Hunting is Discouraged and Portrayed Negatively in the Bible

The flesh obtained and eaten from hunting is categorized as ‘secular meat,’ which the Hebrew of Deuteronomy 12 links with wickedness, lust, malefaction, defiance against the Lord, and the Fall. Secular meat consumption has several biblical regulations, which show that it is something bad that needs restriction to limit excessive harm. Additionally, the new covenant (Luke 22:20), which began soon after Pentecost (Acts 2:1), discourages hunting (Job 5:22–23, Ezek 34:25–31; Hos 2:18). For instance, Hosea 2:18 explicitly states, “In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky and the creatures that move along the ground. Bow and sword and battle I will abolish from the land, so that all may lie down in safety.”

Through metaphor, the hunting of animals is portrayed negatively in the Bible.

“Must I die on foreign soil, far from the presence of the LORD? Why has the king of Israel come out to search for a single flea? Why does he hunt me down like a partridge on the mountains?”

- 1 Samuel 26:20

“My enemies, whom I have never harmed, hunted me down like a bird.”

- Lamentations 3:52

The above verses compare bad situations faced by humans to the experience of hunted animals. With the help of ‘The Unity of Creation Principle’, these comparisons should help us empathize with the terrible experience of hunted animals (Matt 7:12; Luke 6:31).