Leviticus 11:33

33 Soothly a vessel of earth, in which anything of these falleth within, shall be defouled, and therefore it shall be broken. (And an earthen, or a clay, vessel, in which any of these things falleth within, shall be unclean, and so it shall be broken.)

Leviticus 11:33 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 11:33

And every earthen vessel, whereinto [any] of them falleth,
&c.] Any of the above eight reptiles, should they by chance fall into the midst an earthen vessel:

whatsoever [is] in it shall be unclean;
if it only by falling touched the outside of it, it was not unclean; but if it fell into it, then whatever was contained in it was unclean; for, as Jarchi says, an earthen vessel does not pollute or receive pollution, but from the air of it ^F21, from its inside:

and ye shall break it;
other vessels might be put into water and rinsed, and so be cleansed, but earthen vessels, being of no great value, were to be broken in pieces: an emblem this, as Ainsworth suggests, of the dissolution of our bodies, which are as earthen vessels, and of the destruction of sin thereby, and of the entire removal of it by death.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 Vid. Misn. Celaim, c. 2. sect. 1. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.

Leviticus 11:33 In-Context

31 All these be unclean; he that toucheth their bodies dead by themselves (he who toucheth their dead bodies), shall be unclean till to eventide;

32 and that thing shall be defouled, on which anything of their bodies dead by themselves falleth, as well a vessel of wood, and a cloth, as skins, or pilches, either hair-shirts; and in whatever thing work is made, it shall be dipped in water, and those things shall be defouled till to eventide, and so afterward they shall be cleansed. (and anything shall be defiled, on which any of their dead bodies falleth, yea, a vessel of wood, or a cloak, or skins, or pilches, or hair-shirts, however they might be used; it shall be dipped in water, and shall remain defiled until the evening, and then it shall be clean again.)

33 Soothly a vessel of earth, in which anything of these falleth within, shall be defouled, and therefore it shall be broken. (And an earthen, or a clay, vessel, in which any of these things falleth within, shall be unclean, and so it shall be broken.)

34 Each meat, that ye shall eat, shall be unclean, if water of such a vessel is poured out thereon; and each flowing thing, that is drunken of such a vessel, shall be unclean; (Any food that ye shall eat, shall be unclean, if water from such a vessel is poured out onto it; and anything that is drunk from such a vessel, shall be unclean;)

35 and whatever thing of such dead bodies by themselves shall fall upon (and anything that a dead body of such a creature shall fall upon), it shall be unclean, whether furnaces, or kettles standing upon three feet, (and) they shall be destroyed, and shall be unclean.