Leviticus 11:8

8 " 'You must not eat the meat of those animals. You must not even touch their dead bodies. They are not "clean" 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 " 'Rabbits chew the cud. But their hoofs are not separated in two. So they are not "clean" for you.
7 " 'Pigs have hoofs that are separated completely in two. But they do not chew the cud. So they are not "clean" for you.
8 " 'You must not eat the meat of those animals. You must not even touch their dead bodies. They are not "clean" for you.
9 " 'Many creatures live in the water of the oceans and streams. You can eat all of those that have fins and scales.
10 " 'But be sure to avoid all of the creatures in the oceans or streams that do not have fins and scales. That includes all of those that move together in groups and all of those that do not.
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