על החוקים לפרטיהם, ספר ד כ״גOn the Special Laws, Book IV 23
א׳
1[119] Further he forbade them to have anything to do with bodies of animals that have died of themselves or have been torn by wild beasts, the latter because a man ought not to be table mate with savage brutes and one might almost say share with them the enjoyment of their feasts of flesh; the former perhaps because it is a noxious and insanitary practice since the body contains dead serum as well as blood; also it may be because the fitness of things bids us keep untouched what we find deceased, and respect the fate which the compulsion of nature has already imposed.
ב׳
2[120] Skilful hunters who know how to hit their quarry with an aim that rarely misses the mark and preen themselves on their success in this sport, particularly when they share the pieces of their prey with the other huntsmen as well as with the hounds, are extolled by most legislators among Greeks and Barbarians, not only for their courage, but also for their liberality. But the author of the holy commonwealth might rightly blame them since for the reasons stated he definitely forbade the enjoyment of bodies which died a natural death or were torn by wild beasts.
ג׳
3[121] If anyone of the devotees of hard training who is a lover of gymnastic exercises becomes a lover of the chase also, because he considers that it gives a preliminary practice for war and for the dangers incurred in facing the enemy, he should when he meets with success in the chase throw the fallen beasts to feast the hounds as a wage or prize for their courage and faithful assistance. He himself should not touch these carcases, thus learning from his dealing with irrational animals what he should feel with regard to human enemies, who should be combated not for wrongful gain as foot-pads do, but in self-defence, either to avenge the injuries which he has suffered already or to guard against those which he expects to suffer in the future.
ד׳
4[122] But some of the type of Sardanapalus greedily extend their unrestrained and excessive luxury beyond all bounds and limits. They devise novel kinds of pleasure and prepare meat unfit for the altar by strangling and throttling the animals, and entomb in the carcase the blood which is the essence of the soul and should be allowed to run freely away. For they should be fully contented with enjoying the flesh only and not lay hold on what is akin to the soul;
ה׳
5[123] and therefore elsewhere he legislates on the subject of blood that no one should put either it or the fat to his mouth. Blood is prohibited for the reason which I have mentioned that it is the essence of the soul, not of the intelligent and reasonable soul, but of that which operates through the senses, the soul that gives the life which we and the irrational animals possess in common.