Leviticus 11:8
in Leviticus 11You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Of their flesh ye shall not eat, and their carcasses ye shall not touch; they are unclean unto you.
KJV
Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.
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This verse in Leviticus 11
Commentary
3 notes on this verseBut since the fat and skins of some of the forbidden creatures were useful, for medicinal and other good purposes, and were used by good men, it is not probable that God would have them cast away. Thus God forbad the making of images, Exod. xx, 4, not universally, but in order to the worshipping them, as Christian interpreters agree.
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 Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Of their flesh shall ye not eat,....
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִבְּשָׂרָם֙ | mibesaram | any of meat their | H1320 → | 270 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֹאכֵ֔לוּ | tokhelu | you must eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| וּבְנִבְלָתָ֖ם | uvenivlatam | and <in> carcass their | H5038 → | 48 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִגָּ֑עוּ | tigau | you will touch | H5060 → | 150 times |
| טְמֵאִ֥ים | temeim | [are] unclean | H2931 → | 88 times |
| הֵ֖ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ | lakhem | to <the> you |
מִבְּשָׂרָם֙any of meat their
mibesaramH1320 →270 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תֹאכֵ֔לוּyou must eat
tokheluH398 →810 times
וּבְנִבְלָתָ֖םand <in> carcass their
uvenivlatamH5038 →48 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִגָּ֑עוּyou will touch
tigauH5060 →150 times
טְמֵאִ֥ים[are] unclean
temeimH2931 →88 times
הֵ֖םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
לָכֶֽם׃to <the> you
lakhem
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
Colossians 2:16Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.
it leads to
- Romans 14:5–6
One person regards a certain day above the others, while someone else considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
- Romans 14:10
Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
- Romans 14:13–17
Therefore let us stop judging one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.
- Galatians 4:10
You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!
- Romans 14:2–3
For one person has faith to eat all things, while another, who is weak, eats only vegetables.
- Romans 14:5–6
Through
Isaiah 52:11Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing; come out from it, purify yourselves, you who carry the vessels of the LORD.
it leads to
- 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.”
- Zechariah 2:6–7
“Get up! Get up! Flee from the land of the north,” declares the LORD, “for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven,” declares the LORD.
- 2 Corinthians 6:17
Through
Hosea 9:3They will not remain in the land of the LORD; Ephraim will return to Egypt and eat unclean food in Assyria.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 4:13
Then the LORD said, “This is how the Israelites will eat their defiled bread among the nations to which I will banish them.”
- Ezekiel 4:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Leviticus
This page draws on 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 and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.