THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

stran'-g'-ld (chanaq; pniktos, from verb pnigo, "to choke," "to smother," "to strangle" (compare choking of swine in the lake, Mr 5:13; the seed are choked by the thorns, Mt 13:7; the servant takes his fellow-servant by the throat, the King James Version Mt 18:28)): As adjective "strangled," used of animals deprived of life by choking, and so without the shedding of the blood. Flesh thus killed was forbidden as food among the Hebrews, because it contained the blood (Le 17:12). Even Jewish Christians in the Jerusalem council thought it best to forbid things strangled to be eaten by Gentile converts, so as not to give offense to Jewish sentiment, and doubtless also to prevent participation in heathen sacrificial feasts (Ac 15:20; 21:25).

Edward Bagby Pollard