Q. The Gospels mention swineherds. Didn’t ancient Jewish dietary laws forbid eating pork?
A. You are correct that faithful Jews in Jesus’ day could not eat pork because of the ancient dietary laws given by God, which declared pigs ritually unclean (see Leviticus 11:1-8). But if you look closer at the Gospel passages referring to herds of swine, you find good reason to believe that they were owned not by Jews, but by Gentiles.