Leviticus11

Leviticus 11 outlines the dietary laws given by the LORD to Moses and Aaron, establishing what animals the children of Israel may eat and what they must avoid. It specifies clean land animals as those with cloven hooves that chew the cud, and clean aquatic creatures as those with fins and scales. The chapter also lists numerous unclean birds and creeping things, and details the rules for ritual defilement incurred by touching the carcasses of forbidden animals, emphasizing Israel's call to be holy as the LORD is holy.

Introduction to the Laws of Clean and Unclean

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying unto them,

`Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, This is the beast which ye do eat out of all the beasts which are on the earth:

Clean and Unclean Land Animals

any dividing a hoof, and cleaving the cleft of the hoofs, bringing up the cud, among the beasts, it ye do eat.

`Only, this ye do not eat--of those bringing up the cud, and of those dividing the hoof--the camel, though it is bringing up the cud, yet the hoof not dividing--it is unclean to you;

and the rabbit, though it is bringing up the cud, yet the hoof it divideth not--unclean it is to you;

and the hare, though it is bringing up the cud, yet the hoof hath not divided--unclean it is to you;

and the sow, though it is dividing the hoof, and cleaving the cleft of the hoof, yet the cud it bringeth not up--unclean it is to you.

`Of their flesh ye do not eat, and against their carcase ye do not come--unclean they are to you.

Clean and Unclean Water Creatures

`This ye do eat of all which are in the waters; any one that hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the brooks, them ye do eat;

and any one that hath not fins and scales in the seas, and in the brooks, of any teeming creature of the waters, and of any creature which liveth, which is in the waters--an abomination they are to you;

yea, an abomination they are to you; of their flesh ye do not eat, and their carcase ye abominate.

`Any one that hath not fins and scales in the waters--an abomination it is to you.

Clean and Unclean Birds

`And these ye do abominate of the fowl; they are not eaten, an abomination they are : the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

and the vulture, and the kite after its kind,

every raven after its kind,

and the owl, and the night-hawk, and the cuckoo, and the hawk after its kind,

and the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl,

and the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle,

and the stork, the heron after its kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

Clean and Unclean Winged Insects

`Every teeming creature which is flying, which is going on four--an abomination it is to you.

`Only--this ye do eat of any teeming thing which is flying, which is going on four, which hath legs above its feet, to move with them on the earth;

these of them ye do eat: the locust after its kind, and the bald locust after its kind, and the beetle after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind;

and every teeming thing which is flying, which hath four feet--an abomination it is to you.

Uncleanness from Carcasses

`And by these ye are made unclean, any one who is coming against their carcase is unclean till the evening;

and anyone who is lifting up aught of their carcase doth wash his garments, and hath been unclean till the evening: --

even every beast which is dividing the hoof, and is not cloven-footed, and the cud is not bringing up--unclean they are to you; any one who is coming against them is unclean.

`And any one going on its paws, among all the beasts which are going on four--unclean they are to you; any one who is coming against their carcase is unclean until the evening;

and he who is lifting up their carcase doth wash his garments, and hath been unclean until the evening--unclean they are to you.

Unclean Creeping Things (Vermin)

`And this is to you the unclean among the teeming things which are teeming on the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after its kind,

and the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole;

these are the unclean to you among all which are teeming; any one who is coming against them in their death is unclean till the evening.

`And anything on which any one of them falleth, in their death, is unclean, of any vessel of wood or garment or skin or sack, any vessel in which work is done is brought into water, and hath been unclean till the evening, then it hath been clean;

and any earthen vessel, into the midst of which any one of them falleth, all that is in its midst is unclean, and it ye do break.

`Of all the food which is eaten, that on which cometh such water, is unclean, and all drink which is drunk in any such vessel is unclean;

and anything on which any of their carcase falleth is unclean (oven or double pots), it is broken down, unclean they are , yea, unclean they are to you.

`Only--a fountain or pit, a collection of water, is clean, but that which is coming against their carcase is unclean;

and when any of their carcase falleth on any sown seed which is sown--it is clean;

and when water is put on the seed, and any of its carcase hath fallen on it--unclean it is to you.

`And when any of the beasts which are to you for food dieth, he who is coming against its carcase is unclean till the evening;

and he who is eating of its carcase doth wash his garments, and hath been unclean till the evening; and he who is lifting up its carcase doth wash his garments, and hath been unclean till the evening.

Prohibition of Creeping Things

`And every teeming thing which is teeming on the earth is an abomination, it is not eaten;

any thing going on the belly, and any going on four, unto every multiplier of feet, to every teeming thing which is teeming on the earth--ye do not eat them, for they are an abomination;

ye do not make yourselves abominable with any teeming thing which is teeming, nor do ye make yourselves unclean with them, so that ye have been unclean thereby.

The Call to Holiness

`For I am Jehovah your God, and ye have sanctified yourselves, and ye have been holy, for I am holy; and ye do not defile your persons with any teeming thing which is creeping on the earth;

for I am Jehovah who am bringing you up out of the land of Egypt to become your God; and ye have been holy, for I am holy.

`This is a law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature which is moving in the waters, and of every creature which is teeming on the earth,

to make separation between the unclean and the pure, and between the beast that is eaten, and the beast that is not eaten.'

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