Leviticus 11
ConstableC. Laws relating to ritual cleanliness chs. 11-15 A change of subject matter indicates another major division in Leviticus. We move now from narrative to more legislation. These five chapters pick up the idea introduced in Leviticus 10:10 : “. . . make a distinction between the holy and the profane, and between the unclean and the clean.” This section of legislation culminates in chapter 16, the cleansing of the nation on the Day of Atonement. These chapters on purity help explain what uncleanness means and teach how the holiness of God requires cleansing and purification from the contaminations of this life.
“The Hebrew word tahor (traditionally, ‘clean’) indicates ritual purity. Purity/‘clean’ does not refer to hygiene but is contrasted with mixed or mongrel.” [Note: Bruce K. Waltke, An Old Testament Theology, p. 467. “The regulations of the sacrifices and institution of the priesthood, by which Jehovah opened up to His people the way of access to His grace and the way to sanctification of life in fellowship with Him, were followed by instructions concerning the various things which hindered and disturbed this living fellowship with God the Holy One, as being manifestations and results of sin, and by certain rules for avoiding and removing these obstructions.” [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 2:357. The rationale behind the order of these various laws seems to be the length of time for uncleanness. Violation of dietary laws (ch. 11) resulted in uncleanness for hours, childbirth uncleanness (ch. 12) left the woman unclean for months, and skin and covering uncleanness (chs. 13-14) could mean uncleanness for years. Genital discharges (ch. 15) resulted in uncleanness for hours, weeks, or years. [Note: Hartley, p. 137.
Leviticus 11:1-8
Note that God began positively. He told the Israelites what they could eat (Leviticus 11:2-3; cf. Genesis 1:29-30; Genesis 2:16-17). Then He gave them a list of unclean land animals (Leviticus 11:4-8).
Perhaps animals with cloven hoofs were unclean because they had only two digits instead of the basic five and were therefore thought of as abnormal. [Note: G. S. Cansdale, Animals of the Bible, p. 43. Apparently the technical definition of chewing the cud that we use today is not what the Hebrews understood by chewing the cud. Today we use this term to describe animals that do not initially chew their food thoroughly but swallow it and later regurgitate it and then chew it thoroughly. Some of the animals described in Leviticus as chewing the cud do not do that (e.g., camels [one-humped dromedaries], conies [rock hyraxes], and hares). However these animals do appear to chew their food thoroughly, so this may be what the Israelites thought of as chewing the cud.
Any dead animal was unclean, perhaps because death was not the normal condition of an animal. “Sheep, goats, and oxen were the standard sacrificial animals of pastoralists. They have in common cloven hoofs and rumination. Interpreting this theologically one might say that as God had limited his ‘diet’ to these animals, so must his people. It is man’s duty to imitate his creator (Leviticus 11:44-45). When the Israelite restricted his food to God’s chosen animals, he recalled that he owed all his spiritual privileges to divine election. As God had chosen certain animals for sacrifice, so he had chosen one nation ‘out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth’ to be ‘a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ (Deuteronomy 7:6; Exodus 19:6).” [Note: Wenham, The Book . . ., pp. 172-73.
Leviticus 11:9-12
Perhaps the Israelites could eat water creatures with fins and scales because these are the normal means of propulsion among fishes. As has already been observed (Leviticus 11:3), the means of locomotion and the mode of eating were the two types of tests used to distinguish between clean and unclean animals. Water creatures without fins and scales did not have the normal means of locomotion for their element.
Leviticus 11:13-19
Moses distinguished various kinds of birds in these verses. God prohibited 20 varieties. Again their feeding habits seem to be the key to their uncleanness. The unclean birds ate flesh with the blood in it, something that God also forbade among His people (ch. 17).
Leviticus 11:20-23
These verses deal with insects. Perhaps the fact that certain insects swarmed rather than flew in a more direct and “natural” way made them unclean. Locusts that hopped may have been clean since this is the normal form of locomotion for birds, which they resembled. The varieties of locusts that crawled were unclean, perhaps because that appeared to be abnormal movement for this insect. [Note: Douglas, p. 56.
Leviticus 11:24-28
In this section Moses passed along more specific directions concerning defilement from carrion (animal carcasses). Walking on paws, which look like hands, appears unnatural (to some). This may be the reason land animals that move that way were unclean.
Leviticus 11:29-38
These verses deal with swarming creatures and the pollution they create. Swarming may have been regarded as an unnatural, chaotic means of locomotion. The norm would have been orderly progress. Anything on which a swarming insect fell became polluted (unclean, Leviticus 11:32). Those objects that water would cleanse could be reused, but those that water would not cleanse could not. However if one of these creatures fell into a spring or cistern, an exception was made.
Neither the container nor the water became impure, only the person who fished the dead animal out would be. God may have granted this exception since declaring water supplies and large containers unclean would have had drastic consequences in the arid regions where the Israelites lived. There was also apparently a distinction between seed for sowing and seed for eating (Leviticus 11:37-38).
Leviticus 11:39-47
God gave further directions about the polluting effect of even clean animals that died (Leviticus 11:39-40). In a concluding exhortation (Leviticus 11:41-45) He called on His people to be holy as He is holy (Leviticus 11:44-45; cf. Leviticus 19:2; Leviticus 20:7; Leviticus 20:26; 1 Peter 1:16). Our highest duty is to imitate our creator.
“The solemn statement ‘I am the LORD’ occurs forty-six times throughout Leviticus [Leviticus 11:44-45, passim], identifying Israel’s God as the ever living, ever present One. Every aspect of daily life was affected by the reality of the presence of God.” [Note: Schultz, pp. 30-31. A final summary states the purpose of these laws: to distinguish between the unclean and the clean (Leviticus 11:46-47). “The NT teaches that the OT food laws are no longer binding on the Christian. These laws symbolized God’s choice of Israel. They served as constant reminders of God’s electing grace. As he had limited his choice among the nations to Israel, so they for their part had to restrict their diet to certain animals.” [Note: Wenham, The Book . . ., p. 183. “Those who have been redeemed by the holy, sovereign God must demonstrate his holiness in their everyday lifestyles (notably in eating).” [Note: Ross, p. 261.