Leviticus 19:19, from the Good News Bible, reads Obey my orders. Do not crossbreed your cattle. Do not plant two kinds of seed in the same field. Do not wear clothing made from two kinds of fiber.

The King James version of the Bible has Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind. Thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed. Neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.

If this biblical law is taken to prohibit genetic engineering, it would have to also be understood to forbid conventional hybridization, especially since the Leviticus text precedes genetic engineering by at least 2500 years.