Today we’re starting the next major section of Leviticus. In Leviticus 10:10, God told Aaron he had to “distinguish between the holy and the common, between the clean and the unclean.” The next 5 chapters are devoted to explaining which things were clean and which were unclean for Israel under the old covenant.

Leviticus 11

1 The LORD spoke again to Moses and Aaron, telling them, 2 “Say to the Israelites, ‘Of all the beasts of the earth, these ones you may eat: 3 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.

4 But of those that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, you are not to eat the following:
The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.
5 The rock badger, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.
6 The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.
7 And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.
8 You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
9 Of all the creatures that live in the water, whether in the seas or in the streams, you may eat anything with fins and scales.

10 But the following among all the teeming life and creatures in the water are detestable to you: everything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales. 11 They shall be an abomination to you; you must not eat their meat, and you must detest their carcasses. 12 Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales shall be detestable to you.

13 Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable:
the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
14 the kite, any kind of falcon,
15 any kind of raven,
16 the ostrich, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,
17 the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,
18 the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,
19 the stork, any kind of heron,
the hoopoe, and the bat.

20 All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you. 21 However, you may eat the following kinds of flying insects that walk on all fours: those having jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground. 22 Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket, or grasshopper. 23 All other flying insects that have four legs are detestable to you.

24 These creatures will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, 25 and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening.

26 Every animal with hooves not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you. Whoever touches any of them will be unclean.

27 All the four-footed animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, 28 and anyone who picks up a carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

REFLECTIONS

It’s very hard to work out the reasoning behind this system, but it’s not about physical uncleanness or hygiene. It’s a symbolic system of ritual uncleanness. My best guess is that the unclean creatures have something about them that is a reminder of the fall in Genesis 3 – for example, animals that are a lot of contact with the dust, or animals that look corrupted in some way. But what’s clear is that these laws – like all the laws we’ll see in these chapters – would force the Israelites to keep separate from the Gentile peoples around them, as a nation holy to the Lord.

We’ll finish the list of creatures tomorrow.