Why is "don't boil a goat in its mother's milk" in the Ten Commandments?

Question

Here we go again - a very different form of an earlier question, back by popular demand.
Please do not argue about what you may think the "real" Ten Commandments are, this has already been settled...
These ARE the ten commandments (the words of the covenant) that Moses wrote on the tablets and and you can check Exodus 34 for yourself and look for the words "עשרת הדברים Aseret ha-Dvarîm," if you wish:
|1. Thou shalt worship no other god...
|2. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods...
|3. The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep...
|4. All that openeth the matrix is mine...
|5. Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest...
|6. Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks...
|7. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice with leaven...
|8. Neither shall the sacrifice of the feast of the passover be left unto the morning.
|9. The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring...
|=>10. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk...|
Thank you

For those who are still asking:
Exodus 34 (14-28)
(34:28) "...and he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." There is NO other reference to "Ten Commandments" in the bible.

Answer 1

Thou shalt not ask these kinds of questions, for it is likely that you will P--S off many that choose to deny the origins of their religion.

Answer 2

Well, your name fits.
Exodus 34 lists a number of rules that are part of a covenant. However, these are not the Ten Commandments (The Mosaic Covenant).

The first three of the Ten Commandments written on the new tablets are listed in Chapter 35. Essentially, if you get those three right, the rest will fall into place. But due to the idolotry of the people which cause Moses to throw the first tablets, Moses quotes just the first three, which concern the Israelites' relationship to God.

Answer 3

I noticed that in the scriptures some time ago. It was a rather peculiar verse, and it is repeated in at least one other place in the Bible.

One answer I got was; because God didn't want someone to seeth a kid in it's mother's milk! I can accept that, but my mind goes further, I can't help it, it's the way I am. lol

So I thought about it. You take this little lamb away from it's mother, butcher it, milk 'mom', bring it to a boil and then drop the pieces into the bubbling stuff that was to help nurture the young little thing to adulthood.

I think that it would seem rather a harsh way to go. Perhaps the kind of mentality it takes to do it would start making people insensitive, but I don't know, perhaps it was something that was done in heathen rituals and were not something God wanted to be associated with.

Answer 4

First of all, you are right, these are the word of the covenant, but they are NOT the 10 commandments. A covenant is not a command or commandments, a covenant is a promise, agreement, contract. The 10 commandments were 10 of over 600 in the Mosaic Law. Israel's end of the covenant was to uphold the laws, God's part was to bless them if they did. (But as you said, this is not really your question).

As far as not boiling a goat in it's mother's milk. This is documented to be a pagan ritual to bring rain. This could have been to possibly keep them clean from pagan teachings. Another possiblity is to teach them a lesson on compassion. A mother's milk is to nourish and comfort, to boil a goat in it's own mother's milk was just the opposite of it's intended purpose, it was extremely cruel.

Answer 5

To be reasonable, I consider that used to be a pagan devout train and the prohibition used to be much less approximately cooking and extra approximately no longer doing the idolatrous stuff the pagans had been doing. Yahweh gave the impression REALLY eager on making definite he used to be the one one being worshipped by means of the Hebrews. Too eager, you would say. Maybe he will have to have furnished extra carrots and less sticks?

Answer 6

Because its NOT KOSHER! Your mixing milk and meat.

Moral Lessons: We are taught not to be cruel -- even to animals. A mother and her young are forbidden to be slaughtered on the same day, and of course we "don't boil a kid (goat) in its mother's milk."
http://www.aish.com/literacy/mitzvahs/ABCs_of_Kosher.asp

The Torah forbids eating meat and milk in combination, and even forbids the act of cooking them together (as well as deriving benefit from such a mixture). As a safeguard, the Sages disallow the eating of meat and dairy products at the same meal, or preparing them with the same utensils. Therefore, a kosher kitchen must have two separate sets of pots, pans, plates and silverware -- one for meat/poultry and the other for dairy foods.

One must wait up to six hours after eating meat products before eating dairy products. However, meat may be eaten following dairy products (with the exception of hard cheese, which also requires a six-hour interval). Prior to eating meat after dairy, one must eat a solid food and the mouth must be rinsed.

Answer 7

The 10 commandments are in Exodus 20.

Answer 8

Ex 20:2 “I am the LORD your God. I brought you out of Egypt. That is the land where you were slaves.
Ex 20:3 “Do not put any other gods in place of me.
Ex 20:4 “Do not make statues of gods that look like anything in the sky or on the earth or in the waters.
Ex 20:5 Do not bow down to them or worship them. I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. I punish the children for the sin of their parents. I punish the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those who hate me.
Ex 20:6 But for all time to come I show love to all those who love me and keep my commandments.
Ex 20:7 “Do not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will find guilty anyone who misuses his name.
Ex 20:8 “Remember to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Ex 20:9 Do all of your work in six days.
Ex 20:10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath in honor of the LORD your God. Do not do any work on that day. The same command applies to your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and your animals. It also applies to any outsiders who live in your cities.
Ex 20:11 In six days I made the heavens and the earth. I made the oceans and everything in them. But I rested on the seventh day. So I blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Ex 20:12 “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long time in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
Ex 20:13 “Do not commit murder.
Ex 20:14 “Do not commit adultery.
Ex 20:15 “Do not steal.
Ex 20:16 “Do not give false witness against your neighbor.
Ex 20:17 “Do not long for anything that belongs to your neighbor. Do not long for your neighbor’s house, wife, male or female servant, ox or donkey.”

Answer 9

i have never heard anything like that before. granted i've never read the tora, but i always thought it was the same.

i do know that there were an awful lot of rules governing everything that people had to follow. maybe you're confusing the two? i have a jewish friend i'll have to talk to about this.

Answer 10

You are my hero.
I ♥ counterfactual.
Yeesh, I totally didn't follow #10. I guess I'll just have to go back to being agnostic. My goats are well-seethed, as are theirs and theirs thereafter.