Leviticus 11

Le 11:1-47.

BEASTS

THAT

MAY AND

MAY

NOT

BE

EATEN.

1, 2. the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron--These laws, being

addressed to both the civil and ecclesiastical rulers in Israel, may

serve to indicate the twofold view that is to be taken of them.

Undoubtedly the first and strongest reason for instituting a

distinction among meats was to discourage the Israelites from spreading

into other countries, and from general intercourse with the world--to

prevent them acquiring familiarity with the inhabitants of the

countries bordering on Canaan, so as to fall into their idolatries or

be contaminated with their vices: in short, to keep them a distinct and

peculiar people. To this purpose, no difference of creed, no system of

polity, no diversity of language or manner, was so subservient as a

distinction of meats founded on religion; and hence the Jews, who were

taught by education to abhor many articles of food freely partaken of

amalgamate with the nations among which they were dispersed. But

although this was the principal foundation of these laws, dietetic

reasons also had weight; for there is no doubt that the flesh of many

of the animals here ranked as unclean, is everywhere, but especially in

warm climates, less wholesome and adapted for food than those which

were allowed to be eaten. These laws, therefore, being subservient to

sanitary as well as religious ends, were addressed both to Moses and

Aaron.

3-7. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth

the cud--Ruminating animals by the peculiar structure of their

stomachs digest their food more fully than others. It is found that in

the act of chewing the cud, a large portion of the poisonous properties

of noxious plants eaten by them, passes off by the salivary glands.

This power of secreting the poisonous effects of vegetables, is said to

be particularly remarkable in cows and goats, whose mouths are often

sore, and sometimes bleed, in consequence. Their flesh is therefore in

a better state for food, as it contains more of the nutritious juices,

is more easily digested in the human stomach, and is consequently more

easily assimilated. Animals which do not chew the cud, convert their

food less perfectly; their flesh is therefore unwholesome, from the

gross animal juices with which they abound, and is apt to produce

scorbutic and scrofulous disorders. But the animals that may be eaten

are those which "part the hoof as well as chew the cud," and this is

another means of freeing the flesh of the animal from noxious

substances. "In the case of animals with parted hoofs, when feeding in

unfavorable situations a prodigious amount of fœtid matter is

discharged, and passes off between the toes; while animals with

undivided hoofs, feeding on the same ground, become severely affected

in the legs, from the poisonous plants among the pasture" [WHITLAW, Code of Health]. All experience attests

this, and accordingly the use of ruminating animals (that is, those

which both chew the cud and part the hoof) has always obtained in most

countries though it was observed most carefully by the people who were

favored with the promulgation of God's law.

4. the camel--It does to a certain extent divide the hoof, for

the foot consists of two large parts, but the division is not complete;

the toes rest upon an elastic pad on which the animal goes; as a beast

of burden its flesh is tough. An additional reason for its prohibition

might be to keep the Israelites apart from the descendants of

Ishmael.

5. the coney--not the rabbit, for it is not found in Palestine

or Arabia, but the hyrax, a little animal of the size and general shape

of the rabbit, but differing from it in several essential features. It

has no tail, singular, long hairs bristling like thorns among the fur

on its back; its feet are bare, its nails flat and round, except those

on each inner toe of the hind feet, which are sharp and project like an

awl. It does not burrow in the ground but frequents the clefts of

rocks.

6. the hare--Two species of hare must have been pointed at: the

Sinai hare, the hare of the desert, small and generally brown; the

other, the hare of Palestine and Syria, about the size and appearance

of that known in our own country. Neither the hare nor the coney are

really ruminating. They only appear to be so from working the jaws on

the grasses they live on. They are not cloven-footed; and besides, it

is said that from the great quantity of down upon them, they are very

much subject to vermin--that in order to expel these, they eat

poisonous plants, and if used as food while in that state, they are

most deleterious [WHITLAW].

7. the swine--It is a filthy, foul-feeding animal, and it lacks

one of the natural provisions for purifying the system, "it cheweth not

the cud"; in hot climates indulgence in swine's flesh is particularly

liable to produce leprosy, scurvy, and various cutaneous eruptions. It

was therefore strictly avoided by the Israelites. Its prohibition was

further necessary to prevent their adopting many of the grossest

idolatries practised by neighboring nations.

9. These shall ye eat . . . whatsoever hath fins and

scales--"The fins and scales are the means by which the

excrescences of fish are carried off, the same as in animals by

perspiration. I have never known an instance of disease produced by

eating such fish; but those that have no fins and scales cause, in hot

climates, the most malignant disorders when eaten; in many cases they

prove a mortal poison" [WHITLAW].

12. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales, &c.--Under this

classification frogs, eels, shellfish of all descriptions, were

included as unclean; "many of the latter (shellfish) enjoy a reputation

they do not deserve, and have, when plentifully partaken of, produced

effects which have led to a suspicion of their containing something of

a poisonous nature."

13-19. these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the

fowls--All birds of prey are particularly ranked in the class

unclean; all those which feed on flesh and carrion. No less than twenty

species of birds, all probably then known, are mentioned under this

category, and the inference follows that all which are not mentioned

were allowed; that is, fowls which subsist on vegetable substances.

From our imperfect knowledge of the natural history of Palestine,

Arabia, and the contiguous countries at that time, it is not easy to

determine exactly what some of the prohibited birds were; although they

must have been all well known among the people to whom these laws were

given.

the ossifrage--Hebrew, "bone-breaker," rendered in the

Septuagint "griffon," supposed to be the Gypœtos

barbatus, the Lammer Geyer of the Swiss--a bird of the eagle or

vulture species, inhabiting the highest mountain ranges in Western Asia

as well as Europe. It pursues as its prey the chamois, ibex, or marmot,

among rugged cliffs, till it drives them over a precipice--thus

obtaining the name of "bone-breaker."

the ospray--the black eagle, among the smallest, but swiftest

and strongest of its kind.

14. the vulture--The word so rendered in our version means more

probably "the kite" or "glede" and describes a varying but majestic

flight, exactly that of the kite, which now darts forward with the

rapidity of an arrow, now rests motionless on its expanded wings in the

air. It feeds on small birds, insects, and fish.

the kite--the vulture. In Egypt and perhaps in the adjoining

countries also, the kite and vulture are often seen together flying in

company, or busily pursuing their foul but important office of

devouring the carrion and relics of putrefying flesh, which might

otherwise pollute the atmosphere.

after his kind--that is, the prohibition against eating it

extended to the whole species.

15. the raven--including the crow, the pie.

16. the owl--It is generally supposed the ostrich is denoted by

the original word.

the nighthawk--a very small bird, with which, from its nocturnal

habits, many superstitious ideas were associated.

the cuckoo--Evidently some other bird is meant by the original

term, from its being ranged among rapacious birds.

DR. SHAW thinks it is the

safsaf; but that, being a graminivorous and gregarious bird, is equally

objectionable. Others think that the sea mew, or some of the small sea

fowl, is intended.

the hawk--The Hebrew word includes every variety of the

falcon family--as the goshawk, the jerhawk, the sparrow hawk, &c.

Several species of hawks are found in Western Asia and Egypt, where

they find inexhaustible prey in the immense numbers of pigeons and

turtledoves that abound in those quarters. The hawk was held

pre-eminently sacred among the Egyptians; and this, besides its

rapacious disposition and gross habits, might have been a strong reason

for its prohibition as an article of food to the Israelites.

17. the little owl--or horned owl, as some render it. The common

barn owl, which is well known in the East. It is the only bird of its

kind here referred to, although the word is thrice mentioned in our

version.

cormorant--supposed to be the gull. [See on

De 14:17.]

the great owl--according to some, the Ibis of the Egyptians. It

was well known to the Israelites, and so rendered by the

Septuagint

(De 14:16;

Isa 34:11):

according to PARKHURST, the bittern, but not

determined.

18. the swan--found in great numbers in all the countries of the

Levant. It frequents marshy places--the vicinity of rivers and lakes.

It was held sacred by the Egyptians, and kept tame within the precincts

of heathen temples. It was probably on this account chiefly that its

use as food was prohibited. MICHAELIS considers it

the goose.

the pelican--remarkable for the bag or pouch under its lower jaw

which serves not only as a net to catch, but also as a receptacle of

food. It is solitary in its habits and, like other large aquatic birds,

often flies to a great distance from its favorite haunts.

the gier eagle--Being here associated with waterfowl, it has

been questioned whether any species of eagle is referred to. Some

think, as the original name racham denotes "tenderness,"

"affection," the halcyon or kingfisher is intended [CALMET]. Others think that it is the bird now called the

rachami, a kind of Egyptian vulture, abundant in the streets of

Cairo and popularly called "Pharaoh's fowl." It is white in color, in

size like a raven, and feeds on carrion; it is one of the foulest and

filthiest birds in the world. [See on

De 14:17.]

19. the stork--a bird of benevolent temper and held in the

highest estimation in all Eastern countries; it was declared unclean,

probably, from its feeding on serpents and other venomous reptiles, as

well as rearing its young on the same food.

the heron--The word so translated only occurs in the prohibited

list of food and has been variously rendered--the crane, the plover,

the woodcock, the parrot. In this great diversity of opinion nothing

certain can be affirmed regarding it. Judging from the group with which

it is classified, it must be an aquatic bird that is meant. It may as

well be the heron as any other bird, the more especially as herons

abound in Egypt and in the Hauran of Palestine.

the lapwing--or hoopoe; found in warm regions, a very pretty but

filthy species of bird. It was considered unclean, probably from its

feeding on insects, worms, and snails.

the bat--the great or Ternat bat, known in the East, noted for

its voracity and filthiness.

20. All fowls that creep, &c.--By "fowls" here are to be

understood all creatures with wings and "going upon all fours," not a

restriction to animals which have exactly four feet, because many

"creeping things" have more than that number. The prohibition is

regarded generally as extending to insects, reptiles, and worms.

21, 22. Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that

goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet--Nothing

short of a scientific description could convey more accurately the

nature "of the locust after its kind." They were allowed as lawful food

to the Israelites, and they are eaten by the Arabs, who fry them in

olive oil. When sprinkled with salt, dried, smoked, and fried, they

are said to taste not unlike red herrings.

26. every beast . . . not cloven-footed--The

prohibited animals under this description include not only the beasts

which have a single hoof, as horses and asses, but those also which

divided the foot into paws, as lions, tigers, &c.

29. the weasel--rather, the mole.

the mouse--From its diminutive size it is placed among the

reptiles instead of the quadrupeds.

the tortoise--a lizard, resembling very nearly in shape, and in

the hard pointed scales of the tail, the shaketail.

30. the ferret--the Hebrew word is thought by some to

signify the newt or chameleon, by others the frog.

the chameleon--called by the Arabs the warral, a green

lizard.

the snail--a lizard which lives in the sand, and is called by

the Arabs chulca, of an azure color.

the mole--Another species of lizard is meant, probably the

chameleon.

31-35. whosoever doth touch them, when . . . dead, shall

be unclean until the even--These regulations must have often caused

annoyance by suddenly requiring the exclusion of people from society,

as well as the ordinances of religion. Nevertheless they were extremely

useful and salutary, especially as enforcing attention to cleanliness.

This is a matter of essential importance in the East, where venomous

reptiles often creep into houses and are found lurking in boxes,

vessels, or holes in the wall; and the carcass of one of them, or a

dead mouse, mole, lizard, or other unclean animal, might be

inadvertently touched by the hand, or fall on clothes, skin bottles, or

any article of common domestic use. By connecting, therefore, the touch

of such creatures with ceremonial defilement, which required

immediately to be removed, an effectual means was taken to prevent the

bad effects of venom and all unclean or noxious matter.

47. make a difference between the unclean and the clean--that

is, between animals used and not used for food. It is probable that the

laws contained in this chapter were not entirely new, but only gave the

sanction of divine enactment to ancient usages. Some of the prohibited

animals have, on physiological grounds, been everywhere rejected by the

general sense or experience of mankind; while others may have been

declared unclean from their unwholesomeness in warm countries or from

some reasons, which are now imperfectly known, connected with

contemporary idolatry.