Albert Barnes Commentary Deuteronomy 14:3-21

"Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing. These are the beasts which ye may eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat, the hart, and the gazelle, and the roebuck, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the antelope, and the chamois. And every beast that parteth the hoof, and hath the hoof cloven in two, [and] cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that may ye eat. Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that have the hoof cloven: the camel, and the hare, and the coney; because they chew the cud but part not the hoof, they are unclean unto you. And the swine, because he parteth the hoof but cheweth not the cud, he is unclean unto you: of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch. These ye may eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales may ye eat; and whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat; it is unclean unto you. Of all clean birds ye may eat. But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the gier-eagle, and the ospray, and the glede, and the falcon, and the kite after its kind, and every raven after its kind, and the ostrich, and the night-hawk, and the sea-mew, and the hawk after its kind, the little owl, and the great owl, and the horned owl, and the pelican, and the vulture, and the cormorant, and the stork, and the heron after its kind, and the hoopoe, and the bat. And all winged creeping things are unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. Of all clean birds ye may eat. Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth of itself: thou mayest give it unto the sojourner that is within thy gates, that he may eat it; or thou mayest sell it unto a foreigner: for thou art a holy people unto Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother`s milk." — Deuteronomy 14:3-21 (ASV)

(Compare to Leviticus 11.) The variations here, whether omissions or additions, are probably to be explained by the time and circumstances of the speaker.

In Deuteronomy 14:5, the “pygarg” is a species of gazelle, and the “wild ox” and “chamois” are swift types of antelope.

Regarding Deuteronomy 14:21, the prohibition is repeated from Leviticus 22:8. The directions for the disposal of the carcass are unique to Deuteronomy, and their motive is clear. To have forbidden the people either to eat what had died of itself, or to allow any others to do so, would have involved loss of property and a consequent temptation to break the command.

The permissions now granted for the first time would have been useless in the wilderness. During the 40 years of wandering, there would have been little opportunity to sell such carcasses. Meanwhile, non-Israelites living in the camp would, in such a matter, be bound by the same rules as the Israelites (Leviticus 17:15; Leviticus 24:22).

Furthermore, it would seem that greater strictness is given here to the requirement of abstaining from what had died of itself. Probably on this, as on so many other points, allowance was made for the circumstances of the people. Meat was no doubt often scarce in the desert.

Therefore, it would have been a hardship to forbid entirely the use of an animal that had died of itself. However, now that the abundance of the Promised Land was before them, the modified tolerance of this unholy food was withdrawn.