Dairy Products

Goat's Milk

Use of goat's milk. The milk derived from goats is especially excellent and rich. Most of the "leben" used today and in Bible times is made from goat's milk. Buttermilk and cheese are also utilized as milk products. The book of Proverbs speaks of the importance of goat's milk to the Hebrew people: "Thou shalt have goat's milk enough for thy food, f...

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Milk

DAIRY PRODUCTS Milk. Milk in Bible times was considered, not simply as something that was added to their food in cooking, but was regarded as a substantial food for all ages. Babies were fed mother's milk (Isaiah 28:9). The Hebrews not only used cow's milk, but also sheep's milk (Deuteronomy 32:14), goat's milk (Proverbs 27:27), and, no doubt, cam...

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Butter

Butter. It is generally agreed among Bible scholars, that in most of the cases where the word "butter" appears in our generally used translation, it does not mean the kind of butter known by the Westerner, but rather curdled milk or "leben." There are two passages that do refer to butter, but even that is in a different form from that used by those...

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Cheese

Cheese. In Israel the Arabs are fond of cheese. It is convenient for them to take cheese along with them. Their cheese is somewhat like Western slices, only larger and thicker. They are about as thick as a man's hand. They are found stacked up in the markets. David's father gave him ten cheeses to take to the army captain (I Samuel 17:18). Also Bar...

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Eggs

EGGS Sometime between the days of Elijah and the time of CHRIST the domestic fowl and the everyday use of eggs was introduced into Israel.30 There would seem to be one early Old Testament reference to what might be the egg of a hen. It is Job 6:6: "Is there any taste in the white of an egg?" We know that the use of eggs, among the Galileans aroun...

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Camel Products

Various camel products. The Arab of today makes use of camel meat and camel milk. The Mosaic law forbade the Jews to use camel meat "because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you" (Leviticus 11:4). It is possible that they did use the milk, at least in patriarchal times (cf. Genesis 32:15). Camel's hair serves many p...

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