Leviticus 11: Clean and unclean animals

In plain English: Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them,

In plain English: "Tell the Israelites, 'These are the living things you may eat out of all the animals on the earth.

Church tradition: Jewish tradition keeps these food laws: they are part of what is called eating kosher. Churches differ. Many teach that the food laws no longer bind Christians, and point to verses like Mark 7:19 ("making all foods clean") and Acts 10:15. Some churches, such as the Seventh-day Adventists, teach that the rules about clean and unclean animals still apply. Leviticus 11 gives its own reason in verses 44 and 45: "be holy, for I am holy".

Good to know: Deuteronomy 14:3 to 21 gives a similar list of animals.

In plain English: You may eat any animal that has a split hoof, divided in two, and chews the cud (literally: brings up the cud).

In plain English: But of the animals that chew the cud or have a split hoof, you must not eat these: the camel, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof. It is unclean for you.

Good to know: For what "clean" and "unclean" mean in Leviticus, see the note at Leviticus 10:10.

In plain English: The hyrax (or: rock badger), because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, is unclean for you.

The Hebrew word: "Hyrax" is shaphan, which the dictionary gives as a kind of rock rabbit, "probably the hyrax".

How it is translated: Older Bibles like the King James say "coney", and some others say "rock badger".

In plain English: The hare, because it chews the cud but does not have a split hoof, is unclean for you.

In plain English: The pig, because it has a split hoof, divided in two, but does not chew the cud, is unclean for you.

In plain English: You must not eat their meat or touch their dead bodies. They are unclean for you.

In plain English: Of all the creatures in the water, you may eat these: anything in the seas or the rivers (or: streams) that has fins and scales, you may eat.

In plain English: But everything in the seas and rivers that does not have fins and scales, all the swarming creatures in the water and all the living things in the water, is detestable (or: an abomination) to you.

The Hebrew word: "Abomination" here is sheqets. The dictionary gives it as "filth", and in a figurative sense an idol.

How it is translated: In Leviticus the word is in 9 verses: 8 in this chapter, and 7:21. This Bible says "abomination" in 8 of the 9.

Good to know: It is a different word from to'evah, the "detestable" thing of Leviticus 18:22.

In plain English: They are to be detestable to you. You must not eat their meat, and you are to treat their dead bodies as detestable.

In plain English: Anything in the water that does not have fins and scales is detestable to you.

In plain English: Among the birds, you are to treat these as detestable. They must not be eaten, because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture,

Good to know: Many of the Hebrew bird names in verses 13 to 19 are rare, and Bibles differ on which bird each one is. The Hebrew word for "birds", oph, is a word for creatures with wings (the dictionary gives it as a bird, "as covering with wings"): the same word is used for the winged insects in verse 20, and the list ends with the bat.

In plain English: the red kite, any kind of black kite,

In plain English: any kind of raven,

In plain English: the horned owl (or: the ostrich), the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk,

The Hebrew words: "Horned owl" is bat ya'anah, literally "daughter of the ya'anah". The dictionary gives ya'anah as "the ostrich".

How it is translated: This Bible says "ostrich" in 7 of the 8 verses that use ya'anah.

What changes: Read as "ostrich", this bird is the ostrich, not an owl.

In plain English: the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl,

In plain English: the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,

In plain English: the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat.

In plain English: All flying insects that walk on four legs are detestable to you.

In plain English: But of the winged insects that walk on four legs, you may eat those that have jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground.

In plain English: Of these you may eat any kind of locust, any kind of katydid, any kind of cricket, and any kind of grasshopper.

Good to know: This verse uses four different Hebrew words for insects of the locust family. The dictionary gives each one only as a kind of locust, so Bibles differ on the English names.

In plain English: But all winged insects that have four feet are detestable to you.

In plain English: These will make you unclean: whoever touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening.

In plain English: Whoever carries any part of their dead bodies is to wash his clothes, and will be unclean until evening.

In plain English: Every animal that has a hoof that is not fully split, or that does not chew the cud, is unclean for you. Everyone who touches them will be unclean.

In plain English: Of all the animals that walk on four legs, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you. Whoever touches their dead bodies will be unclean until evening.

In plain English: Whoever carries their dead bodies is to wash his clothes, and will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.

In plain English: Of the small creatures that move on the ground (literally: swarm on the earth), these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat (or: mouse), any kind of great lizard,

In plain English: the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink, and the chameleon.

In plain English: These are unclean for you among all the creatures that swarm. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until evening.

In plain English: Anything that one of them falls on when it is dead becomes unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, leather, or sackcloth, any tool used for work. It must be put into water, and it will be unclean until evening. Then it will be clean.

In plain English: If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in the pot becomes unclean, and you are to break the pot.

In plain English: Any food that could be eaten becomes unclean if water has come on it, and any drink in such a pot becomes unclean.

In plain English: Anything that part of their dead body falls on becomes unclean. An oven or a cooking stove is to be broken in pieces. They are unclean, and they will be unclean for you.

In plain English: But a spring or a cistern that collects water stays clean. Whoever touches their dead body, though, becomes unclean.

In plain English: If part of their dead body falls on seed that is to be planted, the seed stays clean.

In plain English: But if water has been put on the seed and part of their dead body falls on it, it is unclean for you.

In plain English: If an animal that you may eat dies, whoever touches its dead body will be unclean until evening.

In plain English: Whoever eats any of its dead body is to wash his clothes, and will be unclean until evening. Whoever carries its dead body is also to wash his clothes, and will be unclean until evening.

In plain English: Every creature that swarms on the ground is detestable. It must not be eaten.

In plain English: Anything that moves on its belly, anything that walks on four legs, or anything with many legs, all the creatures that swarm on the ground, you must not eat, because they are detestable.

In plain English: Do not make yourselves detestable with any swarming creature. Do not make yourselves unclean with them, so that you become unclean through them.

In plain English: For I am Yahweh your God. So set yourselves apart as holy, and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean with any swarming creature that moves on the ground.

The Hebrew word: "Holy" is qadosh, which the dictionary gives as "sacred".

How it is translated: This Bible says "holy" in 103 of the 108 verses that use the word.

Good to know: "Be holy, for I am holy" comes again in Leviticus 19:2 and 20:26, and 1 Peter 1:16 quotes it: "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

In plain English: For I am Yahweh, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. So be holy, because I am holy.

In plain English: This is the law (or: the teaching) about animals, birds, every living creature that moves in the water, and every creature that swarms on the ground,

The Hebrew word: "Law" is torah, which can mean a law or a teaching.

How it is translated: This Bible says "law" in 192 of the 213 verses that use the word, and "teaching" or "instruction" in a few.

In plain English: to tell apart (or: separate) the unclean and the clean, and the living things that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.'"