The Hebrew noun terephah (טְרֵפָה) refers to an animal (or meat) that has been torn by a wild beast — prey that has been violently ripped apart. Under the Mosaic law, Israelites were forbidden from eating terephah (Exodus 22:31; Leviticus 17:15) because it was considered unclean. The word comes from the root taraph (H2963), meaning to tear or rend. Contrast with neveilah (H5038) — an animal that died naturally.
The prohibition against eating terephah was part of Israel's dietary holiness code, which separated them from the nations and instilled habits of restraint and reverence for life. Theologically, it pointed to the purity God required of His covenant people — even what they ate reflected their consecration to Him. The contrast between terephah (torn/defiled) and the Passover lamb (unblemished, not a bone broken) is instructive: Christ as the Lamb of God was the perfect sacrifice, untorn by compromise, given freely rather than seized by violence. The law of terephah pointed Israel forward to the spotless Lamb.