Leviticus 11

Chapters 1–10 of Leviticus deal with sacrifices and the consecration of the priests. Chapters 11 through 15 set out the laws of purity, and chapter 11 is the first of these. In Leviticus 10 the priests are commanded to "put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean," and chapter 11 applies this command specifically to food.

Outline

• Verses 1–8 Of land animals, only those that divide the hoof and chew the cud may be eaten. The camel, the coney, the hare, and the swine are named specifically as unclean.
• Verses 9–12 Of creatures living in the water, only those with fins and scales may be eaten; those without them are an abomination.
• Verses 13–19 A list of birds that must not be eaten, from the eagle and the kite to the bat.
• Verses 20–23 Winged insects are an abomination. However, those that have legs for leaping—the locust, the bald locust, the beetle, and the grasshopper after their kinds—may be eaten.
• Verses 24–28 Whoever touches the carcass of an unclean animal is unclean until evening, and whoever carries it must wash his clothes.
• Verses 29–38 Instructions for when the carcass of one of the eight creeping things, such as the weasel, the mouse, and the lizard, falls on vessels, food, ovens, or seed. A fountain or a pit holding water does not become unclean.
• Verses 39–40 If an animal that may be eaten dies of itself, anyone who touches, eats, or carries its carcass becomes unclean.
• Verses 41–45 After the command not to eat creeping things, the text declares that because God is holy, His people must also be holy.
• Verses 46–47 The chapter concludes by stating that these laws are given to distinguish between the clean and the unclean.

Key Verses

• Leviticus 11:45 "Ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy." This verse grounds the purpose of the dietary laws in holiness, that is, in being set apart to God. It is quoted in 1 Peter 1.
• Leviticus 11:47 "To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten." This verse sums up the point of the entire chapter.

People and Places

• The LORD: the One who gives the laws.
• Moses and Aaron: they receive the laws and deliver them to the children of Israel.
• Egypt: mentioned in verse 45 as the land out of which God brought His people. This verse makes the Exodus the basis for holiness.

Points for Reflection

• The reason for the distinctions: The text gives no reason other than holiness. Later interpreters have proposed various explanations, viewing the laws as motivated by hygiene, as symbols distinguishing Israel from the nations, or as related to pagan cultic practices. These are interpretations, not statements of the text.
• Animal names: The exact referents of many ancient Hebrew animal names are uncertain. For this reason, even the Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version translate some names, such as those of certain birds, differently. Likewise, the description of the hare as one that "cheweth the cud" and of insects as going "upon all four" does not match modern taxonomy, and interpretations vary. Some take these as descriptions based on outward appearance or manner of movement.
• Relationship to the New Testament: A similar list appears in Deuteronomy 14. In the New Testament, Mark 7:18–19 records that Jesus declared all foods clean. In Acts 10, Peter sees the vision of the sheet and then goes to the house of Cornelius. The decision of the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:28–29) and Romans 14 also address questions of food.
• Denominational understandings: Most Protestant denominations regard these laws as ceremonial law (the law concerning sacrifice and purity) fulfilled in Christ and do not observe them literally. The Westminster Confession of Faith likewise confesses that the ceremonial law has been abrogated. The Seventh-day Adventist Church encourages its members, on the basis of health principles, to abstain from meats that Scripture calls unclean. Judaism continues to observe these laws today as dietary law.

In the Korean Church

Most Korean Protestant churches do not observe this chapter as a dietary regulation. In preaching, the call to "be holy" in verses 44–45 is used chiefly as a text on holiness and a life set apart.