CHAPTER XI _Laws concerning_ clean _and_ unclean _animals_, 1, 2. _Of_ QUADRUPEDS, _those are_ clean _which_ divide the hoof _and_ chew the cud, 3. _Those to be reputed_ unclean _which do not divide the hoof_, _though they chew the cud_, 4-6. _Those to be reputed unclean also which, though the... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:3. _WHATSOEVER PARTETH THE HOOF, AND_ IS _CLOVEN-FOOTED_] These two words mean the same thing - a _divided hoof_, such as that of the ox, where the hoof is divided into two toes, and each toe is _cased_ with _horn_. _CHEWETH THE CUD_] Ruminates; casts up the grass, c., which had... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:5. _THE CONEY_] שפן _shaphan_, not the _rabbit_, but rather a creature nearly resembling it, which abounds in Judea, Palestine, and Arabia, and is called by Dr. Shaw _daman Israel_, and by Mr. Bruce _ashkoko_. As this creature nearly resembles the _rabbit_, with which _Spain_ anci... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:6. _THE HARE_] ארנבת _arnebeth_, as Bochart and others suppose, from ארה _arah_, to _crop_, and ניב _nib_, the _produce of the ground_, these animals being remarkable for destroying the fruits of the earth. That they are notorious for destroying the tender blade of the young corn,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:7. _AND THE SWINE_] חזיר _chazir_, one of the most gluttonous, libidinous, and filthy quadrupeds in the universe; and, because of these qualities, sacred to the _Venus_ of the Greeks and Romans, and the _Friga_ of our Saxon ancestors; and perhaps on these accounts forbidden, as we... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:9. _WHATSOEVER HATH FINS AND SCALES_] Because these, of all the fish tribe, are the most nourishing; the others which are without _scales_, or whose bodies are covered with a thick glutinous matter, being in general very difficult of digestion.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:13. _AND THESE - AMONG THE FOWLS - THE EAGLE_] נשר _nesher_, from _nashar_, to _lacerate, cut_, or _tear_ to _pieces_; hence the _eagle_, a most rapacious bird of prey, from its tearing the flesh of the animals it feeds on; and for this purpose birds of prey have, in general, stro... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:14. _THE VULTURE_] דאה _daah_, from the root to _fly_, and therefore more probably the _kite_ or _glede_, from its remarkable property of _gliding_ or sailing with expanded wings through the air. The דאה _daah_ is a different bird from the דיה _daiyah_, which signifies the vulture... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:15. _EVERY RAVEN_] ערב _oreb_, a general term comprehending the raven, crow, rook, jackdaw, and magpie.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:16. _THE OWL_] בת היענה _bath haiyaanah_, the _daughter_ _of vociferation_, the _female ostrich_, probably so called from the noise they make. "In the lonesome part of the night," says Dr. Shaw, "the ostriches frequently make a very doleful and hideous noise, sometimes resembling... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:17. _THE LITTLE OWL_] כוס _cos_, the _bittern_, _night-raven_ or _night-owl_, according to most interpreters. Some think the _onocrotalus_ or _pelican_ may be intended; for as the word כוס _cos_ signifies a _cup_ in Hebrew, and the _pelican_ is remarkable for a _pouch_ or _bag_ un... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:18. _THE SWAN_] תנשמת _tinshemeth_. The Septuagint translate the word by πορφυριωνα, the _porphyrion, purple_ or _scarlet_ bird. Could we depend on this translation, we might suppose the _flamingo_ or some such bird to be intended. Some suppose the _goose_ to be meant, but this is... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:19. _THE STORK_] חסידה _chasidah_, from חסד _chasad,_ which signifies _to be abundant in kindness_, or _exuberant in acts_ _of beneficence_; hence applied to the _stork_, because of its _affection to its young_, and its kindness in tending and feeding its parents when old; facts a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:20. _ALL FOWLS THAT CREEP_] Such as the _bat_, already mentioned, which has claws attached to its leathern wings, and which serve in place of feet to crawl by, the feet and legs not being distinct; but this may also include all the different kinds of _insects_, with the exceptions... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:21. _WHICH HAVE LEGS ABOVE THEIR FEET_] This appears to refer to the different kinds of locusts and grasshoppers, which have very remarkable hind legs, long, and with high joints, projecting above their backs, by which they are enabled to spring up from the ground, and leap high a... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:22. _THE LOCUST_] ארבה _arbeh_, either from ארב _arab_, to _lie in wait_ or in _ambush_, because often immense flights of them _suddenly alight_ upon the fields, vineyards, c., and destroy all the produce of the earth or from רבה _rabah_, he _multiplied_, because of their prodigio... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:27. _WHATSOEVER GOETH UPON HIS PAWS_] כפיו _cappaiv_, his _palms_ or _hands_, probably referring to those animals whose feet resemble the hands and feet of the human being, such as _apes_, _monkeys_, and all creatures of that genus; together with _bears_, _frogs_, c.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 29. _THE WEASEL_] חלד _choled_, from _chalad_, Syr., to _creep in_. Bochart conjectures, with great propriety, that the _mole_, not the _weasel_, is intended by the Hebrew word: its property of _digging into_ the earth, and _creeping_ or _burrowing_ _under the surface_, is well known. _THE MO... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 30. _THE FERRET_] אנקה _anakah_, from אנק _anak_, to _groan_, to _cry out_: a species of lizard, which derives its name from its piercing, doleful cry. See _Bochart_, vol. ii., col. 1066. _THE CHAMELEON_] כח _coach_. Bochart contends that this is the [Arabic] _waril_ or _guaril_, another spec... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 32. _ANY VESSEL OF WOOD_] Such as the _wooden bowls_ still in use among the Arabs. _Or raiment, or skin _- any _trunks_ or _baskets_ covered with _skins_, another part of the furniture of an Arab tent; the _goat-skins_, in which they churn their milk, may be also intended. _Or sack _- any _hai... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 33. _AND EVERY EARTHEN VESSEL_] Such pitchers as are commonly used for drinking out of, and for holding liquids. M. _De la Roque_ observes that _hair-sacks, trunks_, and _baskets_, covered with skin, are used among the travelling Arabs to carry their household utensils in, which are _kettles_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 35. _RANGES FOR POTS_] To understand this, we must observe that the Arabs dig a hole in their tent, about a foot and a half deep; three-fourths of this, says _Rauwolff_, they lay about with stones, and the fourth part is left open for the purpose of throwing in their fuel. This little temporar... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 36. _A FOUNTAIN OR PIT, C._] This must either refer to running water, the stream of which soon carries off all impurities, or to large reservoirs where the water soon purifies itself the water in either which touched the unclean thing, being considered as impure, the rest of the water being cl... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 37. _ANY SOWING SEED_] If any part of an impure carcass fall _accidentally_ on seed about to be sown, it shall not on that account be deemed unclean; but if the water put to the seed to prepare it for being sown, shall be touched by such impure carcass, the seed shall be considered as unclean,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:42. _WHATSOEVER GOETH UPON THE BELLY_] In the word גהון _gahon_, the _vau holem_, in most Hebrew Bibles, is much larger than the other letters; and a _Masoretic_ note is added in the margin, which states that this is the _middle letter_ of the law; and consequently this verse is t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Leviticus 11:44. _YE SHALL - SANCTIFY YOURSELVES_] Ye shall keep yourselves _separate_ from all the people of the earth, that _ye may_ _be holy; for I am holy_. And this was the grand design of God in all these prohibitions and commands; for these external sanctifications were only the emblems... [ Continue Reading ]