INTRODUCTION

Jews and gentile followers of Yeshua were expected to have table fellowship together. The Torah’s dietary regulations would be an important consideration. It was a matter brought to the early church elders to consider making comprehensive halakhah for gentile secular slaughter.

The Jerusalem council described in Acts 15 was a critical event for Jewish and Gentile relationships between each other. Some Jews believed that gentile followers of Yeshua must become legally Jewish. But Paul and Peter both argued convincingly that the Holy Spirit had indeed filled Gentiles even without conversion. Legal conversion was not necessary, but other legal problems came to light. Thus, the apostles established four legal requirements for gentile followers for fellowship among the Jewish people. We find them stated in Acts 15:20 and repeated in a different order in verse 29. This article will discuss how these legal requirements work in practice.

JEWISH HALAKHIC SECULAR SLAUGHTER

The Torah commands Jews about secular slaughter of animals (cf. Deuteronomy 12:21-25). If Jews were too far from the Temple, they were permitted to slaughter at their homes. But they must pour out the liquid blood out onto the ground. Note that Moses says to “slaughter it just as I commanded you”. This implies Moses taught them the actual steps to slaughter properly but did not write it down. The commandment concerns blood pumping through arteries and veins. That blood must be poured out. It is not referring to any blood that is actually in the flesh itself. They must slaughter it with a proper knife and pour out the blood like water. 

There is another law in the Torah about slaughter and gentiles in Deuteronomy 14:21:

You (i.e. Jews) shall not eat anything that died of natural causes(Hebrew: n’veilah)’; to the ger (toshav) who is in your town you shall give it and he will eat it. Or sell it an idolator, because you’re holy to HaShem your God (my translation).

This verse has three people delineated: Jews, Gentile followers of the God of Israel (i.e ger toshav, see Rashi’s commentary, ibid. 14.21) and the foreign idolator. The animal in this verse is presumed to be an animal that is otherwise kosher. But the animal had died by a cause other than Jewish halakhic slaughter. The Torah states that that animal is permitted to the ger. Nevertheless, Jews must slaughter in a halakhic way.

CONCLUSION OF THE ACTS COUNCIL RULING IN 15:29

…that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. By keeping away from these things, you will do well. (Acts 15:29, TLV)

GENTILES ARE HELD TO THE NOAHIDE LEGAL STANDARDS

The four categories of prohibitions on gentile followers are about food and sexual relations. The apostles drew them from the Noahide covenant derived from Genesis 9:2-4. For our topic, three relate to food: 1. Not offered to Idols, 2. Inappropriate slaughter, and 3. Blood of the animal (cf Genesis 9:4). The first rule is obvious, the animal is always a secular slaughter. No temple of an idol shall be involved with the slaughter. Second, strangulation is cruel, therefore prohibited since it is inappropriate. By specifying “no” to strangulation, they imply any other slaughter method is halakhically exempt, or n’veilah in Hebrew. The blood is also forbidden for gentile secular slaughter. Presumably the council intended to oblige gentiles to pour out the animal’s “blood like water”, like Jewish secular slaughter law.

In conclusion, Jews are held to a higher standard for secular slaughter procedures than gentiles. In a gentile believer’s situation, the animal’s status is n’veilah. This means it does not have to be slaughtered to strict Jewish kashrut standards (cf. Deuteronomy 14:21), except the blood must be poured out (cf. ibid 12:21) and not slaughtered in a cruel way (ibid 12:21) and it must not be offered to idols. But for Jews there is a higher Halakhic standard that must be observed for animal slaughter. Gentiles have no legal prohibition from eating Jewish secular slaughter meat since that food is clean for everyone (ibid 12:22).

Table fellowship for Jews and gentiles did compel the apostles to do some legal deliberation on the Torah. They ruled that gentile secular slaughter standards will be different from Jewish secular slaughter standards. Jews do not compel Gentiles to follow their higher secular slaughter standard themselves, rather they must provide for Gentiles when their higher secular slaughter standard is required.This way the Gentiles were also permitted to participate within the higher Jewish secular slaughter standard whenever they would eat together.

Please comment below: Are these rules actually relevant or applied today and why?