Leviticus 11

These chapters explain the rules about purity. Mixing different types of animals was forbidden (see Deuteronomy 22:9–11). This is because it opposed God's natural order. Creatures like fish without fins and scales, meat-eating animals, crawling insects, and animals without split hooves were considered "abnormal." They crossed the boundaries between "normal" types and were not suitable for food or offerings (see also Deuteronomy 14:1–21). The dietary laws intended to set Israel apart as a holy people from other nations (Leviticus 11:44–45).

these ones you may eat: The Israelites considered animals with split hooves that chew cud to be "normal" and ceremonially clean (see also Deuteronomy 14:3–21).

Some scholars think people avoided ceremonially unclean animals for health reasons. But evidence does not support this suggestion. Horse meat, for instance, is as healthy as beef, yet it was "unclean" because the horse does not have a split hoof (see Leviticus 11:2–3). These rules existed because an unclean animal was not suitable as an offering to God. So, it was likewise not suitable as food for God's people.

Jesus proclaimed all foods clean for Christians (Mark 7:14–19). This teaching was confirmed in Peter’s vision (Acts 10:9–16).

The rock badger and the rabbit do not actually chew cud, even though it looks like they do. They are ceremonially unclean because they lack split hooves.

the creatures that live in the water: The Israelites considered animals from the water to be clean (acceptable for food and for ritual use) only if they had both fins and scales

The prohibition included fish like eels and sharks, which have fins but no scales. It also included crustaceans and mollusks, which have neither fins nor scales.

The list of ceremonially unclean birds includes birds of prey and scavengers. These birds often touch dead animals and blood, making them unclean and unfit for eating and offerings. Bats fly but are not birds (Leviticus 11:19). So, they are "abnormal" and ceremonially unclean.

insects that walk on all fours: those having jointed legs above their feet: This phrase excludes creatures that creep or crawl close to the ground (Leviticus 11:27). Leviticus 11:42 says that creatures with many legs, like centipedes, are ceremonially unclean. Locusts and grasshoppers are examples of ceremonially clean insects (see Matthew 3:4).

unclean until evening: Anyone who touched a ceremonially unclean animal that was dead would be unclean until evening. In Israel, evening marked the start of the next day.

This list of ceremonially unclean creatures that crawl includes both warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals that move along the ground. Snakes are also part of this group (Leviticus 11:42).

Dead animals could make objects and people ceremonially unclean. Even a ceremonially clean animal that died without its blood drained was unclean (Leviticus 11:39–40). If a person touched the body of a dead animal, they were unclean until evening. Household items that touched the body of a dead animal needed purification or the people had to destroy the items (11:25, 28, 32, 40; 11:33, 35).

A cistern was a hole dug into the ground or rock. They often lined it with plaster to hold rain and surface water.

People probably moistened grain with water to cook it for food. Eating contaminated grain was like eating a dead animal. But if they planted the grain, the new plant and its grain were ceremonially clean.

Israelites could not consume blood (Leviticus 7:26). They could eat an animal only after draining and properly disposing of the blood (17:13). If a ceremonially clean animal died naturally and did not have its blood drained, it became ceremonially unclean. An Israelite could give or sell such an animal to foreigners but could not eat it (Deuteronomy 14:21).

• I am the LORD your God: See study note on Leviticus 18:2.

• be holy, because I am holy: These words express the main theme of Leviticus: God is holy. They must consider and treat God as holy. God expects holiness from his people (Leviticus 10:3; 19:2). This verse teaches that God's character influences those who make a covenant with him (see also 11:45; 20:7, 26; 21:8, 15; 22:9, 16, 32). They must become holy in their actions (Exodus 22:31; Deuteronomy 28:9; compare 1 Peter 1:16).

brought you up out of the land of Egypt: This phrase or a similar one appears often in the first five books of the Bible (see Leviticus 19:36; 22:33; 25:38; 26:13; Exodus 13:9; 20:2; Numbers 15:41; Deuteronomy 4:37). Each time, it reminds the Israelites, God's chosen people, of God's great act of freeing them from Egypt. Other verses in the Old Testament often mention the exodus event (Psalms 80:8; 106:21; Isaiah 11:16; Jeremiah 34:13; Hosea 12:9; 13:4; Amos 2:10).