Leviticus 11:20-42 comments: dietary restrictions for the ancient Hebrews

 

Leviticus 11:20 ¶  All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you. 21  Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth; 22  Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. 23  But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you. 24  And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even. 25  And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. 26  The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean. 27  And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even. 28  And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you. 29  These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind, 30  And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. 31  These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even. 32  And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed. 33  And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it. 34  Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such water cometh shall be unclean: and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. 35  And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you. 36  Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean. 37  And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean. 38  But if any water be put upon the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you. 39  And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even. 40  And he that eateth of the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. 41  And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten. 42  Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

 

How we read this passage is important. Flying things, or fowls, that creep, a reference to insects, that move along the ground as if they were walking on all fours like a horse or a cow, were forbidden. This is clear because insects have six legs and both God and Moses would have known that so then we are compelled to understand the reference to four legs as the way they move.

Entomologists report that there are five types of insect legs. One type are cursorial or running legs. Saltatorial legs are for jumping. Raptorial legs are for hunting. Natatorial legs are for swimming. Fossorial legs are for digging burrows. With regard to flying insects, the context, if they have four legs to run on the ground with they cannot be eaten. But, if those insects have distinct legs for jumping, Saltatorial legs, as well, they can be eaten. Other insects cannot be eaten.

Looking at verse 26 I need to review some things and add to my understanding. A hoof is the tip of the toe of an ungulate mammal by today’s classification. Even-toed ungulates like sheep, deer, goats, bison, and pigs are said to be cloven-footed. Odd-toed ungulates would include horses, asses, zebras, and rhinoceroses, called unicorns in the Bible. A unicorn has three toes so it is not called cloven-footed as that is for even-toed ungulates but it does divide the hoof. The divided hoof of an odd-toed ungulate is not clovenfooted.

Verse 29 and onward tends to clear things up for us about the purpose of things being clean or unclean as it appears there is a strong concern for reasons of disease and health. It does then appear that God’s commandments regarding clean and unclean things has to do in part with matters of public health.

Here may be rudimentary rules of sanitation in a world without antibiotics or an understanding of the germ theory of disease. With such a large group of people wandering about such a consideration must have been paramount. While God did promise;

Exodus 15:26  And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.

 

Deuteronomy 7:15  And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee.

 

And gave a warning;

 

Deuteronomy 28:60  Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee.

 

With His withholding diseases from them and also providing prudent restrictions on their diet and the handling of dead animals there appears to be a pattern here. Yes, it can be argued that He did not want them handling or associating with animals that were worshipped by the heathen but virtually every animal was worshipped by someone as man’s religion degraded after the Flood.

Romans 1:22  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23  And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and

fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

 

Weasels were considered bad luck in several cultures. The Greek god, Apollo, was worshipped, among other ways, as a mouse demon who could send a plague of mice when angered. His sacred animals were a wolf, a raven, and a lizard. He was the god of knowledge, music, and prophecy as well. Apollo can easily be viewed as another type of Satan, one of many gods who represent attributes of the adversary. He is the brother of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, known as Diana to the Romans.

The following is a description of Satan in the garden of Eden. A tabret would be a timbrel or a tambourine. Note Satan’s influence over music.

Ezekiel 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

 

And his promise of enlightened knowledge in Genesis 3.

 

Genesis 3:5  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

 

Note also the worship of Apollo’s sister, known to the Romans as Diana.

 

Acts 19:35  And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

 

I bring this up in the context of Leviticus to underscore the idolatry endemic to the ancient world with regard to animal worship but also I want to emphasize that the public health aspects of the naming of clean and unclean seems more consistent. Still, we will know the whole story behind this in eternity. One argument against the public health theory is that in the episode in Acts where Peter sees a sheet descending from heaven with all sorts of unclean animals in it God tells Peter;

 Acts 10:15  And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

 

So, clearly this is a reference to ceremonial uncleanness as pigs are still pigs and weasels haven’t changed much in 2,000 years.

One other note, see how the mouse was hinted at as being part of ancient diets and perhaps worship?

Isaiah 66:17  They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.