Leviticus 11:24-39

Carcass Uncleanness

11:24 “‘By these ¹  you defile yourselves; anyone who touches their carcass will be unclean until the evening, 11:25 and anyone who carries their carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until the evening.

Inedible Land Quadrupeds

11:26 “‘All ²  animals that divide the hoof but it is not completely split in two ³  and do not chew the cud ⁴  are unclean to you; anyone who touches them becomes unclean. ⁵  11:27 All that walk on their paws among all the creatures that walk on all fours ⁶  are unclean to you. Anyone who touches their carcass will be unclean until the evening, 11:28 and the one who carries their carcass must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

Creatures that Swarm on the Land

11:29 “‘Now this is what is unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the land: ⁷  the rat, the mouse, the large lizard of any kind, 11:30 the Mediterranean gecko, the spotted lizard, the wall gecko, the skink, and the chameleon. 11:31 These are the ones that are unclean to you among all the swarming things. Anyone who touches them when they die will be unclean until evening. 11:32 Also, anything they fall on ⁸  when they die will become unclean – any wood vessel or garment or article of leather or sackcloth. Any such vessel with which work is done must be immersed in water ⁹  and will be unclean until the evening. Then it will become clean. 11:33 As for any clay vessel they fall into, ¹⁰  everything in it ¹¹  will become unclean and you must break it. 11:34 Any food that may be eaten which becomes soaked with water ¹²  will become unclean. Anything drinkable ¹³  in any such vessel will become unclean. ¹⁴  11:35 Anything their carcass may fall on will become unclean. An oven or small stove must be smashed to pieces; they are unclean, and they will stay unclean ¹⁵  to you. 11:36 However, a spring or a cistern which collects water ¹⁶  will be clean, but one who touches their carcass will be unclean. 11:37 Now, if such a carcass falls on any sowing seed which is to be sown, ¹⁷  it is clean, 11:38 but if water is put on the seed and such a carcass falls on it, it is unclean to you.

Edible Land Quadrupeds

11:39 “‘Now if an animal ¹⁸  that you may eat dies, ¹⁹  whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until the evening.

Numbers 19:11-16

Purification from Uncleanness

19:11 “‘Whoever touches ²⁰  the corpse ²¹  of any person ²²  will be ceremonially unclean ²³  seven days. 19:12 He must purify himself ²⁴  with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean. 19:13 Anyone who touches the corpse of any dead person and does not purify himself defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. And that person must be cut off from Israel, ²⁵  because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him. He will be unclean; his uncleanness remains on him.

19:14 “‘This is the law: When a man dies ²⁶  in a tent, anyone who comes into the tent and all who are in the tent will be ceremonially unclean seven days. 19:15 And every open container that has no covering fastened on it is unclean. 19:16 And whoever touches the body of someone killed with a sword in the open fields, ²⁷  or the body of someone who died of natural causes, ²⁸  or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean seven days. ²⁹ 

Luke 11:41

11:41 But give from your heart to those in need, ³⁰  and ³¹  then everything will be clean for you. ³² 

Acts 10:15-16

10:15 The voice ³³  spoke to him again, a second time, “What God has made clean, you must not consider ³⁴  ritually unclean!” ³⁵  10:16 This happened three times, and immediately the object was taken up into heaven. ³⁶ 

Acts 10:28

10:28 He said to them, “You know that ³⁷  it is unlawful ³⁸  for a Jew ³⁹  to associate with or visit a Gentile, ⁴⁰  yet God has shown me that I should call no person ⁴¹  defiled or ritually unclean. ⁴² 

Romans 14:14

14:14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself; still, it is unclean to the one who considers it unclean.

Romans 14:20

14:20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. For although all things are clean, ⁴³  it is wrong to cause anyone to stumble by what you eat.

Romans 14:2

14:2 One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables.

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ⁴⁴  in him.

Titus 1:15

1:15 All is pure to those who are pure. But to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their minds and consciences are corrupted.

[11:24]  ¹ tn Heb “and to these.”

[11:26]  ² tn Heb “to all” (cf. the note on v. 24). This and the following verses develop more fully the categories of uncleanness set forth in principle in vv. 24-25.

[11:26]  ³ tn Heb “divides hoof and cleft it does not cleave”; KJV “divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted”; NLT “divided but unsplit hooves.”

[11:26]  ⁴ tn See the note on Lev 11:3.

[11:26]  ⁵ sn Compare the regulations in Lev 11:2-8.

[11:27]  ⁶ tn Heb “the one walking on four.” Compare Lev 11:20-23.

[11:29]  ⁷ tn For zoological analyses of the list of creatures in vv. 29-30, see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:671-72; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 161-62.

[11:32]  ⁸ tn Heb “And all which it shall fall on it from them.”

[11:32]  ⁹ tn Heb “in water it shall be brought.”

[11:33]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “And any earthenware vessel which shall fall from them into its midst.”

[11:33]  ¹¹ tn Heb “all which is in its midst.”

[11:34]  ¹² tn Heb “which water comes on it.”

[11:34]  ¹³ tn Heb “any drink which may be drunk”; NASB “any liquid which may be drunk”; NLT “any beverage that is in such an unclean container.”

[11:34]  ¹⁴ tn This half of the verse assumes that the unclean carcass has fallen into the food or drink (cf. v. 33 and also vv. 35-38).

[11:35]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “be unclean.”

[11:36]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “a spring and a cistern collection of water”; NAB, NIV “for collecting water.”

[11:37]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “And if there falls from their carcass on any seed of sowing which shall be sown.”

[11:39]  ¹⁸ tn This word for “animal” refers to land animal quadrupeds, not just any beast that dwells on the land (cf. 11:2).

[11:39]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “which is food for you” or “which is for you to eat.”

[19:11]  ²⁰ tn The form is the participle with the article functioning as a substantive: “the one who touches.”

[19:11]  ²¹ tn Heb “the dead.”

[19:11]  ²² tn The expression is full: לְכָל־נֶפֶשׁ אָדָם (lÿkhol-nefesh ’adam) – of any life of a man, i.e., of any person.

[19:11]  ²³ tn The verb is a perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it follows only the participle used as the subject, but since the case is hypothetical and therefore future, this picks up the future time. The adjective “ceremonially” is supplied in the translation as a clarification.

[19:12]  ²⁴ tn The verb is the Hitpael of חָטָא (khata’), a verb that normally means “to sin.” But the Piel idea in many places is “to cleanse; to purify.” This may be explained as a privative use (“to un-sin” someone, meaning cleanse) or denominative (“make a sin offering for someone”). It is surely connected to the purification offering, and so a sense of purify is what is wanted here.

[19:13]  ²⁵ sn It is in passages like this that the view that being “cut off” meant the death penalty is the hardest to support. Would the Law prescribe death for someone who touches a corpse and fails to follow the ritual? Besides, the statement in this section that his uncleanness remains with him suggests that he still lives on.

[19:14]  ²⁶ tn The word order gives the classification and then the condition: “a man, when he dies….”

[19:16]  ²⁷ tn The expression for “in the open field” is literally “upon the face of the field” (עַל־פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה, ’al pÿne hassadeh). This ruling is in contrast now to what was contacted in the tent.

[19:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a dead body”; but in contrast to the person killed with a sword, this must refer to someone who died of natural causes.

[19:16]  ²⁹ sn See Matt 23:27 and Acts 23:3 for application of this by the time of Jesus.

[11:41]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Give the things inside as alms.” Three different approaches have been taken to the syntax and meaning of this phrase: (1) τὰ ἐνόντα (ta enonta, “the things inside”) is an accusative of respect (“give alms with respect to the things inside”); (2) τὰ ἐνόντα is an adverbial accusative (“give alms inwardly,” i.e., from the heart); (3) the word translated “alms” represents a mistranslation of the original Aramaic term “cleanse,” so the statement urges the hearers to “cleanse the things inside.” According to D. L. Bock (Luke [BECNT], 2:1115) the latter meaning is unlikely because the present verse is independent of Matt 23:26, not parallel to it, and makes good sense as it stands.

[11:41]  ³¹ tn Grk “and behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this clause has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[11:41]  ³² sn The expression everything will be clean for you refers to the agreement that should exist between the overt practice of one’s religious duties, such as almsgiving, and the inner condition of one’s heart, including true love for God and the poor; one is not only to wash the outside of the cup and plate, but the inside as well, since as Jesus said, God created the inside too. Religious duties are not to be performed hypocritically, i.e., for the applause and esteem of people, but rather they are to be done out of a deep love for God and a sensitivity to and concern for the needs of others. Then, everything will be clean, both hearts and lives.

[10:15]  ³³ tn Grk “And the voice.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[10:15]  ³⁴ tn Or “declare.”

[10:15]  ³⁵ sn For the significance of this vision see Mark 7:14-23; Rom 14:14; Eph 2:11-22. God directed this change in practice.

[10:16]  ³⁶ tn Or “into the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[10:28]  ³⁷ tn Here ὡς (Jws) is used like ὅτι (Joti) to introduce indirect discourse (cf. BDAG 1105 s.v. ὡς 5).

[10:28]  ³⁸ tn This term is used of wanton or callously lawless acts (BDAG 24 s.v. ἀθέμιτος).

[10:28]  ³⁹ tn Grk “a Jewish man” (ἀνδρὶ ᾿Ιουδαίῳ, andri Ioudaiw).

[10:28]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “a foreigner,” but in this context, “a non-Jew,” that is, a Gentile. This term speaks of intimate association (BDAG 556 s.v. κολλάω 2.b.α). On this Jewish view, see John 18:28, where a visit to a Gentile residence makes a Jewish person unclean.

[10:28]  ⁴¹ tn This is a generic use of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo").

[10:28]  ⁴² tn Possibly there is a subtle distinction in meaning between κοινός (koinos) and ἀκάθαρτος (akaqartos) here, but according to L&N 53.39 it is difficult to determine precise differences in meaning based on existing contexts.

[14:20]  ⁴³ sn Here clean refers to food being ceremonially clean.

[1:17]  ⁴⁴ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.