Exodus 23 · Verse 19

Exodus 23:19

The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.
Exodus 23:19, King James Version

Exodus 23:19 in other translations

BSBBring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God. You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk.
WEBYou shall bring the first of the first fruits of your ground into the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.
ASVThe first of the first-fruits of thy ground thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother’s milk.
YLTthe beginning of the first-fruits of thy ground thou dost bring into the house of Jehovah thy God; thou dost not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
DARBYThe first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.
BBEThe best of the first-fruits of your land are to be taken into the house of the Lord your God. The young goat is not to be cooked in its mother's milk.
WebsterThe first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the LORD thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

What does Exodus 23:19 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
19. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk--A prohibition against imitating the superstitious rites of the idolaters in Egypt, who, at the end of their harvest, seethed a kid in its mother's milk and sprinkled the broth as a magical charm on their gardens and fields, to render them more productive the following season. [See on De 14:21].

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 19 Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk - This passage has greatly perplexed commentators; but Dr. Cudworth is supposed to have given it its true meaning by quoting a MS. comment of a Karaite Jew, which he met with, on this passage. "It was a custom of the ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their fruits, to take a kid and boil it in the milk of its dam; and then, in a magical way, to go about and besprinkle with it all their trees and fields, gardens and orchards; thinking by these means to make them fruitful, that they might bring forth more abundantly in the following year." - Cudworth on the Lord's Supper, 4th. I give this comment as I find it, and add that Spenser has shown that the Zabii used this kind of magical milk to sprinkle their trees and fields, in order to make them fruitful. Others understand it of eating flesh and milk together; others of a lamb or a kid while it is sucking its mother, and that the paschal lamb is here intended, which it was not lawful to offer while sucking. After all the learned labor which critics have bestowed on this passage, and by which the obscurity in some cases is become more intense, the simple object of the precept seems to be this: "Thou shalt do nothing that may have any tendency to blunt thy moral feelings, or teach thee hardness of heart." Even human nature shudders at the thought of causing the mother to lend her milk to seethe the flesh of her young one! We need go no farther for the delicate, tender, humane, and impressive meaning of this precept.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Exodus 23:10-19

Every seventh year the land was to rest. They must not plough or sow it; what the earth produced of itself, should be eaten, and not laid up. This law seems to have been intended to teach dependence on Providence, and God's faithfulness in sending the larger increase while they kept his appointments. It was also typical of the heavenly rest, when all earthly labours, cares, and interests shall cease for ever. All…

Read the full comment on Exodus 23:10-19 →

Exodus 23:19 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

רֵאשִׁ֗יתre.Shit[the] beginning ofH7225
בִּכּוּרֵי֙bi.ku.Rei[the] first-fruits ofH1061
אַדְמָ֣תְךָ֔'ad.Ma.te.khaground yourH127
תָּבִ֕יאta.Vi'you will bringH935
בֵּ֖יתbeit[the] house ofH1004
יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ'e.lo.Hei.khaGod yourH430
לֹֽא\־lo'-notH3808
תְבַשֵּׁ֥לte.va.Shelyou must boilH1310
גְּדִ֖יge.Dia kidH1423
בַּחֲלֵ֥בba.cha.Levin [the] milk ofH2461
אִמּֽוֹ\׃\ \ס'i.Momother itsH517

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Exodus 23:19

  • Exodus 34:26

    The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring unto the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

  • Deuteronomy 14:21

    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.

  • Nehemiah 10:35

    And to bring the firstfruits of our ground, and the firstfruits of all fruit of all trees, year by year, unto the house of the Lord:

  • Deuteronomy 26:10

    And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the Lord thy God, and worship before the Lord thy God:

  • Exodus 22:29

    Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

  • Numbers 18:12-13

    All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the Lord, them have I given thee. And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the Lord, shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of it.

  • Deuteronomy 26:2

    That thou shalt take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which thou shalt bring of thy land that the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt put it in a basket, and shalt go unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place his name there.

  • Proverbs 12:10

    A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.

  • 1 Corinthians 15:20

    But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

  • Revelation 14:4

    These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

  • Jeremiah 10:3

    For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.

  • Leviticus 23:10-17

    Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest: And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord. And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the Lord for a sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the fourth part of an hin. …

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
first of the.
22:29; 34:26; Le 23:10-17; Nu 18:12,13; De 12:5-7; 26:10; Ne 10:35
1Co 15:20; Re 14:4
Thou shalt not seethe a kid.The true sense of this passage seems to be that assigned by Dr. Cudworth, from a MS. comment of a Karaïte Jew. "It was a custom with the ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their fruits, to take a kid, and boil it in the dam's milk; and then in a magical way, to go about and sprinkle all their trees, and fields, and gardens, and orchards with it, thinking by these means, that they should make them fruitful, and bring forth more abundantly in the following year. Wherefore, God forbad his people, the Jews, at the time of their in-gathering, to use any such superstitious or idolatrous rite."
34:26; De 14:21; Pr 12:10; Jer 10:3

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Exodus 23:18

    Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leavened bread; neither shall the fat of my sacrifice remain until the morning.

  • Exodus 23:19

    The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk.

  • Exodus 23:20

    Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

Read all of Exodus 23

Exodus 23:19 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Las primicias de los primeros frutos de tu tierra traerás á la casa de Jehová tu Dios. No guisarás el cabrito con la leche de su madre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Tu apporteras à la maison de l’ Éternel, ton Dieu, les prémices des premiers fruits de ta terre. – Tu ne cuiras pas le chevreau dans le lait de sa mère.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Das erste der Erstlinge deines Landes sollst du in das Haus Jehovas, deines Gottes, bringen. -Du sollst ein Böcklein nicht kochen in der Milch seiner Mutter.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Primitias frugum terræ tuæ deferes in domum Domini Dei tui. Non coques hædum in lacte matris suæ.