06 July 2014

EJ&T: Leviticus 11 - Don't eat or touch any abominable dead animals. Be holy because God is holy.

In the Every Jot and Tittle project, I am listing all of the Bible's commandments from Genesis to Revelation, in accordance with Jesus's words in Matthew 5:18-19. I have no idea how many commandments I'll find, but Jewish tradition claims there are 613. See here for a list of those that I've found so far.
This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: 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. Leviticus 11:46-47

  1. Eat animals that have divided hoofs and chew the cud.
  2. These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat. Leviticus 11:2-3

    Every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat. Deuteronomy 14:6

  3. Don't eat camels, conies, hares, or swine. Don't touch their dead bodies either.
  4. These shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, Their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you. Leviticus 11:4-8

    Nevertheless these ye shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean unto you. And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase. Deuteronomy 14:7-8

  5. Eat animals that live in water and have fins and scales.
  6. These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat. Leviticus 11:9

    These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat. Deuteronomy 14:9

  7. Animals that live in the water but don't have fins or scales are abominations. Don't eat them or touch their dead bodies.
  8. All that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh. Ye shall have their carcases in abomination. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you. Leviticus 11:10-12

    Whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you. Deuteronomy 14:10

  9. The following birds are abominations: eagles, vultures, ospreys, kites, ravens, owls, nighthawks, hawks, cuckoos, cormorants, swans, pelicans, storks, herons, lapwings, and bats. Don't eat them.
  10. And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, And the vulture, and the kite after his kind; Every raven after his kind; And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. Leviticus 11:13-19

    But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind, And every raven after his kind, And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan, And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant, And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. Deuteronomy 14:12-18

  11. All fowls that creep and walk upon all four are abominations.
  12. All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you. Leviticus 11:20

    Every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you: they shall not be eaten. Deuteronomy 14:19

  13. Eat flying creeping things that walk on four with legs above their feet. Among these are locusts, beetles, and grasshoppers.
  14. Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you. Leviticus 11:21-23

  15. If you touch the dead body of an animal that has divided hoofs but doesn't chew the cud, you will be unclean until the evening and must wash your clothes.
  16. And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even. And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean. Leviticus 11:24-26

  17. Animals that walk on four paws are unclean. If you touch their dead bodies you must wash your clothes and you will be unclean until the evening.
  18. And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even. And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you. Leviticus 11:27-28

  19. These animals are also unclean: weasels, mice, tortoises, ferrets, chameleons, lizards, snails, and moles. If you touch them after they die you will be unclean until the evening. Whatever these dead animals touch will be unclean.
  20. These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind, And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even. 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, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed. And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it. Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such water cometh shall be unclean: and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean and shall be unclean unto you. Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean. And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean. But if any water be put upon the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you. Leviticus 11:29-38

  21. Every creeping thing is an abomination and must not be eaten.
  22. And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten. Leviticus 11:41

  23. Don't eat any animal that crawls on its belly, goes on all four, or has lots of feet. They are all abominations.
  24. Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination. Leviticus 11:42

  25. Don't make yourself abominable, defiled, or unclean with creeping things.
  26. 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. ... Neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.Leviticus 11:43-44

5 comments:

Chan Kobun said...

Bats are birds and rabbits chew cud.

But remember: It's scientifically accurate!

Yark Hutprancer said...

Biblegod creates all these abominable creatures and still calls himself holy. Okay...

Stephen said...

I'm racking my brain trying to think of a fowl that creeps on all four limbs. Maybe a bat, since that is a kind of bird.

All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you. Leviticus 11:20

Great little science book, the bible!
Steve Weeks

TheEngineer said...

"Don't eat any animal that...goes on all four". Doesn't this include sheep, goats, cows, bison, etc? Isn't this forbidding eating pretty much every animal most of mankind eats? Do apologists address this?

Steve Wells said...

TheEngineer,

Yeah, Lev 11:42 is confusing, especially in the KJV. But I think it's talking about four-legged insects here, not mammals.

Here's how the NIV translates it: You are not to eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is unclean.

God seems pretty sure that insects have four legs (see Lev 11:23, for example), apparently without bothering to count. They just gross him out so he doesn't like to look or think about them too much. (Which is a bit strange since he made at least a million or so species of insects, probably 100 million or more over all of geologic time.)