Leviticus 11:1

Foods Permitted and Forbidden

1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ^a‘These are the animals which you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth:

3 Among the animals, whatever divides the hoof, having cloven hooves and chewing the cud—that you may eat.

4 Nevertheless these you shall ^anot eat among those that chew the cud or those that have cloven hooves: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is¹ unclean to you;

5 the rock hyrax, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is² unclean to you;

6 the hare, because it chews the cud but does not have cloven hooves, is unclean to you;

7 and the swine, though it divides the hoof, having cloven hooves, yet does not chew the cud, ^ais unclean to you.

8 Their flesh you shall not eat, and their carcasses you shall not touch. ^aThey are unclean to you.

9 ^a‘These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers—that you may eat.

10 But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are¹ an ^aabomination to you.

11 They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination.

12 Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales—that shall be an abomination to you.

13 ^a‘And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard,

14 the kite, and the falcon after its kind;

15 every raven after its kind,

16 the ostrich, the short-eared owl, the sea gull, and the hawk after its kind;

17 the little owl, the fisher owl, and the screech owl;

18 the white owl, the jackdaw, and the carrion vulture;

19 the stork, the heron after its kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

20 ‘All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you.

21 Yet these you may eat of every flying insect that creeps on all fours: those which have jointed legs above their feet with which to leap on the earth.

22 These you may eat: ^athe locust after its kind, the destroying locust after its kind, the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind.

23 But all other flying insects which have four feet shall be an abomination to you.

Unclean Animals

24 ‘By these you shall become¹ unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening;

25 whoever carries part of the carcass of any of them ^ashall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening:

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
What is the Forerunner Commentary?

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What Does Leviticus 11:1 Mean?

Leviticus 11:1-47

Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 contain God's commandment to Israel concerning clean and unclean meats. In these passages, either He lists specific animals that are clean or unclean, or He provides us with instructions about how to determine if an animal is clean or unclean. For instance, He tells us specifically that the camel, the hyrax (rock badger), the hare, and the swine are unclean (Leviticus 11:4-8), but regarding fish He instructs us to determine if a species possesses both fins and scales (verse 9).

People have varying reactions to these scriptures. Some will take the position that unclean animals are harmful to the body. Many of us have had experience, either personally or by an acquaintance, with poisoning by trichinosis (a disease caused by parasitic worm larvae) in pork or becoming deadly sick from shellfish. Then others will bring up "Aunt Sarah," who ate pork and crawdads, drank a bottle of whiskey, smoked cigars every day, and lived to be 102 years old. Indeed, God makes some with amazingly strong constitutions.

God designed many of the unclean animals for the specific purpose of disposing of the earth's garbage. For instance, without feeling any ill effect, vultures can consume 59 times the amount of botulin, the neurotoxin that causes botulism, that it would take to kill a man. Pigs are scavengers that will eat anything, and if pork is not fully cooked to kill the Trichinella spiralis in it, it can destroy a person's health or even kill him.

Even though people throughout the world eat unclean food and live, and even though we could probably do the same'and many of us once did'for Christians, it is more than a health matter. In the Bible, God never directly connects keeping the laws of Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 with health. In reality, it is a test commandment to see if we will obey God.

John O. Reid
Did God Change the Law of Clean and Unclean Meats?

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Foods Permitted and Forbidden

Unclean Animals

What Does Leviticus 11:1 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

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