Eating

Eating in scripture is more than appetite. It is the daily means by which Yahweh sustains the creatures he made (Ps 145:15), the social setting in which strangers become guests and enemies are spared, the ritual stage on which Israel keeps Passover and Pentecost, and the moral testing-ground where moderation, courtesy, and sobriety either honor God or shame the eater. Sirach 31, the dinner-etiquette chapter, sets the standard for table manners; Genesis to Revelation supply the customs, the laws, and the warnings.

Food as a Gift from God

The first eating is a divine grant. "And [the Speech of] God said, Look, I have given you⁺ every herb yielding seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you⁺ it will be for food" (Gen 1:29). After the flood the grant is enlarged: "Every moving thing that lives will be food for you⁺, as I have given you⁺ everything of the green herb" (Gen 9:3). The Psalmist returns the praise: "He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And herb for the service of man; That he may bring forth food out of the earth" (Ps 104:14); "Who gives food to all flesh; For his loving-kindness [endures] forever" (Ps 136:25); "The eyes of all wait for you; And you give them their food in due season" (Ps 145:15). Job 36:31 makes the same point in the language of judgment and provision: "For by these he judges the peoples; He gives food in abundance."

Sirach restates the necessities at the level of household economics: "The chief requisites for life are water and bread, And a garment, and a house to cover nakedness" (Sir 29:21); "The chief of all things necessary to the life of man Are water and fire, and iron and salt, And flour of wheat, and milk and honey, The blood of the grape, oil and clothing" (Sir 39:26). Bread itself is the food of the heart: "And wine that makes glad the heart of common man, [And] oil to make his face to shine, And bread that strengthens common man's heart" (Ps 104:15).

Paul gathers the doxological logic: "For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving" (1 Tim 4:4); "Whether therefore you⁺ eat, or drink, or whatever you⁺ do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). Diognetus carries the same instinct against ascetic discrimination: "For among those things created by God for the use of men, they accept some as well created, and refuse others as unprofitable and superfluous. How is it not unlawful?" (Gr 4:2).

Foods Permitted and Forbidden

Within the goodness of food the law draws lines. The single primal restriction is the blood: "But flesh with its soul, [which is] its blood, you⁺ will not eat" (Gen 9:4). Mosaic legislation extends the restriction to whole categories of animals. "Whatever parts the hoof, and is clovenfooted, [and] chews the cud, among the beasts, that may you⁺ eat" (Lev 11:3); "Nevertheless these you⁺ will not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those that part the hoof: the camel, because he chews the cud but doesn't part the hoof, he is unclean to you⁺" (Lev 11:4). Sea-creatures fall under the same fin-and-scale test (Deut 14:10). Carrion is forbidden across the board: "That which dies of itself, or is torn of beasts, he will not eat, to defile himself with it: I am Yahweh" (Lev 22:8). Deuteronomy compresses the rule: "You will not eat any disgusting thing" (Deut 14:3).

The Nazirite vow tightens further. To Manoah's wife the angel says: "Now therefore beware, I pray you, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don't eat any unclean thing" (Judg 13:4); "She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; all that I commanded her let her observe" (Judg 13:14). Daniel's resolve at the Babylonian court applies the same instinct in exile: "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself" (Dan 1:8); "I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, until three whole weeks were fulfilled" (Dan 10:3).

Sirach acknowledges the variety the law works with: "The throat eats every meat, Yet one meat is better than another" (Sir 36:18). 1 Maccabees records the persecution that tried to break the dietary law: the foreign decree commanded Israel "to build altars, and temples, and idols, and to sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts" (1Ma 1:47); "And that they should leave their sons uncircumcised, and let their souls be defiled with all uncleannesses, and detestable things" (1Ma 1:48).

In the apostolic period the categories soften. Paul writes the practical rule for the marketplace: "Whatever is sold in the food market, eat, asking no question for the sake of conscience" (1 Cor 10:25). Jesus' missionary instruction is similar: "And into whatever city you⁺ enter, and they receive you⁺, eat such things as are set before you⁺" (Luke 10:8). But the brother's conscience can override the freedom: "It is good not to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor [to do anything] by which your brother stumbles" (Rom 14:21); "Therefore, if meat causes my brother to stumble, I will eat no flesh forevermore, that I do not cause my brother to stumble" (1 Cor 8:13).

The Table and Its Furnishings

The table is one of the rooms of biblical life. Adoni-bezek's grim boast measures kingship by who eats from underneath it: "Seventy kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered [their food] under my table: as I have done, so God has repaid me" (Judg 1:7). David's kindness to Mephibosheth is sealed by an opposite invitation: "you will eat bread at my table continually" (2 Sam 9:7). Solomon's table is itself a wonder — "the food of his table, and the sitting of his slaves, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers" leave the queen of Sheba with no spirit in her (1 Kgs 10:5). Nehemiah's table is a charity: "Moreover there were at my table, of the Jews and the rulers, a hundred and fifty men, besides those who came to us from among the nations that were round about us" (Neh 5:17).

The sanctuary has its own table. The Maccabean restoration brings it back into the temple: "And they made new holy vessels, and brought in the lampstand, and the altar of incense, and the table into the temple" (1Ma 4:49); "And they set the loaves on the table, and hung up the veils, and finished all the works that they had begun to make" (1Ma 4:51). The instruction is older still: "And you will set on the table showbread before me always" (Exod 25:30); "And you will take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes of it: two tenth parts [of an ephah] will be in one cake" (Lev 24:5). When David flees from Saul, this is the only loaf at hand: "So the priest gave him holy [bread]; for there was no bread there but the showbread, that was taken from before Yahweh, to put hot bread in the day when it was taken away" (1 Sam 21:6). Sirach calls it Aaron's portion: "The bread of the presence is his portion, A gift for him and for his seed" (Sir 45:21).

Cups belong to the table's vessels. Pharaoh's cup is the cupbearer's instrument (Gen 40:11). Nathan's parable measures intimacy by it: the poor man's lamb "ate of his own morsel, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was to him as a daughter" (2 Sam 12:3). By the first century Pharisaic tradition has surrounded both cups and pots with washings: "and many other things there are, which they have received to hold, washings of cups, and pots, and bronze vessels, and beds" (Mark 7:4).

Salt, too, is a fixed presence on the table and at the altar. "And every oblation of your meal-offering you will season with salt; neither will you allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your meal-offering: with all your oblations you will offer salt" (Lev 2:13). The priestly portions are "a covenant of salt forever before Yahweh" (Num 18:19). The saltpans were among the Seleucid grants Demetrius released to Israel (1Ma 11:35). Sirach's proverb gives the household measure of it: "Sand and salt and a weight of iron Are easier to bear than a senseless man" (Sir 22:15).

Hospitality

The host is the waiter. When the three messengers come to Mamre, Abraham is the entire household staff at once: "And Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, Quickly prepare three seahs of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes" (Gen 18:6); "and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and strengthen your⁺ heart; after that you⁺ will pass on" (Gen 18:5); "And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they ate" (Gen 18:8). Lot keeps the same custom in Sodom: "And he urged them greatly; and they turned in to him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate" (Gen 19:3). Abraham's servant in Laban's house is offered food first and refuses until his errand is told: "And there was set food before him to eat. But he said, I will not eat, until I have told my errand" (Gen 24:33).

Joseph's invitation to his brothers shows the host's prerogative — and the favored guest's portion. "And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the steward of his house, Bring the men into the house, and slay, and prepare; for the men will dine with me at noon" (Gen 43:16). At table the favorite is given more: "And he took [and sent] messes to them from before him: but Benjamin's mess was five times so much as any of theirs. And they drank, and were merry with him" (Gen 43:34).

Diognetus extends the social grammar of hospitality to a peculiar people: "They dwell in their own countries, but as sojourners; they partake of all things as citizens, and endure all things as strangers; every foreign land is their country, and every country a foreign land" (Gr 5:5).

The reverse position — eating at someone else's table — is uncomfortable. Sirach is blunt: "A man who looks upon a stranger's table, His life is not accounted life. A pollution of his soul are the dainties presented, And to a man of knowledge [they are] a cause of suffering" (Sir 40:29); "You are a stranger and drink contempt; Besides this you will bear bitter things" (Sir 29:25). Mephibosheth's perpetual seat at David's table (2 Sam 9:7) is, against this background, an extraordinary mercy.

Cleanliness and Ablutions

Foot-washing precedes the meal. Abraham orders water for the messengers' feet — "let now a little water be fetched, and wash your⁺ feet, and rest yourselves under the tree" (Gen 18:4) — and Joseph's steward does the same for the brothers when they arrive: "And the man brought the men into Joseph's house, and gave them water, and they washed their feet" (Gen 43:24). By the first century the focus has shifted to the hands and to the dishes. "For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands diligently, don't eat, holding the tradition of the elders" (Mark 7:3); "and [when they come] from the marketplace, except they bathe themselves, they don't eat" (Mark 7:4).

The ceremonial line between clean and unclean is older than the tradition. "And every soul who eats that which dies of itself, or that which is torn of beasts, whether he is home-born or a sojourner, he will wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening: then he will be clean" (Lev 17:15). Sirach offers a moral epigram in the same key: "What can be made clean from an unclean thing? And how can that which is true come from a lie?" (Sir 34:4).

Sitting and Reclining at Meat

Israel ate first sitting, later reclining. The covenant-breaking meal at Sinai is in the older posture: "And they rose up early on the next day, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play" (Exod 32:6). At Samuel's high-place feast the people wait for the seer to bless the sacrifice before they take their seats: "the people will not eat until he comes, because he blesses the sacrifice; [and] afterward they who are invited will eat" (1 Sam 9:13).

The Greco-Roman couch is everywhere by the time of the prophets and the gospels. Amos rebukes its luxury: "who lie on beds of ivory, and stretch themselves on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall" (Amos 6:4); "Therefore they will now go captive with the first that go captive; and the revelry of those who stretched themselves will pass away" (Amos 6:7). The rich man "was clothed in purple and fine linen, faring sumptuously every day" (Luke 16:19). At a Pharisee's house, where Jesus is reclining, "a woman who was in the city, a sinner; and when she knew that he was sitting at meat in the Pharisee's house, she brought an alabaster cruse of ointment" (Luke 7:37); "and standing behind at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment" (Luke 7:38) — the posture explains how she could reach his feet without disturbing the meal. At the last supper the disciples recline so close that "leaning back, as he was, on Jesus' breast, [he] says to him, Lord, who is it?" (John 13:25).

Sirach attaches honor to the manner of one's reclining: "He who is seemly sitting at meat will receive honor, The testimony of his good behavior stands secure" (Sir 31:23); "He who misbehaves sitting at meat will be talked of in the gate, And the testimony of his evil stands secure" (Sir 31:24). The wise host serves before he reclines himself: "Prepare for their wants [first], and then recline, That you may rejoice on their account, And enjoy honor for organizing it" (Sir 32:2).

Dinner Manners

Sirach 31 is the dinner-etiquette chapter, and it speaks for itself. Sirach warns the courtier: My son, if you sit at a great man's table, Do not be greedy upon it. Do not say: "There is plenty here!" (Sir 31:12). "Do not stretch out your hand at that which he looks at, And do not reach your hand with his into the dish" (Sir 31:15). "Eat like a man what is set before you, And do not eat greedily lest you be despised" (Sir 31:16). "Cease first for the sake of manners, And do not gobble lest you cause disgust" (Sir 31:17). "And when you sit among many, Do not stretch out your hand before your neighbor" (Sir 31:18). "Of a truth, a little suffices for a sensible man, Then on his bed he does not groan" (Sir 31:19). "Hearken, my son, and do not despise me, And in the end you will understand my words, In all your acts be moderate, And then no harm will touch you" (Sir 31:22). Sirach 41:19 lists, among the things to be ashamed of, "stretching out your elbow when sitting at meat." The departing guest is given his own rule: "At the time of departure do not be the last, Depart home and be done with your pleasure" (Sir 32:11).

Proverbs sets the manners of a courtier's table in the same key: "When you sit to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently him who is before you; And put a knife to your throat, If you are a man who is given to soul" (Prov 23:1). The Psalmist asks for protection from the table of the wicked: "Don't incline my heart to any evil thing, To do deeds of wickedness With men who work iniquity: And don't let me eat of their dainties" (Ps 141:4).

Moderation

Between hospitality and gluttony stands moderation. Sirach again is the school: "For in much eating lurks sickness, And he who consumes too much draws near to loathing" (Sir 37:30); "Through lack of self-control many have perished, But he who controls himself prolongs his life" (Sir 37:31); "Do not be insatiable in every luxury, And give not yourself wholly to every dainty" (Sir 37:29). "Pain and sleeplessness, distress and want of breath, And griping, are the lot of a foolish man; There is healthy sleep for moderate eating; He rises in the morning and his soul is with him" (Sir 31:20). And Proverbs in its Sirach-flavored cousin: "Don't be among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh: ... Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions?" (Prov 23:20).

Wine, the table's other consumable, is treated with the same balance. "Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler; And whoever errs by it is not wise" (Prov 20:1). To Aaron and his sons: "Drink no wine nor strong drink, you, nor your sons with you, when you⁺ go into the tent of meeting, that you⁺ will not die" (Lev 10:9). And Paul: "And don't be drunk with wine, in which is riot, but be filled with the Spirit" (Eph 5:18). Yet wine is also created good. Sirach: "Like living water is wine to man, If he drinks it in moderation. What life has a man who lacks new wine? It was created from the beginning for gladness" (Sir 31:27); "Joy of heart, gladness and delight, Is wine drunk at the [right] time and in sufficiency" (Sir 31:28). The line cuts the other way at strife: "Headache, derision, and shame, Is wine drunk in strife and anger" (Sir 31:29); "Much wine is a snare to the fool, It diminishes strength and increases wounds" (Sir 31:30); "Like a furnace which tries the work of the blacksmith, So is wine in the quarrelling of scorners" (Sir 31:26); "Moreover, when at wine, exercise restraint, For wine has destroyed many" (Sir 31:25). And the household economy: "Do not be a squanderer and a drunkard, Or else there will be nothing in your purse" (Sir 18:33). Sirach 9:10 even files new wine under friendship: "New wine [is like a] new friend; And after it is old, then you will drink it."

Soberness is the New Testament word for the same disposition: "Therefore girding up the loins of your⁺ mind, be sober and set your⁺ hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought to you⁺ at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet 1:13). At Corinth the Christian assembly itself was disordered by intemperance: "for in your⁺ eating each takes before [another] his own supper; and one is hungry, and another is drunk" (1 Cor 11:21).

Eating in Worship

Eating belongs to Israel's calendar. Passover is its primary meal, and its rubric is detailed: "And thus you⁺ will eat it: with your⁺ loins girded, your⁺ sandals on your⁺ feet, and your⁺ staff in your⁺ hand; and you⁺ will eat it in a hurry: it is Yahweh's Passover" (Exod 12:11). The flesh is roasted, with bitter herbs: "And they will eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; with bitter herbs they will eat it" (Exod 12:8). The whole feast is closed to the foreigner: "This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner will eat of it" (Exod 12:43). "By faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of the blood, that the destroyer of the firstborn should not touch them" (Heb 11:28). In the gospels: "And on the first day of unleavened bread, when they sacrificed the Passover, his disciples say to him, Where do you want us to go and prepare that you may eat the Passover?" (Mark 14:12). And from Jesus' own mouth: "With desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you⁺ before I suffer" (Luke 22:15). For Paul the meal points beyond itself: "For our Passover also has been sacrificed, [even] Christ" (1 Cor 5:7); "therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth" (1 Cor 5:8).

Around Passover stand the other feasts. "The feast of unleavened bread you will keep: seven days you will eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you" (Exod 23:15); "and the feast of harvest, the first fruits of your labors, which you sow in the field: and the feast of ingathering, at the end of the year, when you gather in your labors out of the field" (Exod 23:16). Diognetus, looking from outside, criticizes a calendrical religion that "distribute[s] God's dispensations and the changes of seasons according to their own impulses, allotting some days to feasts and others to mourning" (Gr 4:5).

The bread breaks open into the eucharistic meal as well. Melchizedek brings out "bread and wine" to Abram (Gen 14:18). Sirach remembers Elijah's famine: "And he broke for them the staff of bread, And by his zeal he made them small in number" (Sir 48:2). And at the last supper: "And as they were eating, he took bread, and when he had blessed, he broke it, and gave to them, and said, Take⁺: this is my body" (Mark 14:22); "and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, This is my body, which is for you⁺: this do in remembrance of me" (1 Cor 11:24). Yahweh's eschatological banquet closes the canon's table: "And in this mountain Yahweh of hosts will make to all peoples a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined" (Isa 25:6).