Jehovah’s Witnesses abstain from eating blood and unbled meat. (Acts 15:20, 28, 29) Aside from this Biblical injunction, as a group they observe no other dietary restrictions. Christians are not under the restriction of the Law as to clean and unclean foods.
They are required to abstain from blood and things that are strangled, that is, things from which the blood has not properly been drained. Aside from this Bible injunction, they are not to make the eating or the abstaining from certain kinds of food an issue or try to govern another person’s conscience by their own conscience as regards the eating of food.
The central dietary rule
Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept the consumption of blood as food. They understand the Bible’s prohibition to include blood itself and meat from which the blood has not properly been drained.
Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions in view of such Bible passages as the following: “Only flesh with its life-its blood-you must not eat.” (Genesis 9:3, 4) “[You] must pour its blood out and cover it with dust.” (Leviticus 17:13, 14) “Abstain . from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood.” (Acts 15:19, 20)
The dietary application of these passages is expressed directly in the statement that Jehovah’s Witnesses “abstain from eating blood and unbled meat.” Therefore, meat may be eaten when it has been properly bled, while meat from an animal that was strangled or whose blood was not appropriately drained is avoided.
| Food or practice | Jehovah’s Witnesses’ position |
|---|---|
| Blood as food | Jehovah’s Witnesses abstain from eating blood. |
| Unbled or strangled meat | Jehovah’s Witnesses abstain from things that are strangled, that is, things from which the blood has not properly been drained. |
| Clean and unclean foods under the Mosaic Law | Christians are not under the restriction of the Law as to clean and unclean foods. |
| Other foods | Aside from this Biblical injunction, as a group they observe no other dietary restrictions. |
Why blood is avoided
After the Flood, Jehovah allowed man to add flesh to his diet, saying: “Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for you. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to you. Only flesh with its soul-its blood-you must not eat.”-Ge 9:3, 4.
Under the Law, the Israelites were restricted to eating what were defined as clean animals. These are listed in Leviticus, chapter 11, and Deuteronomy, chapter 14. The eating of blood was strictly forbidden, as was the eating of fat.-Le 7:25-27.
For Christians, however, the applicable instruction is not a continuing requirement to distinguish between the clean and unclean animals listed under the Mosaic Law. Their continuing Biblical dietary restriction concerns blood and unbled or strangled meat.
Meat and animal foods
God told Noah after the Flood that, along with vegetation, he could use for food every moving animal that is alive. The common people did not ordinarily eat much meat. But occasionally a goat or a lamb would be slaughtered for a communion sacrifice or in honor of a guest.
Among the more well-to-do, beef cattle were slaughtered. Some of the game animals, such as the stag, gazelle, roebuck, wild goat, antelope, wild bull, and chamois, were eaten, and the meat was roasted or boiled.
These examples show that the general eating of meat is not prohibited. The relevant limitation is that the meat must not be unbled or obtained from an animal that was strangled without proper drainage of its blood.
Fish, poultry, eggs, and insects
Fowl were also eaten. The Israelites were miraculously furnished with quail in the wilderness. Pigeons, turtledoves, partridge, and sparrows were among the clean fowl. Additionally, eggs were an item of food.
Fish were obtainable from the Mediterranean and also from the Sea of Galilee. Fish were also dried, providing convenient food for travelers. The fish of Jesus’ two miracles of feeding multitudes were probably dried fish.
Among the edible insects was the locust, which, with honey, formed the food of John the Baptizer. Today locusts are eaten by some Arabs.
The Bible references to fish, poultry, eggs, and locusts do not create additional dietary restrictions for Jehovah’s Witnesses. The same Biblical requirement concerning blood applies when an animal is used as food.
Plant-based foods
Before the Flood, the Bible gives no indication that man included the flesh of animals in his diet. After the Flood, however, Jehovah allowed the eating of animal flesh, in addition to vegetation.
Cereals constituted the basic food of the people of Bible lands, as is evident from the fact that in both Hebrew and Greek the expression “eat a meal” literally means “eat bread.” Barley and wheat were the chief cereals; other cereals mentioned are millet and spelt, a form of wheat.
Besides being used for bread, ordinary flour was made into a sort of porridge. Grain was often eaten roasted, either by taking a bunch of the grain ears together and holding them over a fire or by roasting them in a pan.
Beans and lentils were included in the diet, being made into a stew such as the lentil stew that Jacob made and for which Esau sold his birthright. Sometimes meat or oil was used with the stew.
Cucumbers of a variety that is more tasty than the Western variety constituted a refreshing food. When water was scarce or bad, these could be eaten to provide a substitute for water. Cucumbers were eaten raw, with or without salt, and were sometimes stuffed and cooked.
The Israelites looked back with longing for the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic that they ate in Egypt. These foods were also produced in Palestine.
Fruits, nuts, spices, and honey
The olive was an outstanding article of food in Palestine. The fruits of the olive tree may have been eaten as today, after being soaked in brine. Olives also provided oil for cooking such items as stews and oiled cakes.
Figs were another important item of diet. Once spotted on a tree, early figs were often eaten immediately. Late figs were dried in the sun and pressed in molds, forming cakes of figs.
Other fruits were the date, the pomegranate, and the apple. Among the nuts eaten in Palestine, the Bible mentions almonds and pistachio nuts.
Grapes are one of the most abundant foods in Palestine. Grapes were eaten in their natural state and also dried and pressed into cakes. The caper berry was used as an appetizer.
Spices prominently used for seasoning were mint, dill, cumin, rue, and mustard leaves. Salt was the chief article of seasoning, also having preservative properties.
Honey was considered a choice food that brightened the eyes with energy. The manna tasted like flat cakes with honey. John the Baptizer ate honey along with insect locusts.
Dairy products and beverages
Also important as food were milk and milk products, using milk of cows, goats, or sheep. Milk was normally kept in skin bottles. It would sour quickly.
Cheese was also a well-known item. The Hebrew word chem·ʼahʹ, translated “butter,” can also mean “curdled milk.”
The making of wine was one of the principal uses of the grape. Wine was sometimes spiced and also mixed. Vinegar derived from grape wine, pure or mixed with spices or fruit juices, was also used.
Another drink was wheat beer, and a refreshing drink was made from pomegranate juice. The Bible’s references to wine, beer, juice, milk, and vinegar do not establish additional group dietary prohibitions for Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Alcohol, narcotics, and medications
The Bible does not prohibit the moderate use of alcoholic beverages. (Deuteronomy 14:26; Ephesians 5:18; 1 Timothy 5:23)
Scriptural principles of moderation and respect for one’s life and mental faculties would rule out substance abuse, such as the use of tobacco and recreational drugs. The medical use of drugs under the supervision of a physician, including narcotics for severe pain, is a personal matter.
Moderate use of alcoholic beverages is therefore distinguished from drunkenness and substance abuse. The dietary question is not treated as a ban on every alcoholic drink, but as a matter governed by moderation and respect for life and mental faculties.
Food, conscience, and Christian freedom
Aside from the Biblical injunction concerning blood and unbled meat, they are not to make the eating or the abstaining from certain kinds of food an issue or try to govern another person’s conscience by their own conscience as regards the eating of food.
They are warned, however, against eating food as an offering to idols and against stumbling another person by insisting on exercising their Christian freedom in the matter of eating food. Christians should not put the matter of food or its handling ahead of the Kingdom and its spiritual interests.-Ro 14:17; Heb 13:9.
Food was often used as a gift, to gain or to ensure the goodwill of another, since the acceptance of a gift was considered to obligate the receiver to observe peaceful relations. Eating together in Bible times indicated a bond of fellowship.
Medical products derived from blood
The dietary prohibition against eating blood is distinguished from individual medical decisions involving blood fractions and medical procedures. Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept blood transfusions in view of such Bible passages as the following: “Only flesh with its life-its blood-you must not eat.”
The religious understanding of Jehovah’s Witnesses does not absolutely prohibit the use of fractions derived from the primary components of blood, such fractions as albumin, immunoglobulins, clotting factors, and hemoglobin solutions. Health-care providers should determine in advance what products or procedures are acceptable to each patient.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have a wide range of views regarding the use of fractions derived from the primary components of blood. Clinicians should ascertain each patient’s choice in advance.
The religious understanding of Jehovah’s Witnesses does not absolutely prohibit the use of fractionated blood products. Each Witness must decide whether he can accept immunoglobulins or serums made with a blood fraction.
Personal medical decisions related to blood
Jehovah’s Witnesses do not accept preoperative autologous blood donation. However, autotransfusion techniques such as hemodilution, cell salvage, heart-lung machine, and hemodialysis are matters for personal decision.
Pumps should be primed with nonblood fluids. Epidural blood patches, plasmapheresis, blood-cell tagging, and autologous platelet gel may also be acceptable. Health-care providers should determine in advance what products or procedures are acceptable to each patient.
Many Jehovah’s Witnesses accept autologous blood management techniques such as blood salvage and hemodilution. Some Witness patients will allow a quantity of their blood to be withdrawn and tagged with an agent so as to facilitate various diagnostic tests.
When a plasma substitute, such as artificial colloid, is used, the use of plasmapheresis is a personal matter for each Witness patient to decide. Allogeneic plasma is unacceptable to Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Other medical decisions that are personal matters
Since the Bible specifically forbids consuming blood, no Biblical command pointedly forbids the taking in of tissue or bone. Therefore, whether to accept an organ transplant or make an organ donation is a personal medical decision.
Since the Bible does not consider bone marrow equivalent to blood, the decision to accept a bone-marrow transplant is a personal one.-Isaiah 25:6.
Stem cells obtained at the cost of the life of an embryo are unacceptable to Jehovah’s Witnesses. However, each patient decides whether to accept stem cells collected from his or her own blood or the blood of another person-provided that blood components are not intentionally collected, stored, and reinfused along with the stem cells.
Related health-care principles
Jehovah’s Witnesses love life and do whatever is reasonable in order to prolong it. They seek out quality health care and accept the vast majority of medical treatments.
Jehovah’s Witnesses actively seek medical care when needed. Many courts have recognized the patient’s fundamental right of bodily self-determination in medical decision-making and have protected patient autonomy under the principle of informed consent or informed choice in health care.
The patient, or parents or guardians of minors, should be fully informed of diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment recommendations so that informed health-care decisions can be made. Parents have the natural and legal right to make such decisions for their minor children.
Jehovah’s Witnesses are not opposed to vaccination and view it as a personal decision. Many Witnesses choose to get vaccinated.
Jehovah’s Witnesses have faith in God but do not practice faith healing. Every reasonable effort should be made to provide comfort for the sick patient through medical assistance and spiritual care.
Spiritual food and the role of physical food
Jesus delighted to do the will of his Father and spoke of it as food to him. Just as Moses had told the Israelites: “Not by bread alone does man live but by every expression of Jehovah’s mouth does man live,” Jesus encouraged his followers to seek, not the material food, but the food that remains for life everlasting.
He said not to be anxious about food and drink, for “the soul is worth more than food.” The apostle Paul spoke of the elementary things of Christian doctrine as being “milk” and the deeper knowledge as being “solid food.”
Peter, too, spoke of nourishing spiritual growth with “unadulterated milk belonging to the word.” Jesus called himself “the bread of life,” superior to the manna provided in the wilderness, and he pointed out that he had a supply that would prevent the eater from ever getting hungry.
Jehovah promises a time when he will provide an abundance of both spiritual and material food for his faithful people earth wide, with no famine to threaten them.-Ps 72:16; 85:12; Isa 25:6.
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