In this week’s Torah portion, Noach (Gen. 6:9–11:32), God gives Noah permission to eat animals after the flood (Gen. 9:3). Many Christians interpret this passage to mean that Noah could eat any animal, including those later identified as unclean in Leviticus 11. But is that really what the passage teaches? When we consider the broader context of Genesis and the meaning of the underlying Hebrew terminology, there are good reasons to question this popular interpretation.