“And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.”
And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. The pig is the most culturally significant of the four unclean animals in Israel's history: the prohibition on pork became one of the most distinctive markers of Jewish identity in the ancient world. Isaiah 65:4 and 66:17 list eating pig flesh among the abominations of those who have rejected God. The Maccabean crisis centered on the requirement to eat pork as an act of apostasy. The pig that has the visible sign of cleanness (divided hoof) but lacks the internal sign (cud-chewing) is the type of the outwardly observant but inwardly corrupt religious person.
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