Lévitique 11:8

8 Vous ne mangerez point de leur chair, vous ne toucherez point leur cadavre; ils vous seront souillés.

Lévitique 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.

Lévitique 11:8 In-Context

6 Le lièvre, car il rumine, mais il n'a point l'ongle divisé; il vous sera souillé;
7 Le porc, car il a l'ongle divisé et le pied fourché, mais il ne rumine pas; il vous sera souillé;
8 Vous ne mangerez point de leur chair, vous ne toucherez point leur cadavre; ils vous seront souillés.
9 Voici ce que vous mangerez de tout ce qui est dans les eaux: Vous mangerez tout ce qui a des nageoires et des écailles, dans les eaux, dans les mers, et dans les rivières;
10 Mais tout ce qui n'a point de nageoires ni d'écailles, dans les mers et dans les rivières, parmi tout ce qui fourmille dans les eaux, et parmi tout être vivant dans les eaux, vous sera en abomination.
The Ostervald translation is in the public domain.