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11
1 The Lord told Moses and Aaron, 2 “Give these instructions to the Israelites. These are the animals you are allowed to eat: 3 any animal that both has a divided hoof and also chews the cud. 4 However, if it either chews the cud, or has a divided hoof, then you may not eat it. These include: the camel, which though it chews the cud doesn't have a divided hoof, so it is unclean for you. 5 The rock hyrax, which though it chews the cud doesn't have a divided hoof, so it is unclean for you. 6 The hare, which though it chews the cud doesn't have a divided hoof, so it is unclean for you. 7 The pig, which though it has a divided hoof doesn't chew the cud, so it is unclean for you. 8 You are not to eat their meat or touch their dead bodies. They are unclean for you.
9 You are allowed to eat any creature with fins and scales that lives in the water, whether in the sea or in fresh water. 10 But you are not allowed to eat any of the many creatures that don't have fins and scales that live in the water, whether in the sea or in fresh water. 11 They are repulsive.*“Repulsive”: not only in a sensory way, but also in the sense that they are ceremonially unclean. You must not eat their meat, and you must treat their dead bodies as repulsive. 12 All such water creatures that don't have fins and scales are to be repulsive to you.
13 As for the birds,†The identification of the specific birds in the list that follows is uncertain. However, it primarily refers to birds of prey and other birds that eat carrion or unclean animals. In addition the word translated “birds” really means “flying creatures,” which accounts for the inclusion of bats at the end of the list. these must not be eaten because they are repulsive: eagle, griffon vulture, bearded vulture, 14 buzzard, kite and similar birds of prey, 15 any raven or crow, 16 tawny owl, long-eared owl, gulls, any kind of hawk, 17 little owl, fish owl, eagle owl, 18 barn owl, desert owl, Egyptian vulture, 19 storks and any kind of heron, hoopoe, and bats.
20 All flying insects that crawl‡“Crawl”: literally, “that go on all fours.” However, this does not mean that insects had only four legs when they do in fact have six, it simply refers to the usual way animals move, most having four legs. are repulsive to you. 21 But you can eat the following kinds of flying insects that crawl: those that have jointed legs they use to jump. 22 So in this category you can eat any kind of locust, bald locust, cricket, or grasshopper. 23 All other flying insects that crawl are repulsive to you, 24 and will make you unclean. If you touch their dead bodies you will be unclean until the evening, 25 and if you pick up one of their dead bodies you must wash your clothes, and you will be unclean until the evening.
26 Every animal with hooves that are not divided, or that does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. If you touch any of them you will be unclean. 27 Any four-legged animal that walks on its paws are unclean for you. If you touch their dead bodies you will be unclean until the evening, 28 and if you pick up one of their dead bodies you must wash your clothes, and you will be unclean until the evening. They are unclean for you.
29 The following animals§The identification of the specific animals in the list that follows is uncertain. that run along the ground are unclean for you: rats, mice, any kind of large lizards, 30 geckos, monitor lizards, wall lizards, skinks, and chameleons. 31 These animals that run along the ground are unclean for you. If you touch a dead one of them you will be unclean until the evening.
32 Anything that one of them dies and lands on becomes unclean. Whatever it is—something made of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or any work tool—it must be washed with water and will be unclean until the evening. Then it will become clean. 33 If one of them falls into a clay pot, all that's in it becomes unclean. You must smash the pot. 34 If water from that pot touches any food, that food becomes unclean, and any drink from a pot like that also becomes unclean. 35 Anything that one of their dead bodies falls on becomes unclean. If it's an oven or a stove,*“Stove”: the word here is only used once in the Old Testament and so its meaning is uncertain. Clearly it is made of something breakable such a pottery. it must be smashed. It is permanently unclean for you. 36 On the other hand, if it's a spring or cistern containing water then it will remain clean, but if you touch one of these dead bodies in it you will be unclean. 37 Similarly, if one of their dead bodies falls on any seed used for sowing, the seed remains clean; 38 but if the seed has been soaked in water and one of their dead bodies falls on it, it is unclean for you.
39 If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches the dead body will be unclean until the evening. 40 If you eat anything from the dead body you must wash your clothes and you will be unclean until the evening. If you pick up the dead body you must wash your clothes and you will be unclean until the evening.
41 Every animal that crawls along the ground is repulsive—you must not eat it. 42 Don't eat any animal that crawls along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on four feet or many feet. All such animals are repulsive. 43 Don't defile yourselves by any such crawling animal. Don't make yourselves unclean or defiled by them, 44 because I am the Lord your God; so dedicate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Don't defile yourselves by any animal that crawls along the ground. 45 I am the Lord who led you out of Egypt so that I could be your God. So be holy, because I am holy.
46 These are the regulations about animals, birds, everything that lives in the water, and all animals that crawl along the ground. 47 You must recognize the difference between unclean and clean, between those animals that can be eaten and those that can't.”

- Leviticus
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*11:11 “Repulsive”: not only in a sensory way, but also in the sense that they are ceremonially unclean.

†11:13 The identification of the specific birds in the list that follows is uncertain. However, it primarily refers to birds of prey and other birds that eat carrion or unclean animals. In addition the word translated “birds” really means “flying creatures,” which accounts for the inclusion of bats at the end of the list.

‡11:20 “Crawl”: literally, “that go on all fours.” However, this does not mean that insects had only four legs when they do in fact have six, it simply refers to the usual way animals move, most having four legs.

§11:29 The identification of the specific animals in the list that follows is uncertain.

*11:35 “Stove”: the word here is only used once in the Old Testament and so its meaning is uncertain. Clearly it is made of something breakable such a pottery.

© 2018 Dr. Jonathan Gallagher