"... Our targumist considers the biblical command, 'you should not cook a kid in its mother's milk,' as a prohibition against eating meat and milk together. He translates the identical biblical mandate, in 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21, in a similar fashion. The Mekhilta and Babylonian Talmud (Chullin 15b) differ. They interpret each repetition differently - one proscribing eating, another cooking, and the third deriving benefit from the mingling of the two products. Saadiah translates the phrase here and in Deuteronomy 14:21 as 'do not cook meat and milk,' and in 34:26 as 'do not eat meat and milk.' Maimonides (in his Guide of the Perplexed 3:48) understands the verses literally. He explains that the prohibition was to wean the Israelites from a gross and degrading idol worship ceremony. Rashbam informs us that the law is placed in this biblical section because many animals were consumed during the pilgrimage festivals and it is, therefore, the appropriate place to emphasize the prohibition ..."