Milk

It would have been unnecessary to have noticed this article, if information concerning what it is as food had been all that was intended from it; but as the term is figuratively made use of in Scripture to describe spiritual blessings, it may be proper to notice it in a work of this kind. The Holy Ghost was graciously pleased to point out some of the precious things in the person, work, and offices of Christ under this figure. The dying Jacob, speaking to his children in allusion to the times of the gospel, describes the spiritual Judah, among other distinguishing features of character, as having his eyes red with wine, and his teeth white as milk." (Gen. xlix. 12.) And the church, as if giving testimony to the accomplishment of the patriarch’s prophecy, compares her Beloved’s eyes to "the eyes of doves, by the rivers of water, washed with milk." (Song v. 12.) Perhaps both images were meant to set forth the Redeemer, in that sweetness and loveliness of character, as blending the tender affections of his heart towards his people, like the softness of milkflowing in upon the souls of his redeemed, with a fulness of pity and compassion. And as the Holy Ghost thus drew the portrait of Jesus by the figure of the milk, so the same almighty Lord, in various parts of his holy word, hath described the church, and especially the younger babes in Christ, as nourished by, the sincere milk of the word." (1 Pet. 2: 2.) Yea, Christ himself tells his church, that "her tips dropped as the honeycomb, and both honey and milk were under her tongue." (Song 4: 11.) There is a great beauty aswellas tenderness in our Lord’s expression. For in the eastern world, we are told by historians, that they had a certain food made of milk and honey, called by the Greeks Meligala; and it was the custom to give a portion of this to the new - married bride on entering her husband’s house. As the Lord Jesus therefore is here speaking of his church, having betrothed her to himself under this character, his gracious salvation of her with these words is uncommonly beautiful and affectionate. And whenever the soul of a poor sinner ismade glad in receiving the milk of the gospel, and Christ is apprehended in all his glory, suitableness, and all - sufficiency, no doubt, the droppings of the lips will be like honey and milk under the tongue, for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth will speak." I must not dismiss our attention to this article until that I have first yet farther remarked, that God’s promise of Canaan to his people of, old was under the same type of bringing them into a land "which is the glory of all lands, a land flowing with milk and honey."(Exod. 3: 8.) And both the kingdom of grace, and the kingdom of glory, comprehending all sanctified temporal mercies, with all spiritual and eternal blessings, may well be represented under those rich figures. See Honey.

Milk, and the preparations from it, butter and cheese, are often mentioned in Scripture. Milk, in its fresh state, appears to have been used very largely among the Hebrews, as is usual among people who have much cattle, and yet make but sparing use of their flesh for food. The proportion which fresh milk held in the dietary of the Hebrews, must not, however, be measured by the comparative frequency with which the word occurs; because, in the greater number of examples, it is employed figuratively, to denote great abundance, and in many instances it is used as a general term for all or any of the preparations from it.

In its figurative use, the word occurs sometimes simply as the sign of abundance (Gen 49:12; Eze 25:4; Joe 3:18, etc.); but more frequently in combination with honey—’milk and honey’ being a phrase which occurs about twenty times in Scripture. Thus a rich and fertile soil is described as a ’land flowing with milk and honey:’ which, although usually said of Palestine, is also applied to other fruitful countries, as Egypt (Num 16:13). Hence its use to denote the food of children. Milk is also constantly employed as a symbol of the elementary parts or rudiments of doctrine (1Co 3:2; Heb 5:12-13); and from its purity and simplicity, it is also made to symbolize the unadulterated word of God (1Pe 2:2; comp. Isa 55:1).

In reading of milk in Scripture, the milk of cows naturally presents itself to the mind of the European reader; but in Western Asia, and especially among the pastoral and semi-pastoral people, not only cows, but goats, sheep, and camels, are made to give their milk for the sustenance of man. That this was also the case among the Hebrews, may be clearly inferred even from the slight intimations which the Scriptures afford. Thus we read of ’butter of kine, and milk of sheep’ (Deu 32:14); and in Pro 27:27, the emphatic intimation, ’Thou shalt have goats’ milk for food,’ seems to imply that this was considered the best for use in the simple state. ’Thirty milch camels’ were among the cattle which Jacob presented to his brother Esau (Gen 32:15), implying the use of camels’ milk.

The Hebrew word for curdled milk is always translated ’butter’ in the Authorized Version. It seems to mean both butter and curdled milk, but most generally the latter; and the context will, in most cases, suggest the distinction, which has been neglected by our translators. It was this curdled milk, highly esteemed as a refreshment in the East, that Abraham set before the angels (Gen 18:8), and which Jael gave to Sisera, instead of the water which he asked (Jdg 5:25). In this state milk acquires a slightly inebriating power, if kept long enough. Isa 7:22, where it is rendered ’butter,’ is the only text in which the word is coupled with ’honey,’ and there it is a sign of scarcity, not of plenty, as when honey is coupled with fresh milk. It means that there being no fruit or grain, the remnant would have to live on milk and honey; and, perhaps, that milk itself would be so scarce, that it would be needful to use it with economy; and hence to curdle it, as fresh milk cannot be preserved for chary use. Although, however, this word properly denotes curdled milk, it seems also to be sometimes used for milk in general (Deu 32:14; Job 20:17; Isa 7:15).

The most striking Scriptural allusion to milk is that which forbids a kid to be seethed in its mother’s milk, and its importance is attested by its being thrice repeated (Exo 23:19; Exo 34:26; Deu 14:21). There is, perhaps, no precept of Scripture which has been more variously interpreted than this. It is probable that the prohibition refers not to a common act of cookery, but to an idolatrous or magical rite. Maimonides urges this opinion. He says, ’Flesh eaten with milk, or in milk, appears to me to have been prohibited, not only because it affords gross nourishment, but because it savored of idolatry, some of the idolaters probably doing it in their worship, or at their festivals.’ This is confirmed by an extract which Cudworth gives from an ancient Karaïte commentary on the Pentateuch ’It was a custom of the ancient heathen, when they had gathered in all their fruits, to take a kid, and boil it in the dam’s milk, and then in a magical way to go about and besprinkle with it all their trees, and fields, and gardens, and orchards, thinking that by this means they should make them fructify, and bring forth more abundantly the following year.’ Some such rite as this is supposed to be the one interdicted by the prohibition.

Butter is not often mentioned in Scripture, and even less frequently than our version would suggest. Indeed, it may be doubted whether it denotes butter in any place besides Deu 32:14, ’butter of kine,’ and Pro 30:33, ’the churning of milk bringeth forth butter,’ as all the other texts will apply better to curdled milk than to butter. Butter was, however, doubtless much in use among the Hebrews, and we may be sure that it was prepared in the same manner as at this day among the Arabs and Syrians. The milk is put into a large copper pan over a slow fire, and a little leben or sour milk (the same as the curdled milk mentioned above), or a portion of the dried entrails of a lamb, is thrown into it. The milk then separates, and is put into a goatskin bag, which is tied to one of the tent poles, and constantly moved, backwards and forwards for two hours. The buttery substance then coagulates, the water is pressed out, and the butter put into another skin. In two days the butter is again placed over the fire, with the addition of a quantity of burgul (wheat boiled with leaven, and dried in the sun), and allowed to boil for some time, during which it is carefully skimmed. It is then found that the burgul has precipitated all the foreign substances, and that the butter remains quite clear at the top. This is the process used by the Bedouins, and it is also the one employed by the settled people of Syria and Arabia. The chief difference is, that in making butter and cheese the townspeople employ the milk of cows and buffaloes, whereas the Bedouins, who do not keep these animals, use that of sheep and goats. The butter is generally white, of the color and consistence of lard, and is not much relished by English travelers. It is eaten with bread in large quantities by those who can afford it, not spread out thinly over the surface, as with us, but taken in mass with the separate morsels of bread [CHEESE].

Is often alluded to in the Bible, as a symbol of pure, simple, and wholesome truth, Heb 5:12,13 1Pe 2:2 ; and in connection with honey, to denote fertility and plenty, Gen 49:12 Num 16:13 Jos 5:6 . The Jews and their neighbors used not only the milk of cows, but also that of camels, sheep, and goats, Gen 32:15 Deu 32:14 Pro 27:27 . See BUTTER and CHEESE.\par

Milk. As an article of diet, milk holds a more important position in eastern countries than with us. It is not a mere adjunct in cookery, or restricted to the use of the young, although it is naturally the characteristic food of childhood, both from its simple and nutritive qualities, 1Pe 2:2, and particularly as contrasted with meat, 1Co 3:2; Heb 5:12, but beyond this, it is regarded as substantial food adapted alike to all ages and classes. Not only the milk of cows, but of sheep, Deu 32:14, of camels, Gen 32:15, and of goats, Pro 27:27, was used; that latter appears to have been most highly prized.

Children’s food everywhere (1Pe 2:2; 1Co 3:2; Heb 5:12). In the East a leading element in men’s diet also. "A land flowing with milk" symbolizes abundance (Exo 3:8; Deu 6:3). Chalab, "milk," means "fairness, fresh milk"; chemah is "milk coagulated", and is translated in KJV "butter"; rather leben, an Eastern preparation of milk (Jdg 4:19; Jdg 5:25). Emblem of gospel blessings (Isa 55:1). In Job 21:24 translated for "breasts" "his milk vessels (Lee: Umbreit, his watering places for his herds) are full of milk." Also Job 20:17; Job 29:6, "I washed my steps with butter," i.e. wherever I stepped the richest plenty flowed for me.

Isa 60:16, "thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles," i.e. draw to thyself all their riches, or have them completely subject (Eze 25:4). The milk of sheep, camels, goats, and cows was used (Deu 32:14; Gen 32:15; Pro 27:27); "butter" in our sense occurs Pro 30:33. The leben; keeps for a considerable time, and so was suited to David’s weary followers (2Sa 17:29). When the abundance of milk was due to the absence of tillage and of men to cultivate the lands, it was predicted as a scourge consequent on hostile invasion (Isa 7:22). Still offered in hospitality to the passing stranger, as by Abraham, Gen 18:8.

This from cows, goats, sheep and camels is plentifully used in the East. It is drunk in its natural condition, or shaken up in a skin into a sour curdled state, called in scripture ’butter.’ Flocks and herds were so numerous, and wild honey so plenteous, that the country was fitly called ’a land flowing with milk and honey.’ Gen 18:8; Exo 3:8; Exo 3:17; Exo 23:19; Joe 3:18. Milk is regarded as such a necessary article of sustenance that it is associated with wine to prefigure that which grace now supplies, without money and without price, and which will be supplied to Israel in a future day. Isa 55:1. In the description of Israel’s promised glory it is said, "Thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles." Isa 60:16. In the N.T. milk is a symbol of the sustenance of God’s word, 1Pe 2:2; and is also referred to as food for infants in contrast to the solid food used by adults. 1Co 3:2; Heb 5:12-13.

(Hebrew, "ḥalab"; Aramaic, "ḥelba"):

By: Isidore Singer, Julius H. Greenstone, Cyrus Adler

A common article of food among the ancient Hebrews.

—Biblical Data:

Palestine is praised in the Bible as a "land flowing with milk and honey" (Ex. iii. 8 et al.), milk representing the common necessities of life, and honey referring to luxuries. In Isa. lv. 1, milk is coupled with wine to denote a similar idea (comp. Ezek. xxv. 4). The Israelites used the milk of goats (Deut. xxxii. 14)and the milk of sheep (Prov. xxvii. 27). Cows' milk is rarely mentioned (comp. Deut. l.c.), probably because of its scarcity owing to the unsuitability of the mountainous country of Palestine for pasturing large cattle. Milk was received in buckets (Job xxi. 24) and kept in skins (Judges iv. 19), and was used as a refreshing drink at meals (Gen. xviii. 8).

Milk was supposed to give whiteness to the teeth (ib. xlix. 12), and was employed as a simile for the whiteness of the human body (Lam. iv. 7; comp. Cant. v. 12). Deborah refers to milk ("ḥem'ah" in parallelism to "ḥalab") as "a cup of the nobles"(Judges v. 25); and in several other texts it is spoken of as one of the most delicious beverages (comp. Cant. iv. 11, v. 1). Ben Sira counts milk among "the principal things for the whole use of man's life" (Ecclus. [Sirach] xxxix. 26). The abundance which the Israelites will enjoy in Messianic times is pictured in the figure that the hills of Palestine will flow with milk (Joel iv. [A. V. iii.] 18; comp. Isa. vii. 22). Cream or butter ("ḥem'ah") is also used as a figure denoting abundance (Isa. l.c.; Job xx. 17), and is frequently mentioned with milk (Gen. xviii. 8; Deut. xxxii. 14; Judges v. 25; Prov. xxx. 33; et al.). See Cheese; Food.

S. J. H. G.—In Rabbinical Literature:

Although regarded as a pleasant beverage (Ket. 111a; "Agadat Shir ha-Shirim," ed. Schechter, p. 187, note, Cambridge, 1896), milk was probably used more by the poorer classes of the community than by the rich (Ḥul. 84a; Yalḳ., Prov. 961). It was especially used as food for infants (Seder Eliyahu Zuṭa, ed. Friedmann, p. 195, Vienna, 1903; comp. Heb. v. 12; I Cor. iii. 2; I Peter ii. 2). A mixture of milk and honey was regarded as a delicious drink (Cant. R. iv. 22). One is counseled against drinking beer or wine after milk (M. Ḳ. 11a). In a figurative sense milk was used to denote whiteness and purity (Gen. R. xcviii. 15; Cant. R. v. 10). One who wishes his daughter to be fair should feed her in her youth on young birds and on milk (Ket. 59b). Milk is one of the five things (three, in Yalḳ., Isa. 480) to which the Torah was compared (Deut. R. vii. 3; comp. Ḳimḥi's commentary on Isa. lv. 1). On this account some maintain that the custom arose of eating food prepared with milk on the festival of Shabu'ot ("Kol Bo," 52; comp. Shulḥan 'Aruk, Oraḥ Ḥayyim, 494, 3, Isserles' gloss; see Shabu'ot). He who devotes himself to the study of the Law will be greeted in the future world with sixty cups of milk, besides many other delicious beverages ("Agadat Shir ha-Shirim," p. 84, note).

Halakah.

The permission to drink milk was regarded by the Rabbis as an exception ("ḥiddush"), since it was held that the milk of mammals is derived from decomposed blood (Nid. 9a), and is furthermore something separated from a living animal and therefore to be included in the general prohibition against eating anything that comes from the living ("dabar min ha-ḥai"; Bek. 6b). The milk of an unclean animal is forbidden in accordance with the general rule, "that which comes from the unclean is unclean; from the clean, clean" (ib. 5b; comp. Gen. xxxii. 16). It is forbidden also to use the milk of an animal suffering from a visible malady which causes the animal to be ritually unfit for food ("ṭerefah"), or that of an animal found, after the ritual slaughtering, to have suffered from such a disease as late as three days before its death (Ḥul. 112b; comp. ib. 11a, Tos., s.v. "Atya"; Maimonides, "Yad," Ma'akalot Asurot, iii. 16; Shulḥan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, 81).

Milk bought from a non-Jew is forbidden, the apprehension being that the non-Jew in his carelessness or from a desire to improve it may have mixed with it some forbidden ingredient. If, however, a Jew has been present at the milking, the milk may be used. Different customs prevail with regard to the use of butter bought from a non-Jew; and even with regard to milk and cheese later authorities are more lenient ('Ab. Zarah 29b, 35b; "Yad," l.c. iii. 12-17; Yoreh De'ah, 115; see Cheese). The process of curdling milk was effected in Talmudic times either by rennet ("ḳebah," 'Ab. Zarah, l.c.) or by the juice of leaves or roots ('Orlah i. 7).

Milk is one of the three beverages which, if left uncovered overnight, should not be used, because it is possible that a serpent may have left its venom therein. In places where serpents are not found, this apprehension does not exist (Ter. viii. 4, 5; Yalḳ., Judges, 45; "Yad," Roẓeaḥ, xi. 7; Yoreh De'ah, 116, 1; comp. "Pitḥe Teshubah," ad loc.). Milk is also one of the seven beverages that make articles of food liable to receive impurity (Maksh. vi. 4; See Purity).

Milk and Meat.

The Rabbis did not hesitate to admit their inability to assign a reason for the prohibition against eating meat with milk ("basar be-ḥalab"), and they accordingly labeled it as "ḥiddush," an exception, a unique law (Pes. 44b; Ḥul. 108a; comp. Rashi and Tos. ad loc.). Maimonides says in this connection: "Meat boiled with milk is undoubtedly gross food, and makes overfull. But I think that it was probably prohibited because it was somehow connected with idolatry, forming perhaps part of the services at a heathen festival." This latter theory he supports by the fact that in Exodus the prohibition against seething a kid in its mother's milk is mentioned twice in connection with the festivals ("Moreh," iii. 48).

Basing their opinions on an ancient tradition, the Rabbis explained the thrice-repeated prohibition against seething the kid in its mother's milk (Ex. xxiii. 19, xxxiv. 26; Deut. xiv. 21) as referring to three distinct prohibitions—(1) against cooking meat and milk together; (2) against eating such a mixture; and (3) against (deriving any benefit from such a mixture (Ḥul. 115b; comp. there the various attempts made to find Biblical support for the prohibition against eating meat with milk). It is curious to note in this connection that Onḳelos, a most literal translator, renders the passages in all the three places by "ye shall not eat meat with milk" ( ; comp. LXX. to Ex. xxxiv. 26). The expression "kid" was accepted to be a generic term including all mammals and, according to some, even birds (Ḥul. 113a). The prevalent opinion, however, is that the prohibition against eating poultry with milk is of rabbinic origin merely (Maimonides, "Yad," Ma'akalot Asurot, ix. 4; Shulḥan 'Aruk, Yoreh De'ah, 87, 3). Fish and locusts as well as eggs are excluded from the prohibition (Ḥul. 103b, 104a; Beẓah 6b).

The prohibition against eating meat with milk was extensively elaborated by the Rabbis, who provided for every possible occurrence. Not only was the eating of meat with milk forbidden, but also the eating of meat that had a taste of milk, or vice versa; for "the taste of forbidden food is forbidden as the food itself" ; Ḥul. 98b, 108a; Pes. 44b; 'Ab. Zarah 67b; et al.). If a piece of meat that had become forbidden as food becauseit had absorbed milk to an extent which made the taste of the latter appreciable in it was cooked with other meat in a pot, all that the pot contained was forbidden, unless the contents were sixty times as great as the prohibited piece. It was not sufficient that there should be in the pot sixty times as much meat as the quantity of milk absorbed in the piece of meat; for with regard to meat and milk the principle was that the forbidden piece became in itself a "carcass," i.e., a forbidden object; and when it could not be recognized, it was necessary that the taste of it should be annihilated (; Yoreh De'ah, 92, 4; comp. Isserles' gloss, where the principle is extended to all kinds of forbidden food).

Cooking-Vessels.

A pot in which meat has been cooked should not be used for cooking milk, and vice versa. If such a pot be so used within twenty-four hours after it has been used with milk or meat respectively, everything that is in it becomes ritually unfit, unless the contents of the pot are sixty times as much as the pot itself. If the second cooking takes place twenty-four hours or more after the first, the contents of the pot are permitted for use; for the food which the pot has absorbed in the first cooking has by that time lost its agreeable taste, and the general rule is that any vessel which communicates an offensive taste () does not render food ritually unfit for use. The pot itself, however, should not be used either with meat or with milk (Yoreh De'ah, 93, 1; comp. SHaK ad loc.).

Food prepared with milk and food in which meat is an ingredient should not be eaten at the same meal. The general custom is to wait six hours between a meal at which meat has been eaten and one at which food prepared with milk is to be eaten, although custom varies in this particular, some persons waiting one hour only. There is no need to wait at all after eating food prepared with milk; it is necessary only to see that there is none of the food left on the hands, and also to wash the mouth before partaking of meat. It is forbidden to place meat upon the table at the same time with food prepared with milk, lest by mistake both be eaten together. In the households of observing Jews not only are there two separate sets of dishes and of kitchen utensils, but different table-cloths are used for meals consisting of food prepared with milk and those at which meat is eaten (Yoreh De'ah, 88, 89). As bread is eaten with meat it is not permitted to prepare it with milk unless the form and size of the loaf or cake are different from those of ordinary bread (ib. 96). See Dietary Laws; Food.

MILK.—Milk was at all times an important article of diet among the Hebrews, and by ben-Sira is rightly assigned a prominent place among the principal things necessary for man’s life (Sir 39:26). It was supplied by the females of the ‘herd’ and of the ‘flock,’ the latter term including both sheep and goats (Deu 32:14, where render ‘sour milk [chem’âh] of the herd, and milk [châlâb] of the flock’), probably also by the milch camels (Gen 32:15). At the present day goats’ milk is preferred to every other.

In Bible times, as now, milk slightly soured or fermented was a favourite beverage. The modern Bedouin prepares this sour milk, or leben, as it is called, by pouring the fresh milk into a skin (cf. Jdg 4:19 ‘she opened the milk-skin (EV [Note: English Version.] ‘a bottle of milk’), and gave him drink’), to the sides of which clots of sour milk from a previous milking still adhere. The skin is shaken for a little, when the process of fermentation speedily commences, and the milk is served ‘with that now gathered sourness which they think the more refreshing’ (Doughty, Arabia Deserta, i. 263). Such was the refreshment with which Jael supplied Sisera. ‘He asked water, she gave him milk; she brought him sour milk (chem’âh) in a lordly dish’ (Jdg 5:26, where EV [Note: English Version.] has ‘butter,’ but one does not drink butter; cf. Jdg 4:19 cited above).

In several OT passages, however, this word, chem’âh, does evidently signify butter, as in Pro 30:33 ‘the churning (lit. as RVm [Note: Revised Version margin.] ‘pressing’) of milk bringeth forth butter.’ So Psa 55:21 RV [Note: Revised Version.] , ‘his mouth was smooth as butter,’ where ‘sour milk’ is clearly out of place. The former passage suggests the procedure of the Arab housewife whom Doughty describes (op. cit. ii. 67) as ‘rocking her blown-up milk-skin upon her knees till the butter came; they find it in a clot at the mouth of the skin.’ Butter cannot be kept sweet under the climatic conditions of Palestine, but must be boiled, producing the samn or clarified butter universally prized throughout the East.

Cheese is mentioned three times in our AV [Note: Authorized Version.] (1Sa 17:18, 2Sa 17:29, Job 10:10); in each case the original has a different word. The clearest case is the last cited; the text of 2Sa 17:29, on the other hand, is admittedly in disorder, and we should perhaps read, by a slight change of consonants, ‘dried curds’; these, when rubbed down and mixed with water, yield a refreshing drink much esteemed at the present day. From the Mishna we learn that rennet and the acid juices of various trees and plants were used to curdle (Job 10:10 milk. After being drained of the whey—‘the water of milk’—the curds were salted, shaped into round discs, and dried in the sun. The Tyropœon valley in Jerusalem received its name, ‘the valley of the cheese-makers,’ from the industry there carried on.

There has been much discussion of late as to the origin of the popular expression ‘flowing with milk and honey,’ so frequently used in OT to describe Palestine as an ideal land abounding in the necessaries and delicacies of life. Many recent scholars demur to the traditional view that this is expressed by the words ‘milk and honey,’ on the principle of the part for the whole, and favour a more recondite origin in a forgotten Palestinian mythology. This explanation would bring the phrase in question into line with the equally familiar ‘nectar and ambrosia’ of Greek mythology.

Even more obscure is the significance of the thrice-repeated command: ‘Thou shalt not see the a kid in his mother’s milk’ (Exo 23:19; Exo 34:26, Deu 14:21). Opinion is still divided as to whether we have here a piece of purely humanitarian—some would say sentimental—legislation, or the prohibition of a magical rite incompatible with the religion of J″ [Note: Jahweh.] . For the latest exposition of this view, see J. G. Frazer, ‘Folk-lore in the OT,’ in Anthropotogical Essays, etc. (1907), 151 ff.

A. R. S. Kennedy.

milk (חלב, ḥālābh; γάλα, gála; Latin lac (2 Esdras 2:19; 8:10)): The fluid secreted by the mammary glands of female mammals for the nourishment of their young. The word is used in the Bible of that of human beings (Isa 28:9) as well as of that of the lower animals (Exo 23:19). As a food it ranked next in importance to bread (Ecclesiasticus 39:26). Palestine is frequently described as a land “flowing with milk and honey” (Exo 3:8, Exo 3:17; Num 13:27; Deu 6:3; Jos 5:6; Jer 11:5; Eze 20:6, Eze 20:15). Milk was among the first things set before the weary traveler (Gen 18:8). In fact, it was considered a luxury (Jdg 5:25; Son 5:1). The people used the milk of kine and also that of sheep (Deu 32:14), and especially that of goats (Pro 27:27). It was received in pails (‛ăṭı̄nı̄m, Job 21:24), and kept in leather bottles (nō’dh, Jdg 4:19), where it turned sour quickly in the warm climate of Palestine before being poured out thickly like a melting substance (nāthakh; compare Job 10:10). Cheese of various kinds was made from it (g^ebhı̄nāh and ḥărı̄cē he-ḥālābh, literally, “cuts of milk”); or the curds (ḥem’āh) were eaten with bread, and possibly also made into butter by churning (Pro 30:33). See FOOD, II. It is possible that milk was used for seething other substances; at least the Israelites were strictly forbidden to seethe a kid in its mother’s milk (Exo 23:19; Exo 34:26; Deu 14:21), and by a very general interpretation of these passages Jews have come to abstain from the use of mixtures of meat and milk of all kinds.

Figuratively the word is used (1) of abundance (Gen 49:12); (2) of a loved one’s charms (Son 4:11); (3) of blessings (Isa 55:1; Joe 3:18); (4) of the (spiritual) food of immature people (1Co 3:2; Heb 5:12, Heb 5:13); (5) of purity (1Pe 2:2).

Exo 23:19 (c) This is a warning against using the precious Word of GOD to injure or destroy that which it should build up and strengthen. The milk is a type of the Word of GOD. The milk should have been used to cause the kid to grow into a large, strong, healthy animal. Instead it was used to destroy the tender, young animal. GOD is telling us that we should not take that which He gives to us for constructive purposes and use it for destructive purposes. Baptism is an example. It was given to the church as a blessing, but has been used to destroy many churches, homes and lives. The heathen also had a custom of sprinkling the broth made in the above manner over their fields in order to make the fields fertile. The Lord condemns this custom of the heathen, and assures His people that blessing on the fields comes from Himself. (See under "KID." Also Exo 34:26; Deu 14:21; Deu 34:26).

Num 13:27 (b) This is a type of the multitude of blessings that abounded in the land of Palestine.

Isa 55:1 (b) Here we find a type of the sweet richness which awaits the soul who places his faith and trust in the living Lord.

1Co 3:2 (a) Here is a picture of the simpler truths of the Scripture which most anyone can grasp without particular study and without much help. These truths are contrasted with the deeper and more difficult truths of the Word which are compared to meat. (See also Heb 5:13; 1Pe 2:2).