Some of the Strangest Old Testament Laws and What They Mean

This article is part of the Tough Passages series. Laws That Sound Strange to Us Many readers view a number of laws in the Pentateuch as obscure, strange, and sometimes impossible to understand. Specialized vocabulary and ritualistic concepts make them difficult to translate for the ears of modern readers. However, we must take great care to read each law within its given context instead of ignoring or reading our own mindset into the text. Get clarity on some of these laws from Biblical scholars who have dedicated their lives to discerning their meaning. All content is adapted from the ESV Expository Commentary. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.” —Ex. 23:19b Exodus 23:19b relates to the Lord’s proper worship. Boiling appears to have been a common way to prepare sacrificial meat (Lev. 6:28–29; 1 Sam. 2:13; Zech. 14:21), which would have been done during three festivals mentioned earlier in chapter 23: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering. Why such meat should not be boiled in its mother’s milk is not explained. Many have suggested this is prohibiting the Israelites from imitating a pagan rite, though there is no clea...