Q: Hi Pastor Sealey, are ducks considered clean or unclean meat for eating?
A: God’s health/food law concerning birds is found in Leviticus 11:13-19 and Deuteronomy 14:11-18.
In Lev. 11:18 and Deut. 14:16, the KJV includes the swan (תַּנְשֶׁמֶת, tanshemeth in Hebrew) in the list of unclean birds (not approved by God for human consumption). Newer translations of the Bible translate the original Hebrew word (tanshemeth) as the water hen. The swan or water hen belongs to the Anatidae bird family (Anatids) of water birds, which includes ducks and geese. Click on the text below to see a list of birds in the Anatidae family (Anatids).
One common characteristic of the Anatidae bird family (Anatids) is that they all have webbed feet, which help them swim and float on water. This may be why some Christians conclude that birds with webbed feet, like ducks, would be declared biblically unclean to eat. Since swans/water hens are biblically unclean meats, we can apply the biblical principle of “according to its kind” (Genesis 1:24-25), which places the duck according to the swan kind. Hence, we can reasonably conclude that other birds, for example, ducks in the Anatidae bird family are also unclean for human consumption.
Conversely, chickens belong to the Phasianidae bird family, which includes partridges, pheasants, turkeys, peafowl, grouse, and quail. Quail are clean birds as God sent them to the Israelites to eat during their time in the wilderness, (Exodus 16:13, Psalms 105:40). Here again we can apply the biblical principle of “according to its kind,” placing the chicken according to the quail kind. Since quails are clean, we can conclude that chickens and other birds in the Phasianidae bird family are clean for human consumption.
It is worth noting that God's ideal/preferred diet for the human race remains plant-based, which medical science now strongly advocates.
