Leviticus 11: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

The LORD tells Moses and Aaron to give Israel rules about which creatures they may eat and which they may not: land animals, water creatures, birds, and flying insects. The chapter then sets out how touching or carrying the dead bodies of these creatures makes a person unclean until evening, and what happens to clay pots, ovens, clothing, food, water sources, and seed that they fall on. It closes with the command to be holy because the LORD is holy, the LORD who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, and states what the law is for: to tell the unclean from the clean, and the animals that may be eaten from those that may not.

Claim by Claim

1. 11:1
   • The LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron.
   • The LORD told them to speak to the people.
2. 11:2
   • Moses and Aaron are commanded to speak to the Israelites.
   • These are the living creatures the Israelites may eat, out of all the animals on the earth.
3. 11:3
   • Any animal among the land animals that has a divided hoof, split completely into two parts, and that brings up the cud, may be eaten.
4. 11:4
   • Some animals that bring up the cud or that have a divided hoof are still not to be eaten.
   • The camel brings up the cud.
   • The camel does not have a divided hoof.
   • The camel is unclean for the Israelites.
5. 11:5
   • The rock badger brings up the cud.
   • The rock badger does not have a divided hoof.
   • The rock badger is unclean for the Israelites.
6. 11:6
   • The hare brings up the cud.
   • The hare does not have a divided hoof.
   • The hare is unclean for the Israelites.
7. 11:7
   • The pig has a divided hoof, split completely into two parts.
   • The pig does not bring up the cud.
   • The pig is unclean for the Israelites.
8. 11:8
   • The Israelites are not to eat the flesh of these animals.
   • The Israelites are not to touch the carcasses of these animals.
   • These animals are unclean for the Israelites.
9. 11:9
   • Of everything that lives in the water, whatever has both fins and scales may be eaten.
   • This applies to creatures in the seas and in the streams.
10. 11:10
    • Everything in the seas and streams that lacks fins and scales is detestable to the Israelites.
    • This includes all the swarming creatures of the water and every living creature in the water.
11. 11:11
    • These creatures are to be detestable to the Israelites.
    • The Israelites are not to eat their flesh.
    • The Israelites are to regard their carcasses as detestable.
12. 11:12
    • Anything in the water that has no fins and no scales is detestable to the Israelites.
13. 11:13
    • The Israelites are to regard the following birds as detestable.
    • These birds are not to be eaten.
    • These birds are detestable.
    • The eagle (or griffon vulture) is on the list.
    • The bearded vulture is on the list.
    • The black vulture is on the list.
14. 11:14
    • The kite is on the list.
    • Every kind of falcon is on the list.
15. 11:15
    • Every kind of raven is on the list.
16. 11:16
    • The ostrich is on the list.
    • The night hawk (an unidentified bird) is on the list.
    • The gull is on the list.
    • Every kind of hawk is on the list.
17. 11:17
    • The little owl is on the list.
    • The cormorant is on the list.
    • The great owl is on the list.
18. 11:18
    • The white owl is on the list.
    • The desert owl (or pelican) is on the list.
    • The carrion vulture is on the list.
19. 11:19
    • The stork is on the list.
    • Every kind of heron is on the list.
    • The hoopoe is on the list.
    • The bat is on the list.
20. 11:20
    • Every winged swarming creature that goes on all fours is detestable to the Israelites.
21. 11:21
    • Some winged swarming creatures that go on all fours may be eaten.
    • Those that may be eaten are the ones with jointed legs above their feet for leaping on the ground.
22. 11:22
    • The locust after its kind may be eaten.
    • The bald locust after its kind may be eaten.
    • The cricket after its kind may be eaten.
    • The grasshopper after its kind may be eaten.
23. 11:23
    • Every other winged swarming creature that has four feet is detestable to the Israelites.
24. 11:24
    • By these creatures a person becomes unclean.
    • Whoever touches their carcasses is unclean until evening.
25. 11:25
    • Whoever carries any part of their carcasses must wash his clothes.
    • Whoever carries any part of their carcasses is unclean until evening.
26. 11:26
    • Every animal that has a hoof but is not split completely into two parts, and that does not bring up the cud, is unclean for the Israelites.
    • Everyone who touches them becomes unclean.
27. 11:27
    • Among all creatures that walk on all fours, those that go on their paws are unclean for the Israelites.
    • Whoever touches their carcasses is unclean until evening.
28. 11:28
    • Whoever carries their carcasses must wash his clothes.
    • Whoever carries their carcasses is unclean until evening.
    • These creatures are unclean for the Israelites.
29. 11:29
    • Among the creatures that swarm on the ground, the following are unclean for the Israelites.
    • The mole rat (or weasel) is unclean.
    • The mouse is unclean.
    • Every kind of great lizard is unclean.
30. 11:30
    • The gecko is unclean.
    • The monitor lizard is unclean.
    • The common lizard is unclean.
    • The skink is unclean.
    • The chameleon is unclean.
31. 11:31
    • These are the unclean ones among all the swarming creatures.
    • Whoever touches them after they are dead is unclean until evening.
32. 11:32
    • Anything on which one of them falls when dead becomes unclean.
    • This includes any vessel of wood, clothing, skin, or sackcloth.
    • This includes any vessel used for doing work.
    • Such an object must be put into water.
    • Such an object is unclean until evening.
    • After that the object becomes clean.
33. 11:33
    • If one of them falls into a clay vessel, everything inside that vessel becomes unclean.
    • The clay vessel must be broken.
34. 11:34
    • Any food that may be eaten on which such water comes becomes unclean.
    • Any drink that may be drunk in any such vessel becomes unclean.
35. 11:35
    • Anything on which any part of their carcass falls becomes unclean.
    • An oven or a cooking stove on which such a carcass falls must be broken down.
    • Such things are unclean.
    • Such things are to remain unclean for the Israelites.
36. 11:36
    • A spring or a cistern holding a collection of water remains clean.
    • Whoever touches their carcass becomes unclean.
37. 11:37
    • If part of their carcass falls on seed intended for sowing, the seed is clean.
38. 11:38
    • If water has been put on the seed and part of their carcass then falls on it, the seed is unclean for the Israelites.
39. 11:39
    • If an animal that the Israelites may eat dies, whoever touches its carcass is unclean until evening.
40. 11:40
    • Whoever eats from its carcass must wash his clothes.
    • Whoever eats from its carcass is unclean until evening.
    • Whoever carries its carcass must wash his clothes.
    • Whoever carries its carcass is unclean until evening.
41. 11:41
    • Every swarming creature that swarms on the ground is detestable.
    • It is not to be eaten.
42. 11:42
    • Whatever goes on its belly is not to be eaten.
    • Whatever goes on four feet is not to be eaten.
    • Whatever has many feet is not to be eaten.
    • This applies to all the swarming creatures that swarm on the ground.
    • Such creatures are detestable.
43. 11:43
    • The Israelites are not to make themselves detestable with any swarming creature that swarms.
    • The Israelites are not to make themselves unclean with them.
    • Contact with them would leave the Israelites defiled.
44. 11:44
    • The LORD is the God of the Israelites.
    • The Israelites are to consecrate themselves.
    • The Israelites are to be holy.
    • The LORD is holy.
    • The Israelites are not to defile themselves with any swarming creature that moves along the ground.
45. 11:45
    • The LORD is the one bringing the Israelites up out of the land of Egypt.
    • The purpose of bringing them up is that He be their God.
    • The Israelites are to be holy.
    • The LORD is holy.
46. 11:46
    • This is the law concerning land animals.
    • This is the law concerning birds.
    • This is the law concerning every living creature that moves in the waters.
    • This is the law concerning every creature that swarms on the ground.
47. 11:47
    • The purpose of this law is to distinguish between the unclean and the clean.
    • The purpose of this law is to distinguish between the creature that may be eaten and the creature that may not be eaten.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

11:1

Aaron was Moses' brother and head of the priests. Teaching people to tell clean from unclean was priestly work, so the instructions are addressed to both men.

11:2

"Children of Israel" in the King James means the whole nation descended from Jacob, who was also called Israel. It does not mean children as opposed to adults.

11:3

"Chews the cud" describes animals like cattle, sheep and goats, which bring swallowed food back up and chew it a second time. A "split hoof" is one divided into two toes, as on a cow or goat, rather than a solid hoof like a horse's or a padded foot.

11:4

"Unclean" here does not mean dirty, unhealthy or wicked. It is a status word: a person or thing that is unclean cannot take part in worship or touch holy things until the condition passes or is dealt with. It is usually temporary and often catching by contact.

11:5

The rock badger is the hyrax, a stocky animal about the size of a rabbit that lives in rocky outcrops in Israel and the Sinai. It is not related to badgers, and the older King James word "coney" meant rabbit.

11:6

The hare does not chew the cud in the modern zoological sense, and neither does the hyrax; both work their jaws in a way that looks like it. The list sorts animals by what an ordinary person could see them doing, not by internal anatomy.

11:7

The King James "swine" means pigs. Pigs were kept and eaten by many of the peoples living around Israel, which made this one rule an unusually visible marker of an Israelite household.

11:8

"Carcase" is the older spelling of carcass, a dead body. Note that the rule reaches past eating to touching: a dead unclean animal affected anyone who handled it, whether or not they ate it.

11:9

Fins-and-scales is a single test applied to all water creatures. It admits most ordinary fish and rules out shellfish, shrimp, squid, eels, catfish and anything else lacking either feature.

11:10

"Detestable" translates a Hebrew word (sheqets) used almost only in these food rules. It is a classification label meaning "to be kept away from and not eaten," rather than a description of how the creature tastes or looks.

11:13

The Hebrew names in this bird list are among the least certain words in the Bible; several occur nowhere else, and no ancient source explains them. Translations differ widely, and any English name given here is a best guess. What is clear is that the birds are mostly hunters and scavengers that feed on flesh or carrion.

11:14

A kite and a falcon are birds that hunt. They catch small animals with sharp claws.

11:16

The King James "cuckow" is just the old spelling of cuckoo, and "night hawk" is a bird of the dark rather than the American nighthawk. Modern translators read these same Hebrew words as a gull and a screech owl.

11:17

A cormorant is a large dark bird. It dives under the water to catch fish.

11:18

"Gier eagle" is an old English name for a vulture. The "swan" is almost certainly wrong; the Hebrew word probably names an owl or a water bird.

11:19

The King James "lapwing" is the hoopoe, a crested bird that feeds on the ground. The bat is grouped with the birds because the list sorts creatures by how they move and where they live, so anything that flies counts as a bird here. This is not an attempt at the kind of classification used in modern biology.

11:20

"Walks on all four legs" is a set phrase meaning "goes about on legs like an animal" rather than a count of limbs; the creatures in view are insects. "Winged insect" translates a phrase that literally reads "swarming thing that flies."

11:21

The distinguishing feature is the pair of long jumping legs bent above the foot, as on a locust or grasshopper.

11:22

Locusts were ordinary food across the ancient Near East, dried, roasted or salted, and are still eaten in parts of the region. The four Hebrew names are all kinds of locust or grasshopper, but which kinds cannot now be identified.

11:24

In Israelite reckoning a day ran from sunset to sunset, so "unclean until evening" means the condition lasts through the rest of that day and ends at nightfall.

11:25

Picking up a carcass is treated as worse than merely brushing against one: it requires washing the clothes as well as waiting for sunset.

11:27

"Those that walk on their paws" means animals with padded feet rather than hooves, dogs, cats, lions, bears and the like.

11:29

As with the bird list, most of these Hebrew names are uncertain, and translators disagree about which lizards, rodents and small burrowing animals are meant.

11:30

"Ferret", "snail" and "mole" were the King James translators' best guesses at Hebrew words that most scholars now read as different kinds of lizard.

11:32

Sackcloth is coarse cloth woven from goat or camel hair, used for grain sacks and rough garments. "Put into water" means the object is rinsed or soaked; the waiting until sunset is part of the procedure, not a sign that the rinsing failed.

11:33

Ordinary pottery of the period was unglazed and porous, so it soaked up whatever it held and could not be rinsed clean. A clay pot is therefore destroyed rather than washed, while wood, cloth and leather in the previous verse can be rinsed and kept.

11:34

In the King James, "meat" means food of any kind, not flesh specifically. That is the ordinary sense the word carried in 1611.

11:35

The oven was a clay dome or barrel used for baking; the "stove for pots" was a clay stand or pair of supports that held a cooking pot over the fire. Both were made of the same porous fired clay as the pot in the previous verse, and both were cheap enough to smash and replace.

11:36

A cistern is a pit cut into rock and plastered, used to collect and store rainwater. Springs and cisterns were a household's whole water supply, and this exception keeps a single dead animal from putting a village's water out of use.

11:37

Dry seed set aside for the next sowing is exempt, so a farmer does not lose his seed grain.

11:38

Water is the carrier throughout this section: dry things generally escape, wetted things do not. Once the seed has been dampened it can pick up uncleanness like any other moistened food.

11:39

This covers an animal from the permitted list that dies on its own rather than being slaughtered. Its meat is not forbidden outright here, but handling the carcass still makes a person unclean until evening.

11:41

"Creature that moves along the ground" translates a Hebrew word for swarming things, small creatures that appear in numbers close to the ground, covering insects, rodents, lizards and snakes together in one category.

11:42

"Goeth upon the belly" covers snakes and worms, and "more feet" covers creatures like centipedes and millipedes.

11:43

"Defiled" means made unfit to come near what is holy. It describes a status, not a feeling of shame.

11:44

"Holy" in Hebrew means set apart, reserved for a particular use, rather than morally good; "set yourselves apart" and "be holy" translate two forms of the same root.

11:45

The rescue from slavery in Egypt is the event the whole book keeps referring back to. It is given as the reason Israel belongs to God and therefore lives by a different set of rules than the peoples around them.

11:46

"Law" translates the Hebrew word torah, which means instruction or teaching. Sections of Leviticus regularly close with a summary line like this one.

11:47

"To make a difference" is 1611 English for "to distinguish". Teaching people to tell clean from unclean was assigned to the priests, as stated in Leviticus 10:10.