Why Were Pigs Unclean? 17 Historical Reasons

An ancient Egyptian coffin text reveals why pigs were impure. 4000 years later and a Japanese scholar and an English anthropologist have remarkably different theories. Join me for a historical tour of 17 Biblical, and not so Biblical theories as to why God banned bacon in the Bible. Bibliography - Douglas, Mary. Leviticus as Literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999 - Douglas, Mary. *Purity and Danger: An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo.* London: Routledge, 1966. - Irenaeus of Lyons. *Against Heresies*, Book V. In *The Apostolic Fathers and Other Early Christian Writings*, translated by - Kiuchi, Nobuyoshi. *Leviticus.* The Apollos Old Testament Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007. - Milgrom, Jacob. *Leviticus: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary.* Anchor Yale Bible Commentary, vols. 1–3. New York: Doubleday, 1991–2001. - Volokhine, Youri. “Ancient Egyptian Food Prohibitions.” *Göttinger Miszellen* 10, no. 8 (August 2022). - Walton, John H. *The Lost World of the Torah: Law as Covenant and Wisdom in Ancient Context.* Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2019. - “Meat and Cheese in Ancient Egypt.” *Facts and Details: Africa and the Middle East*. Accessed October 2025. https://africame.factsanddetails.com/article/entry-1131.html. King, L. W., trans. The Code of Hammurabi. The Avalon Project, Yale Law School. Accessed October 2025. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp Collins, Billie Jean. “Pigs at the Gate: Hittite Pig Sacrifice in Its Eastern Mediterranean Context.” Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 6, no. 1 (2006): 155–188. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/272710/Collins_JANER6_Offprint-libre.pdf?1390585989=&response-content-disposition=attachment%3B+filename%3DPigs_at_the_Gate_Hittite_Pig_Sacrifice_i.pdf&Expires=1760413864&Signature=Kek2NfPK3~dVNCKoP4W45b8CcVlBMhRYI5UNKU9wvJgIwAnuZpQpotrqQ1eiLNcKfIJffeSX-NziDr511TYXExmdjHvapfx1jzWZtiAgv9ebbxaMcrqLgT-0rHTaPhPQl2jvWB1vi8yYwtF4a782CZsD7ZzXfUioCVxZugIS~OGdSdu7SW32h~gBf0hm13C8ztXNBNGMlyu1WJNsv1IBJ7fMvJ8bExWHuxqrt6UUBbVBD6KxmRd0qQyCvUDoHwFmFrUB50KVq06yBNrWr9Xp-CkN1XGOepMc4YSvloW0tWj1jV~SmIOYG5AuSRivXQ1OI8YanYwvmPTMUW0kgBpKPw__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA And… my Matthew Henry Commentary 0:00 Did Ancient Egyptians eat Pork? 2:22 Why ancient Egyptians didn’t eat pigs 4:06 Why Herodotus says Egyptians didn’t eat pork 5:08 Plutarch explains Egypts aversion to Bacon 7:00 Philo of Alexandria on why Jews don’t eat pork 7:40 Clement of Alexandria on why the Bible forbids pork 8:48 St Irenaeus explains why pigs are unclean 11:13 Novation of Rome: Why pigs are unclean 11:52 Augustine: Why pigs are unclean 12:37 Venerable Bede: Pigs don’t have horns 13:30 Thomas Aquinas: why is pork forbidden 14:09 Richard Challoner: divided hoof and chewing the cud 14:41 Matthew Henry: why Jews don’t eat pork 15:48 John Gill: Pigs are unclean 16:46 Pulpit commentary pigs are filthy 17:23 Nobuyoshi Kiuchi Leviticus commentary on pigs being unclean 19:00 Jacob Milgrom: why pigs are unclean 22:05 Mary Douglas: Why pigs are unclean #bible #leviticus #biblestudy #christianscripture #youtuber