Leviticus 11:3
in Leviticus 11You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that may ye eat.
KJV
Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.
⋯
This verse in Leviticus 11
Commentary
11 notes on this verse[In Songs], the bride desires to sit down in the shadow of this apple tree. This prefigures either the church, as we said, under the protection of the Son of God, or else the soul fleeing all other teachings and cleaving to the Word of God alone. She chews the Word, whose fruit, moreover, she finds sweet in her throat by continual meditation on the law of God, chewing as if it were like the cud of a clean animal.
This site's exposition
spake unto Moses and to Aaron
on Leviticus 11:1-8
The speech is addressed to Aaron as well as to Moses, because Leviticus 10:10-11 had just made the priest the man who puts difference between clean and unclean and teaches it to Israel. Land animals are settled by a test rather than by a list, two signs held together, a parted hoof and a chewed cud. The four creatures named in verses 4 to 7 are the near misses, each carrying one sign and lacking the other, so the rule is argued from its hardest cases. Verse 8 forbids touching the carcase as well as eating the flesh, and that is where the chapter turns from diet to contact.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
With whom then should we live? With the just, he replies, again under a metaphor. Everything "of split hoof and chewing the cud" is clean, because the split hoof obviously is a sign of evenly balanced justice, which chews the cud of its own food of justice, the word, which enters from without through instruction. And, once within, [it] is recalled as if from the stomach of the mind for the musings of reason. The just man chews the cud of spiritual nourishment, because he holds the Word in his mouth. Justice undoubtedly divides the hoof, in that it both sanctifies in this life and prepares us as well for the life to come.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Hence it is properly decreed in the law that the only animals which are clean and suitable to be eaten by the people of God are those that have horns. For it is well known that those animals that chew the cud and divide the …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
That by bridling their appetite in things in themselves lawful, and some of them very desirable, they might be better prepared and enabled to deny themselves in things simply and grossly sinful.
Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven footed,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed - These two words mean the same thing - a divided hoof, such as that of the ox, where the hoof is divided into two toes, and each toe is cased with horn. Cheweth the cud - Ruminates; casts up the grass, etc., which had been taken into the stomach for the purpose of mastication. Animals which chew the cud, or ruminate, are provided with two, three or four stomachs.
4 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
THE MOSAIC LAW ATTACHED great importance to meats and drinks: the Christian religion attaches none. The apostle Peter was shown by the vision of a sheet let down from heaven, not only that all nations were now to receive the gospel message, but that all kinds of food were now clean, and that all the prohibitions which had formerly been laid upon them for legal purposes were now once for all withdrawn. A Christian may, if he pleases, put himself under restrictions as to these matters.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
THE MOSAIC LAW ATTACHED great importance to meats and drinks: the Christian religion attaches none. The apostle Peter was shown by the vision of a sheet let down from heaven, not only that all nations were now to receive the gospel message, but that all kinds of food were now clean, and that all the prohibitions which had formerly been laid upon them for legal purposes were now once for all withdrawn. A Christian may, if he pleases, put himself under restrictions as to these matters. You will remember that the apostle Paul says, “I know and am persuaded of the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself, but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.” I wot our apostle was tender of weak consciences; but he could expostulate with the brethren somewhat thus, “If ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye dogmatize—touch not this, taste not that, handle not the other—and all about things which perish with the using?” The doctrine of the New Testament is expressly laid down, “Every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving.” And as for the practice enjoined upon believers, “All things are lawful, but all things are not expedient.” In the example of Paul we have full liberty; he would put no embargo upon the conscience. But in his example we have also fervent charity; he would put no stumbling-block in his brother’s way. “If meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth.” The levitical law enjoined many precepts as to meats and drinks; but those carnal ordinances were imposed until the time of reformation. Since then, this Mosaic institution was not designed to be perpetual, we feel certain that it must have had some use at the time when it was first established, and during the time in which it was sustained.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Parteth ... - Rather, is clovenfooted and completely separates the hoofs.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֣ל׀ | kol | any | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| מַפְרֶ֣סֶת | mafreset | [one which] divides in two | H6536 → | 14 times |
| פַּרְסָ֗ה | parsah | a hoof | H6541 → | 21 times |
| וְשֹׁסַ֤עַת | veshosaat | and [which] cleaves | H8156 → | 9 times |
| שֶׁ֙סַע֙ | shesa' | a cleft of | H8157 → | 4 times |
| פְּרָסֹ֔ת | perasot | hooves | H6541 → | 21 times |
| מַעֲלַ֥ת | maalat | [which] brings up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| גֵּרָ֖ה | gerah | cud | H1625 → | 11 times |
| בַּבְּהֵמָ֑ה | babehemah | among the animal[s] | H929 → | 190 times |
| אֹתָ֖הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> it | H853 → | 10935 times |
| תֹּאכֵֽלוּ׃ | tokhelu | you will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
כֹּ֣ל׀any
kolH3605 →5413 times
מַפְרֶ֣סֶת[one which] divides in two
mafresetH6536 →14 times
פַּרְסָ֗הa hoof
parsahH6541 →21 times
וְשֹׁסַ֤עַתand [which] cleaves
veshosaatH8156 →9 times
שֶׁ֙סַע֙a cleft of
shesa'H8157 →4 times
פְּרָסֹ֔תhooves
perasotH6541 →21 times
מַעֲלַ֥ת[which] brings up
maalatH5927 →890 times
גֵּרָ֖הcud
gerahH1625 →11 times
בַּבְּהֵמָ֑הamong the animal[s]
babehemahH929 →190 times
אֹתָ֖הּ<obj.> it
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
תֹּאכֵֽלוּ׃you will eat
tokheluH398 →810 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Corinthians 6:17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
it leads to
- Isaiah 52:11
Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.
- Revelation 18:4
Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.
- 2 Corinthians 7:1
Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
- Psalms 1:1–3
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
- Numbers 16:26
And he warned the congregation, “Move away now from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you will be swept away because of all their sins.”
- Isaiah 52:11
Through
1 Timothy 4:15Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all.
it leads to
- Matthew 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
- Psalms 143:5
I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I consider the work of Your hands.
- Matthew 5:16
Through
Proverbs 9:6Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- Proverbs 13:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Leviticus
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, On the Tabernacle 3.11; Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 499: “The Clean and the Unclean” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON THE SONG OF SONGS 3:5.