וְרָע֥וּ כְבָשִׂ֖ים כְּדָבְרָ֑ם וְחָרְב֥וֹת מֵחִ֖ים גָּרִ֥ים יֹאכֵֽלוּ׃
און שעפּסן װעלן זיך פֿיטערן װי אױף זײער פֿיטערפּלאַץ, און די װיסטענישן פֿון די פֿעטע װעלן פֿרעמדע פֿאַרצערן.
Rav Hirsch
Kap. 3. V. 1. מדבר ist zunächst nicht Wüste in dem Sinne einer öden Steppe, vielmehr weist das Wort selbst auf eine zur Viehtrift sich eignende Gegend hin. Grundbedeutung von דבר (verwandt mit דור: Zeitgenossenreihe, Geschlecht, auch טור ,תור: Reihe, תפר: aneinander nähen) eine Verbindung gleichartiger Dinge. Daher auch דוברות: Floß, דבורה: Bienenschwarm und ganz speziell: ורעו כבשים כרברם ,דֹבֶר (Jes. 5, 17) כעדר בתוך הדברו (Micha 2, 12): die Vereinigung der Herde. So auch das Zusammen führen der Völker unter einen Herrn, וַיַדְבֵר עמים תחתי (Ps. 18, 48). — Der Choreb wird hier bereits Gottesberg genannt; denn zur Zeit des Niederschreibens war dort ja bereits die Gesetzesoffenbarung geschehen. Tief bedeutsam aber ist es, daß hier die Erlösung vom Choreb ausgeht, von der künftigen Geburtsstätte des Gesetzes. Es hat damit von vornherein die Erlösung nur מתן תורה zum Ziele, das Volk hierher zu führen, und es hier zum Volke des Gesetzes zu konstituieren.
Rashi
within its stall Heb. הַדָּבְרוֹ. Jonathan renders: And as a flock within a stall, the place where they are led; and likewise (Isa. 5:17): “And lambs shall graze as their wont (כְּדָבְרָם).”
Rabbeinu Bahya
The author speculates further on the deficiencies resulting from such strange behaviour of the milk of the forbidden animals, adding that he read in a medical textbook that if one suckled from the pig’s milk a child might contract leprosy as a result. This would be just an example that everyone of these forbidden animals contains within it negative influences for those who eat or drink of it. Thus far Nachmanides.
An additional reason why the impure birds are forbidden may be simply that G’d loves humility and similar good traits and hates arrogance and similar repugnant traits. The animals which have been approved by G’d as fit to serve as sacrifices for Him, are also suitable to be eaten by us. Seeing that G’d rejected all birds described as impure as possible sacrifices, He also excluded them as potential food for the Israelites. All this is to teach us and impress upon us how much G’d hates the negative virtues displayed by birds of prey. This is why very often the prophets compared evil and cruel people to certain categories of birds of prey such as Jeremiah 49,22 who wrote: “see like the eagle he flies up, he soars and spreads his wings against Bozra.” Or, Deut. 28,49 where Moses says: “the Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, which will swoop down like the eagle;” evil people have been compared to the predatory animals such as the lion in Jeremiah 5,6: “Therefore, the lion of the forest strikes them down, the wolf of the desert devours them; a leopard lies in wait by their towns” (the prophet speaks of the hypocrisy practiced by the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem). David mentions wild beasts in such a context in Psalms 58,7 when he writes: “O G’d smash their teeth in their mouth; shatter the fangs of lions, O Lord.” Or, Psalms 57,5: “as for me, I lie down among man-eating lions whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongue is a sharp sword.”
By contrast, the righteous are usually compared to the kind of animals that are harmless, models of creatures with whom one can live in peace. Examples are Isaiah 5,17: “the lambs shall graze as in their meadows,” or Maleachi 3,20: “you shall go forth and stamp like stall-fed calves;” or Hoseah 11,11: “they shall flutter from Egypt like sparrows, from the land of Assyria like doves.”
An additional reason why the impure birds are forbidden may be simply that G’d loves humility and similar good traits and hates arrogance and similar repugnant traits. The animals which have been approved by G’d as fit to serve as sacrifices for Him, are also suitable to be eaten by us. Seeing that G’d rejected all birds described as impure as possible sacrifices, He also excluded them as potential food for the Israelites. All this is to teach us and impress upon us how much G’d hates the negative virtues displayed by birds of prey. This is why very often the prophets compared evil and cruel people to certain categories of birds of prey such as Jeremiah 49,22 who wrote: “see like the eagle he flies up, he soars and spreads his wings against Bozra.” Or, Deut. 28,49 where Moses says: “the Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, which will swoop down like the eagle;” evil people have been compared to the predatory animals such as the lion in Jeremiah 5,6: “Therefore, the lion of the forest strikes them down, the wolf of the desert devours them; a leopard lies in wait by their towns” (the prophet speaks of the hypocrisy practiced by the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem). David mentions wild beasts in such a context in Psalms 58,7 when he writes: “O G’d smash their teeth in their mouth; shatter the fangs of lions, O Lord.” Or, Psalms 57,5: “as for me, I lie down among man-eating lions whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongue is a sharp sword.”
By contrast, the righteous are usually compared to the kind of animals that are harmless, models of creatures with whom one can live in peace. Examples are Isaiah 5,17: “the lambs shall graze as in their meadows,” or Maleachi 3,20: “you shall go forth and stamp like stall-fed calves;” or Hoseah 11,11: “they shall flutter from Egypt like sparrows, from the land of Assyria like doves.”