Ritually Pure and Impure Creatures

(Leviticus 11:1 -11:47)

Jehovah told Moses and Aaron to instruct the Israelite community, "In regard to land animals, these are the ones that may be used for food:  You may eat the meat of any animal that has both a split hoof and chews the cud, but not those that have a split hoof or chews the cud.  For instance, the camel chews the cud, but does not have a split hoof; therefore, it is ritually impure.  The hyrax chews the cud, but does not have a split hoof; it is impure.  The rabbit chews the cud, but does not have a split hoof, so it, too, is ritually impure.  The pig, though it has an evenly split hoof, does not chew the cud, and is, therefore, impure.  You must not eat the meat or touch the carcasses of these animals, for to you they are ritually impure.

"In regard to marine animals, both of sea and stream, these are the ones that may be used as food:  Any salt or fresh water creature that has both fins and scales may be eaten.  But you must not eat any marine animal that does not have both fins and scales; whether they be small creatures that live in shallow water or creatures of the deep, they are abhorrent to you and must remain so.  You must never eat their meat or touch their carcasses, for marine creatures without both fins and scales are ritually impure to you.

"The birds that are ritually impure and should not be eaten are: vultures, eagles, hawks, kites, ospreys, herons, ravens, seagulls, owls, storks, pelicans, herons, hoopoes, and also the bat.

"All flying insects that crawl on the ground are abhorrent to you and should not be eaten.  An exception to these are winged insects that crawl on the ground, but have jointed legs that allow them to jump.  Of these you may eat any variety of grasshopper, katydid, or cricket.  Other winged insects that crawl on the ground are abhorrent to you.  Such creatures will make you ritually impure so that if you have contact with their dead bodies you will remain impure until evening.  If you pick up their dead bodies, you must wash your cloths afterwards, and you will remain impure until evening. 

"Animals that do not have a completely divided hoof or do not chew the cud are ritually impure, and anyone having contact with their carcasses will be rendered impure until evening.  Of land animals, those that walk on their paws are impure, and anyone having contact with their carcasses will remain impure until evening.  If you pick up their carcasses, you must wash your cloths afterwards, and you will remain impure until evening, for to you these animals are ritually impure.

"Of land creatures, these are ritually impure to you: weasels, rats and mice, lizards, skinks, and geckos, crocodiles and chameleons.   Anyone who touches the carcasses of these ritually impure land animals will be impure until evening. 

“Anything that may have contact with the dead bodies of ritually impure creatures will be rendered ritually impure, whether it be an article of wood, cloth, leather, or burlap.  Regardless of its use, the article should be washed in water.  Although it will remain impure until evening, after that it will be ritually pure and may be reused.  If the impure carcass falls into an earthenware vessel, the container will be rendered impure and must be smashed.  Anything in the vessel is impure.  If liquid from the vessel spills on any food, that food will become impure, and any beverage the vessel may contain will also be impure.  Any object that comes into contact with the carcass of such an animal will be made impure.  If this happens to be an earthen oven or a cooking pot, it should be broken -- it is ritually impure and must always be regarded by you as such.  If, however, it is a spring or cistern, the water will remain ritually pure, although anyone who has contact with the carcass will still be rendered impure.  If the carcass comes into contact with crop seeds, the seeds will still be pure unless they are wet, in which case they will become impure.

“If an animal that you are permitted to eat dies naturally and you have contact with its carcass, then you will be impure until evening.  If you eat its meat or carry away its carcass, you must wash your clothes and you will remain ritually impure until evening.

“Crawling bugs are abhorrent and should never be eaten.  Whether they slither on their bellies, have four feet, or are many legged, all such animals are abhorrent.  Do not eat them or defile yourself by touching them.  Do not make yourself ritually impure because of them.

"I am your god Jehovah.  Sanctify yourself.  Be holy, as I am.  Don't defile yourself with these creepy, crawly things!  I am Jehovah, who brought you out of Egypt in order that I might be your god.  Therefore, you must be holy, because I am holy. 

"These are my instructions concerning animals and birds, and all the creatures that swim in the sea or crawl on the ground.  By them you may distinguish between those that are ritually pure and those that are impure, what animals may be eaten and what animals may not."

Notes
1. The animals reserved for human consumption, at least for the tribe of Israel, seem to be limited to livestock, cattle, sheep, and goats.  Camels and pigs would have been wild animals and not, at that time, domesticated ones.  It is likely that health reasons may have been a factor, perhaps a primary one in the selection.  Many wild animals in ancient times may have known as carriers of parasites and vectors of human diseases. --- The Jehovah of Eden meant man to be a vegetarian.  The Jehovah of Noah allowed man to be a meat eater.  Now, the Jehovah of Moses sets up a regimen of what may be eaten and what must not be eaten.

2.  Rabbits are technically not ruminants, that is, they do not chew the cud, as the biblical authors believed.  They do rechew regurgitated food as well as eating some of their feces.  Hyraxes, rodent-like animals one to two feet in length and indigenous to Africa and the Middle East, are not actually ruminants either, but often manifest chewing behavior that resembles chewing the cud. 

3.  Marine creatures acceptable for the dinner table seem to be limited to fish, no crabs or lobsters, shrimp, octopus.  One would think that large fish such as sharks, whose skin is not scaly, and marine mammals such as whales and dolphins and seals would be off the menu as well.

4.  The list of birds not to be eaten is considerable, but the exact species mentioned cannot be positively identified from the Hebrew.  In fact, every Bible translation seems to have a different list of birds, sometimes including avian species not indigenous to the Middle East and those of which the ancient Hebrews would have had no knowledge.  I have taken the liberty of condensing the list to include the most probable types of birds, which are all raptors or carrion eaters.  It seems likely that Jehovah regarded these birds to be ritually impure because they ate animals that were impure.  (Curious that the bat is included among the birds.  They must have regarded it as a furry bird rather than, as we do, a flying mammal.)

5.  Insects are generally not part of the approved diet, but ones that jump are, grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets.  (I have used the word "grasshopper," most commonly used by Americans instead of "locust" which, though very biblical, is seldom used today.  Grasshopper is, in fact a more general term embracing creatures of the Acrididae and Tettigoniidae families.  Locusts, short-horned grasshoppers, are of the Acrididae family and are generally what we mean when we say “grasshopper.”  Arboreal bush crickets, or katydids, belong to the Tettigoniidae family, and are sometimes termed long-horned grasshoppers.  To make matters more confusing, cicadas, of the Cicadidae family, an entire different sort of insect, are often called locusts, but it is unlikely that they are referred to here.)

6.  The abhorrent small, crawling or swarming creatures are not specifically named, but I assume the authors are talking about what we call bugs, which includes insects, spiders, worms, centipedes, etc.  It might, however, include small mammals, since it mentions four-footed creatures.   These, such as mice, have already been included, though, in the paragraph concerning land animals.

7.  After being exposed to an impure animal, one is impure until evening, but there is no assertion that the impurity lasts beyond that time, even if one doesn't do as he is supposed to, such as wash his clothes.  It must be remembered that the day, according to the Hebrews, begins at sundown, so evening is not, as we perceive it, the end of the day, but rather its beginning.

8.  The impression given is that Jehovah and the Israelites are hardly animal lovers or nature worshipers.  They seem to be the antithesis of the Egyptians who had a harmonious relationship with the wildlife about them, gave their gods animal heads, and, from the earliest times, kept animals as pets and companions.   There is no reference here to pets, perhaps because the Hebrews had none, only livestock.  But one ponders the compelling question, would Fido’s slobbering on you make you impure until sundown?  And if your pet cat drank from your water cup, would that render the water ritually impure?

9.  Ritual purity, incomprehensible to moderns and not really explainable in a material sense, is an important metaphysical concept that pervades most of Hebrew religious and social life.  It is not unique to the Jewish religion, but is common in ancient and primitive religions.