Tahor Eating Addendum: The Birds of the Air

This is an addendum to this blog:

We Eat Tahor, Not Kosher: Returning To YAH’s Standard of Clean Eating

When it comes to eating tahor (”clean”) according to YAH’s instructions, most people today are solid on avoiding pork, shellfish, catfish, and other clearly unclean foods. And for good reason — Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 give us very clear identifiers for most creatures which are to be considered food for us:

• Land animals — Must have split hooves and chew the cud (Lev. 11:3, Deut. 14:6)
• Water animals — Must have fins and scales (Lev. 11:9, Deut. 14:9)
• Creeping things (insects) — Only those with raised jointed legs for hopping like crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts (Lev. 11:21-22)

Those above are easy to identify. But when it comes to flying creatures (“birds”)… more Hebraic understanding and discernment are required.

No “Clean Identifier” for Birds

For flying creatures (fowls/birds), YAH doesn’t give us a description of what makes them tahor. Instead, He gives a list of Hebrew words for unclean animals and their behaviors in Leviticus 11:13–19 and Deuteronomy 14:11–18.

Some of these:

• Describe characteristics rather than specific species.
• Appear only once or twice in the whole Bible.
• Have been mistranslated into animals that don’t even live in the Mediterranean.
• In one case, the Hebrew words are spelled differently in the two passages (dalet in one, resh in the other — highlighting a likely scribal typo).

The Unclean Flying Creatures

Click download below to read through the side-by-side word comparisons from Leviticus 11 & Deuteronomy 14. You can see where the Hebrew words match — and where the English translators have guessed, swapped, or inserted birds and other animals in their place. You can fact-check on Bible Hub, by clicking on the numbers above each word https://biblehub.com/interlinear/leviticus/11.htm

After reviewing both of the charts above, here are some highlights:

In addition to typical “birds of the air”, the list also includes some unusual entries — like the ostrich and the bat. I don’t know too many Hebrews who would even think about eating either of those! The ostrich is not a “bird of the air”, and the bat, of course, isn’t even a bird. This shows that the Biblical Hebrew term oph (“flying creature”) is broader than our modern English category for “flying fowl” or “bird”.

You may have also noticed one creature that translators say could be a bird, rodent, or reptile — a clear sign of uncertainty in their translations.

Also puzzling is the “night hawk.” Not only is it not a hawk at all, but the bird in question isn’t even native to the land of Israel. As always, fact check me, give it a quick Google. This is yet another example where English translations have introduced both biological and geographical mismatches into the text.

Comparison Note: The modern “nighthawk” (Chordeiles minor) is native to the Americas — breeding across North America and wintering in Central and South America. It is not found in the so-called “Middle East”. This makes the English choice “night hawk” for the Hebrew Tachmac strange and downright diabolical, showing how translators sometimes inserted birds they knew rather than regionally accurate ones. Look below and notice its first recorded use… That’s right, like the letter J (https://fb.watch/BrQZ8l9ZNQ/?mibextid=wwXIfr), the European translators strike again.

Side Note: Ancient Hebrew classifications are based on function and behavior, not modern scientific taxonomy. Creatures that fly — whether they are birds, bats, or even certain insects — can fall under the Biblical Hebrew category of oph. This explains why bats and ostriches can appear in the same list without contradiction, and why the focus is on their nature and habits rather than their scientific classification.

So… as with many things today, we have to look deeper than the surface. English is just the surface — Hebrew is the foundation. Remember, the Scriptures were written in Hebrew, not English. For a deeper look at how this shapes our understanding of the Bible, check out this blog:

Understanding the Writings of the Original Biblical Authors

Modern Diets & the “Birds of Prey” Rule

While all “birds of prey” are unclean, not all unclean birds are birds of prey. But in modern diets, most people naturally avoid non-poultry birds & bats anyway, as we just said, but for good measure, lets simplify things a bit further.

Especially if you’re just starting to learn about and live a life of tahor eating, here is a simple safeguard when it comes to distinguishing which birds are tahor vs. tamei, clean vs, unclean, food vs. abomination — Eat poultry birds (quail, chicken, turkey, duck, etc…) and DO NOT EAT:

• Birds of prey (also called raptors) are characterized by strong hooked beaks, sharp talons, and keen eyesight, and they primarily hunt and kill live prey. Primary examples include eagles, hawks, and owls.
• Scavenger birds are those that primarily feed on dead animals (carrion). The most well-known scavengers are vultures, which also belong to the bird of prey family. These scavengers were created by YAH to fulfill the vital role of cleaning the environment by consuming carcasses, helping to prevent the spread of disease and maintain balance and order in creation. However, not all scavenger birds are birds of prey or raptors.
  • Scavenger birds are diverse in type and behavior. What unites them is their role in consuming dead animals, but their classification varies.
    • Birds of Prey (Raptors): Vultures mainly feed on dead animals, while eagles, hawks, kites, and ospreys usually hunt live prey but will scavenge when the opportunity arises.
    • Corvids: Crows, ravens, and jays. These intelligent birds often also scavenge but are not classified as raptors.
    • Storks and Other Large Wading Birds: For example, Marabou Storks are among the most notable scavengers among wading birds, frequently feeding on carrion, though they also hunt live prey.
    • Seagulls and Smaller Wading Birds: Opportunistic feeders that often scavenge dead fish or animals but are not birds of prey.

False Doctrines to Avoid

Every few years, recycled false doctrines resurface, causing confusion and distraction, especially for those new to eating clean. This confusion is often perpetuated by individuals teaching unbiblical, man-made rules, as if they are YAH’s Torah. Let’s address some of the common false claims:

• “Chickens & turkeys are unclean because they’re gross.” By that flawed logic, doves, quail, goats, sheep, etc… would be unclean too. Cleanness is what YAH calls clean, not what we find appealing or “not gross”.
• “Ducks & geese are unclean because of webbed feet or high fat content.” The Torah does not forbid consuming birds with webbed feet. While certain fat portions of land animals—like the chelev fat (the fat found around the liver, loins, and other internal organs of clean animals like cattle, sheep, and goats)—are forbidden for sacrifice, this rule does not apply to birds. Additionally, having fatty meat does not make an animal unclean; for example, beef ribeye is prized for its marbled fat and is tahor (clean) according to Torah.
• “Roosters are violent, so they must be unclean.” Well, many animals get aggressive during mating, mating seasons, or territorial disputes — even tahor ones. Have you ever seen doves (or pigeons, which are actually rock doves) throw down? Yep, they fight and even cry sometimes—lol! But despite their drama, doves are tahor (clean), whether or not you want to eat them.
• “Turkeys are unclean because they look like turkey vultures.” The name “turkey” is an English invention; the animal has nothing to do with turkey vultures and doesn’t share their diet or behavior, even though their heads might resemble one another. Turkeys are tahor, vultures are not, they are tamei.

Why This Matters

This isn’t about being nitpicky — it’s about guarding the standard YAH gave us. If you choose not to eat poultry, that’s your personal choice. But if you declare that poultry is not tahor (clean) but tamei (unclean), then you are calling what YAH has called clean, unclean.

Don’t lose the context here. Scripture warns us:

• Acts 10:15 – “What YAH has cleansed, you must not call common.” In context, Peter’s vision was not abolishing food instructions, but teaching him not to call people of the nations unclean when YAH had cleansed them (see Acts 10:28, 34–35).
• Isaiah 5:20 – “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.” Matthew 5:19 – “Whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the reign of the heavens.”
• 1 Timothy 4:4–5 – “For every creature of Elohim is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is set apart [sanctified] by the Word of Elohim and prayer.” The Word tells us which creatures are food and which are abominations (Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14), and prayer receives them with gratitude. Its another Scriptual “and not or” condition. No matter how fervently you pray over an abomination, it will still be an abomination, and not food.

Walking in the Light of YAH’s Instructions

In a world where information is abundant but truth is often twisted, returning to YAH’s Word — in its original language and context — is essential. When we eat according to His instructions, we’re not just making “dietary choices”, we’re choosing to live set-apart, to honor His wisdom over our own opinions, and to guard the covenant relationship He’s called us into.

As Yahoshua, The Messiah said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of YAH” (Deut. 8:3, Matt. 4:4). That “every word” includes what He says about the creatures He made, and which ones He calls food and the ones He calls abominable.

So let’s reject the confusion of mistranslation, the pull of man-made doctrines, and the temptation to measure cleanness by our own standards. Instead, let’s eat, live, and walk as a people who trust that The Creator knows best — even when it’s as simple as choosing what’s on our plate.

Until next time, shalom ✌🏾
~Yahrahn
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And another thing lol… here’s a fun fact — chickens can actually fly! They’re not soaring high in the sky like hawks or eagles, or swift on the wing like doves or quail, but they do have the abilty to fly much better than most people think. That said, they usually prefer to stay grounded and walk around instead.

And no — chickens aren’t some kind of bizarre laboratory hybrid. Yes, they are “mixed” in the sense that they’ve been selectively bred over time, but their ancestry is well-documented. Domesticated chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) are descended primarily from the Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus), with some genetic input from closely related junglefowl species like the Grey Junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii).

This is no different than the way people have bred different varieties of sheep, goats, or cattle while staying within the same created kind. The variations in chickens today — from small bantams to large meat breeds — are still simply different expressions of that original junglefowl lineage, not an unclean hybrid outside the bounds of YAH’s creation order.