In a recent study, two Israeli archaeologists examined data from collections of fishbones discovered in 30 sites across ancient Judea, dated from the prebiblical period to the end of the talmudic era, and found evidence of the widespread consumption of non-kosher fish—including shark, eel, and especially catfish. As much of the Hebrew Bible is devoted to chronicling Israelite noncompliance with the Pentateuch’s commands, this should come as no surprise. But the researchers have further argued that the prohibitions on eating fish without fins or scales (as opposed to other non-kosher animals) are not attested before the 1st century BCE. Joshua Berman and Ari Zivotofsky present a rebuttal:
In the final chapter of the book of Isaiah, the prophet castigates a particular cult within the Judean community for consuming “the swine’s flesh, the abominable things (shekets) and the mouse.” Close scrutiny of the whole verse reveals that its seven lexical features are carefully lifted from the dietary laws of Leviticus 11. And in that chapter, the word shekets is used five times to describe finless and scaleless fish. It is true that Leviticus 11 uses that term to refer to a number of other creatures as well. But it is clear that the author of Isaiah 66 composed this verse with the text of Leviticus 11 in mind. It takes special pleading to say that when the prophet chides those who consume the category of shekets that he means everything else with that designation in Leviticus 11 other than scaleless and finless fish.
This passage from Isaiah likewise undermines [the researchers’ additional] claim that “We do not have any evidence that the Judean masses prior to the middle of the 2nd century BCE had any knowledge of the Torah or observed the rules of the Torah.” The author of this verse in Isaiah describes a reality whereby part of the community is abiding by the dietary standards of Leviticus 11 and part of it is not. Jews in his day may not have recognized his deliberate references to the Torah text of the dietary laws, just as many Jews today—observant or not—are familiar with these laws yet while unfamiliar with the actual words of the verse. But the account of the prophet’s censure in Isaiah 66 has coherence only if there are a group of Jews observing these laws and another group violating them.
The prophetic books offer us a vivid window into the social reality of ancient Israel, and it would, here too, require special pleading to maintain that the social reality portrayed in Isaiah 66 is fiction through and through.
Read more on Times of Israel: https://www.timesofisrael.com/those-fishy-reports-on-ancient-israelites-eating-non-kosher-seafood/