wood in the fire as a gift of a soothing aroma to the Lord. read more. "'If his offering for a peace offering sacrifice to the Lord is from the flock, he must present a flawless male or female. If he presents a sheep as his offering, he must present it before the Lord. He must lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it before the Meeting Tent, and the sons of Aaron must splash its blood against the altar's sides. Then he must present a gift to the Lord from the peace offering sacrifice: He must remove all the fatty tail up to the end of the spine, the fat covering the entrails, and all the fat on the entrails,
As for the fat parts from the ox and from the ram (the fatty tail, the fat covering the entrails, the kidneys, and the protruding lobe of the liver),
"'Any man from the house of Israel or from the foreigners who reside in their midst who eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats the blood, and I will cut him off from the midst of his people,
"'You must not eat anything with the blood still in it. You must not practice either divination or soothsaying.
So I have said to you: You yourselves will possess their land and I myself will give it to you for a possession, a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the Lord your God who has set you apart from the other peoples. Therefore you must distinguish between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean, and you must not make yourselves detestable by means of an animal or bird or anything that creeps on the ground -- creatures I have distinguished for you as unclean. read more. You must be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the other peoples to be mine.
You are children of the Lord your God. Do not cut yourselves or shave your forehead bald for the sake of the dead. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. He has chosen you to be his people, prized above all others on the face of the earth. read more. You must not eat any forbidden thing. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the ibex, the gazelle, the deer, the wild goat, the antelope, the wild oryx, and the mountain sheep. You may eat any animal that has hooves divided into two parts and that chews the cud. However, you may not eat the following animals among those that chew the cud or those that have divided hooves: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger. (Although they chew the cud, they do not have divided hooves and are therefore ritually impure to you). Also the pig is ritually impure to you; though it has divided hooves, it does not chew the cud. You may not eat their meat or even touch their remains. These you may eat from among water creatures: anything with fins and scales you may eat, but whatever does not have fins and scales you may not eat; it is ritually impure to you. All ritually clean birds you may eat. These are the ones you may not eat: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the kite, the black kite, the dayyah after its species, every raven after its species, the ostrich, the owl, the seagull, the falcon after its species, the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl, the jackdaw, the carrion vulture, the cormorant, the stork, the heron after its species, the hoopoe, the bat, and any winged thing on the ground are impure to you -- they may not be eaten. You may eat any clean bird. You may not eat any corpse, though you may give it to the resident foreigner who is living in your villages and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner. You are a people holy to the Lord your God. Do not boil a young goat in its mother's milk.
About noon the next day, while they were on their way and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. He became hungry and wanted to eat, but while they were preparing the meal, a trance came over him. read more. He saw heaven opened and an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down to earth by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and wild birds. Then a voice said to him, "Get up, Peter; slaughter and eat!" But Peter said, "Certainly not, Lord, for I have never eaten anything defiled and ritually unclean!" The voice spoke to him again, a second time, "What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!" This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven.
Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him, read more. saying, "You went to uncircumcised men and shared a meal with them." But Peter began and explained it to them point by point, saying, "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, an object something like a large sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came to me. As I stared I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and wild birds. I also heard a voice saying to me, 'Get up, Peter; slaughter and eat!' But I said, 'Certainly not, Lord, for nothing defiled or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!' But the voice replied a second time from heaven, 'What God has made clean, you must not consider ritually unclean!' This happened three times, and then everything was pulled up to heaven again.
This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. They served only for matters of food and drink and various washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came. read more. But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.