Leviticus 11:8

8 You must not eat the flesh of these animals or touch their dead bodies; they are unclean for you.

Leviticus 11:8 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 11:8

Of their flesh shall ye not eat
Meaning, not of swine only, but of the camel, coney, and hare:

and their carcass shall ye not touch;
which must not be understood of touching them in any sense; for then it would have been unlawful for a Jew to have rode upon a camel, or to take out and make use of hog's lard in medicine; but of touching them in order to kill them, and prepare them for food, and eat them; and indeed all unnecessary touching of them is forbidden, lest it should bring them to the eating of them; though perhaps it may chiefly respect the touching of them dead:

they [are] unclean to you:
one and all of them; for as this was said of each of them in particular, so now of all of them together; and which holds good of all wild creatures not named, to whom the description above belongs, and which used to be eaten by other nations; some of which were called Pamphagi, from eating all sorts, and others Agriophagi, from eating wild creatures, as lions, panthers, elephants {l}


FOOTNOTES:

F12 Plin. l. 6. c. 30. Solinus, c. 43.

Leviticus 11:8 In-Context

6 the hare—though it rechews food, it does not have divided hoofs, so it is unclean for you;
7 the pig—though it has completely divided hoofs, it does not rechew food, so it is unclean for you.
8 You must not eat the flesh of these animals or touch their dead bodies; they are unclean for you.
9 You are allowed to eat the following from all water animals: You may eat anything in the water that has fins and scales, whether in sea or stream.
10 But anything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales—whether it be any of the swarming creatures in the water or any of the other living creatures in the water—is detestable to you
Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible