Leviticus 11:24-42

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. 11:40 One who eats from its carcass must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening, and whoever carries its carcass must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. 11:41 Every swarming thing that swarms on the land is detestable; it must not be eaten. 11:42 You must not eat anything that crawls ²⁰  on its belly or anything that walks on all fours or on any number of legs ²¹  of all the swarming things that swarm on the land, because they are detestable.

Deuteronomy 14:7-8

14:7 However, you may not eat the following animals among those that chew the cud or those that have divided hooves: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger. ²²  (Although they chew the cud, they do not have divided hooves and are therefore ritually impure to you). 14:8 Also the pig is ritually impure to you; though it has divided hooves, ²³  it does not chew the cud. You may not eat their meat or even touch their remains.

Deuteronomy 14:10

14:10 but whatever does not have fins and scales you may not eat; it is ritually impure to you.

Deuteronomy 14:12-20

14:12 These are the ones you may not eat: the eagle, ²⁴  the vulture, ²⁵  the black vulture, ²⁶  14:13 the kite, the black kite, the dayyah ²⁷  after its species, 14:14 every raven after its species, 14:15 the ostrich, ²⁸  the owl, ²⁹  the seagull, the falcon ³⁰  after its species, 14:16 the little owl, the long-eared owl, the white owl, ³¹  14:17 the jackdaw, ³²  the carrion vulture, the cormorant, 14:18 the stork, the heron after its species, the hoopoe, the bat, 14:19 and any winged thing on the ground are impure to you – they may not be eaten. ³³  14:20 You may eat any clean bird.

[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.”

[11:42]  ²⁰ tn Heb “goes” (KJV, ASV “goeth”); NIV “moves about”; NLT “slither along.” The same Hebrew term is translated “walks” in the following clause.

[11:42]  ²¹ tn Heb “until all multiplying of legs.”

[14:7]  ²² tn The Hebrew term שָׁפָן (shafan) may refer to the “coney” (cf. KJV, NIV) or hyrax (“rock badger,” cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[14:8]  ²³ tc The MT lacks (probably by haplography) the phrase וְשֹׁסַע שֶׁסַע פַּרְסָה (vÿshosa’ shesa’ parsah, “and is clovenfooted,” i.e., “has parted hooves”), a phrase found in the otherwise exact parallel in Lev 11:7. The LXX and Smr attest the longer reading here. The meaning is, however, clear without it.

[14:12]  ²⁴ tn NEB “the griffon-vulture.”

[14:12]  ²⁵ tn The Hebrew term פֶּרֶס (peres) describes a large vulture otherwise known as the ossifrage (cf. KJV). This largest of the vultures takes its name from its habit of dropping skeletal remains from a great height so as to break the bones apart.

[14:12]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew term עָזְנִיָּה (’ozniyyah) may describe the black vulture (so NIV) or it may refer to the osprey (so NAB, NRSV, NLT), an eagle-like bird subsisting mainly on fish.

[14:13]  ²⁷ tn The Hebrew term is דַּיָּה (dayyah). This, with the previous two terms (רָאָה [ra’ah] and אַיָּה [’ayyah]), is probably a kite of some species but otherwise impossible to specify.

[14:15]  ²⁸ tn Or “owl.” The Hebrew term בַּת הַיַּעֲנָה (bat hayya’anah) is sometimes taken as “ostrich” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT), but may refer instead to some species of owl (cf. KJV “owl”; NEB “desert-owl”; NIV “horned owl”).

[14:15]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew term תַּחְמָס (takhmas) is either a type of owl (cf. NEB “short-eared owl”; NIV “screech owl”) or possibly the nighthawk (so NRSV, NLT).

[14:15]  ³⁰ tn The Hebrew term נֵץ (nets) may refer to the falcon or perhaps the hawk (so NEB, NIV).

[14:16]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew term תִּנְשֶׁמֶת (tinshemet) may refer to a species of owl (cf. ASV “horned owl”; NASB, NIV, NLT “white owl”) or perhaps even to the swan (so KJV); cf. NRSV “water hen.”

[14:17]  ³² tn The Hebrew term קָאַת (qa’at) may also refer to a type of owl (NAB, NIV, NRSV “desert owl”) or perhaps the pelican (so KJV, NASB, NLT).

[14:19]  ³³ tc The MT reads the Niphal (passive) for expected Qal (“you [plural] must not eat”); cf. Smr, LXX. However, the harder reading should stand.