Leviticus 11:24-43

TEXT 11:24-43

24

And by these ye shall become unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcass of them shall be unclean until the even;

25

and whosoever beareth aught of the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.

26

Every beast which parteth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, is unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean.

27

And whatsoever goeth upon its paws, among all beasts that go on all fours, they are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcass shall be unclean until the even.

28

And he that beareth the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you.

29

And these are they which are unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and the great lizard after its kind,

30

and the gecko, and the land-crocodile, and the lizard, and the sand-lizard, and the chameleon.

31

These are they which are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they are dead, shall be unclean until the even.

32

And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherewith any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; then shall it be clean.

33

And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean, and it ye shall break.

34

All food therein which may be eaten, that on which water cometh, shall be unclean; and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean.

35

And everything whereupon any part of their carcass falleth shall be unclean; whether oven, or range for pots, it shall be broken in pieces: they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you.

36

Nevertheless a fountain or a pit wherein is a gathering of water shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carcass shall be unclean.

37

And if aught of their carcass fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it is clean.

38

But if water be put upon the seed, and aught of their carcass fall thereon, it is unclean unto you.

39

And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcass thereof shall be unclean until the even.

40

And he that eateth of the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcass of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.

41

and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth is an abomination; it shall not be eaten.

42

Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all fours, or whatsoever hath many feet, even all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

43

Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 11:24-43

212.

In touching a dead body a person became uncleanfor what purpose was he unclean? Why only until evening?

213.

Supposing a farmer found the dead body of an unclean animal upon his property. What is he to do?

214.

If the animal was touched while yet alive was the person yet unclean?

215.

What animal would be included among those that go on their paws?

216.

Why classify the weasel, the mouse and the great lizard, etc., in a separate category?

217.

If a person dropped his coat on one of the unclean animals what is he to do with his coat?

218.

Why break the earthen vessels? Supposing such a vessel was not broken?

219.

It would be sad to bring any part of the dead carcass into your kitchen. Why?

220.

A cistern or a spring is not unclean if a part of the unclean animal fell into it. Why?

221.

Seed for sowing can be made unclean only under certain conditions. What were they?

222.

Even a clean animal can be counted as unclean if it does not die in the right way. Discuss.

223.

What did God say about snakes?

PARAPHRASE 11:24-43

Anyone touching their dead bodies shall be defiled until the evening, and must wash his clothes immediately. He must also quarantine himself until nightfall, as being ceremonially defiled. You are also defiled by touching any animal with only semi-parted hoofs, or any animal that does not chew the cud. Any animal that walks on paws is forbidden to you as food. Anyone touching the dead body of such an animal shall be defiled until evening. Anyone carrying away the carcass shall wash his clothes and be ceremonially defiled until evening; for it is forbidden to you. These are the forbidden small animals which scurry about your feet or crawl upon the ground: the mole, the rat, the great lizard, the gecko, the mouse, the lizard, the snail, the chameleon. Anyone touching their dead bodies shall be defiled until evening, and anything upon which the carcass falls shall be defiledany article of wood, or of clothing, a rug, or a sack; anything it touches must be put into water, and is defiled until evening. After that it may be used again. If it falls into a pottery bowl, anything in the bowl is defiled, and you shall smash the bowl. If the water used to cleanse the defiled article touches any food, all of it is defiled. Any drink which is in the defiled bowl is also contaminated. If the dead body of such an animal touches any clay oven, it is defiled and must be smashed. If the body falls into a spring or cistern where there is water, that water is not defiled; yet anyone who pulls out the carcass is defiled. And if the carcass touches grain to be sown in the field, it is not contaminated; but if the seeds are wet and the carcass falls upon it, the seed is defiled. If an animal which you are permitted to eat dies of disease, anyone touching the carcass shall be defiled until evening. Also, anyone eating its meat or carrying away its carcass shall wash his clothes and be defiled until evening. Animals that crawl shall not be eaten. This includes all reptiles that slither along upon their bellies as well as those that have legs. No crawling thing with many feet may be eaten, for it is defiled. Do not defile yourselves by touching it.

COMMENT 11:24-43

Leviticus 11:24-28 It is not only important to avoid the unclean animals while they are alive, it is just as important to not touch them when they are dead. This uncleanness would prevent anyone from attending ceremonies at the tabernacle or from bringing an offering to the tabernacle. It also separated them from others who wished to attend the tabernacle service. Notice the very careful specifics in these prohibitions: (1) touching the dead body, (2) carrying any portion of the carcass, (3) touching a live unclean animal, (4) carrying the total carcass. Notice the very specific cleansing regulations: (1) carrying any portionwash your clothes, (2) carrying the whole carcasswash your clothes, (3) in all other circumstances reckon yourself as unclean until sundown. Disease was easily passed to those who handled dead bodies. God was teaching not only an aversion to the uncleanbut an abhorrence of it! When will we learn to hate sin? It will happen when we begin to see moral distinctions in the this and the that of daily living.

Leviticus 11:29-31 Among the considerable number of reference works consulted, only Andrew Bonar comments on these verses in any extended form with any practical application. He says:

A man of Israel, within the limits of his own field and farm, has on every hand memorials of sin; the mole, working up the earth in search of its prey below, attracts his eye in the heaving ground; or the mouse (jerboa)of the same race that afterward devoured the Philistines-' cornfields (1 Samuel 6:4)is seen burrowing in the sandy soil as he approaches. Or near some stream, the slow-moving tortoise drops down into the water at the sound of man's footsteps; and then the doleful cry of the gecko-lizard (not ferret), that by its very touch injures the victuals over which it passes its cold body; and the strong lizard forcing its way into the sand to escape its pursuer; and the poisonous, filthy lizard, that wallows in dirt and rubbish,all these keep before him the great truth that he is in a fallen world, where not only the birds of the sky above, and the animals that roam at liberty around, and the insects of the air, but even the reptiles which his foot might crush, are polluted. Look up, or look around, or look down, memorials of sin abound.

Then, the snail and the chameleon (Bochart has been followed by most writers in the opinion that this name describes the chameleon, which has lungs of such vast dimensions, that, when filled, the body is made to appear transparent. It alters the colour of the skin by thus exposing more or less of the blood to the air, Travellers mention it.) on the trees or shrubs; the one filthily spreading its slime over every leaf, the other hanging from a twig, greedily intent on drawing into its mouth the gnats and almost invisible insects that play in the web of the sunbeams, and changing colour according to the green or yellow hue of the leaf;these are memorials of uncleanness to the Israelite, held up before him by the sides of his house, or among the tender branches which he is examining. At every point he is startled with some object that speaks of the difference between the clean and the uncleanthe holiness of God and the sin of man.

Leviticus 11:32-35 These verses discuss uncleanness as it relates to the ordinary tasks of the household. We can catch just a glimpse of the spotless kitchen, living room and bedroom area in the tents of Israel. To follow these regulations would produce germ-free living quarters. Any unclean dead bodyanimal, fish, fowl or insect falling upon a wooden bowl, article of furniture, or or upon any garment, a skin or a sack, any vessel used for any purpose, must be put into the water for a washing and left until sundown. Any dead body of the above falling into a vessel of wood or earth is to be broken and thrown outif a dead insect falls on your foodthrow out your food! Throw out your drink and smash the cup. Any unclean body on your stove or oven and you need a new stove and oven. The regulations of hygiene here given were only discovered for our use in modern times. The population of Israel must have been strong and healthy and could have lived to a ripe old age.

Leviticus 11:36 There is an exception hereor what seems to be an exception: if an unclean body falls or is thrown into a spring or cistern, the water is not unclean, i.e. the flow of the water in the spring and the quantity of the water in the cistern will purify itself. However, anyone reaching into the spring or cistern to pull out the dead body is counted unclean by his contact with the body.

Leviticus 11:37-38 The very practical application of these regulations should be obvious. When seed is being sown and no water has reached it the shell or husk of the seed would protect it from pollution, but not so if it has begun to sprout after water has been used. Israel was taught the danger of coming in contact with sin. You must be shielded from its touch; the husk taught that. You must shrink back from all appearances of itthe soaking water taught this. (Ibid.) We suppose such moral applications were used by many a rabbi in later years.

Leviticus 11:39-40 Even clean beasts were unclean if they died by disease or in some other manner. It is easy to see the potential danger in such cases. A provision is made for those animals which were obviously edible: they can be eaten but precautions must be taken none-the-less. The clothes must be washed and the Israelite is unclean until evening. The burial of the animal produces a sundown uncleanness, i.e. if the body of the animal is handled. The remembrance of sin was constantly before Israel. Or perhaps the emphasis was upon the interest and concern of God in all the affairs of daily life.

Leviticus 11:41-43 Besides the eight reptiles which defile by touching their carcass, and which are enumerated in Leviticus 11:29-30 all other creeping things upon the earth with the exceptions of those specified in Leviticus 11:21-22, are to be treated as an abomination, and must not be eaten, though their carcasses do not defile by coming in contact with them. From the fact that the creeping things here described are called those creeping upon the earth, it has been thought that this refers to something larger than the small worms found in fruit and vegetables and refers to only those who actually make contact with the earth.

This is the last of the list of those created beings which defile. It seems interesting to conclude the list with whatsoever goeth on its belly since this is where all defilement began. We hope many were taught of the promised seed of the woman who would make us all clean and cleanse away all defilement of flesh and spirit.

FACT QUESTIONS 11:24-43

266.

What exclusions were involved as a result of touching an unclean body?

267.

Show the specific sins and the specific cleansing related to touching a dead body.

268.

Discuss the practical application made by Andrew Bonar on Leviticus 11:29-31.

269.

The homes of Israel must have been very clean. How do we know?

270.

Discuss the minute care used in the household for preventing disease.

271.

Show how Leviticus 11:36 is an exceptionand yet is not. Does this relate to the shortage of water in Palestine?

272.

What possible moral lesson is taught in the regulations concerning the seed?

273.

Discuss the very practical application of the use of dead animals who had not been killed in the usual manner.

274.

What was included and what was excluded in the phrase those creeping upon the earth?

275.

What is the significance of the last item in the list of those things that defile?