Leviticus 11:1
Yahweh speaks to Moses and Aaron conjointly. (Compare Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 15:1.) The high priest, in regard to the legal purifications, is treated as co-ordinate with the legislator.... [ Continue Reading ]
Yahweh speaks to Moses and Aaron conjointly. (Compare Leviticus 13:1; Leviticus 15:1.) The high priest, in regard to the legal purifications, is treated as co-ordinate with the legislator.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rather, “These are the animals which ye may eat out of all the beasts;” that is, out of the larger creatures, the quadrupeds, as distinguished from birds and reptiles. See Genesis 1:24. Of quadrupeds, those only might be eaten which completely divided the hoof and chew the cud Leviticus 11:3.... [ Continue Reading ]
PARTETH ... - Rather, is clovenfooted and completely separates the hoofs.... [ Continue Reading ]
DIVIDETH NOT THE HOOF - The toes of the camel are divided above, but they are united below in a sort of cushion or pad resting upon the hard bottom of the foot, which is “like the sole of a shoe.” The Moslems eat the flesh of the camel, but it is said not to be wholesome.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE CONEY - The Old English name for a rabbit. The animal meant is the Hyrax Syriacus. It bears some resemblance to the guinea-pig or the marmot, and in its general appearance and habits Proverbs 30:26; Psalms 104:18, it might easily be taken for a rodent. But Cuvier discovered that it is, in its an... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DIVIDE THE HOOF ... - It is cloven-footed and completely, etc. See Leviticus 11:3 note. Of all the quadrupeds of which the Law forbids the flesh to be eaten, the pig seems to have been regarded as the most unclean. Compare the marginal references. Several other nations have agreed with the Hebrew... [ Continue Reading ]
Any fish, either from salt water or fresh, might be eaten if it had both scales and fins. but no other creature that lives in the waters. Shellfish of all kinds, whether mollusks or crustaceans, and cetaceous animals, were therefore prohibited, as well as fish which appear to have no scales, like th... [ Continue Reading ]
As far as they can be identified, the birds here mentioned are such as live upon animal food. They were those which the Israelites might have been tempted to eat, either from their being easy to obtain, or from the example of other nations, and which served as types of the entire range of prohibited... [ Continue Reading ]
Rather, “All creeping things which have wings,” etc. The word rendered creeping things may be regarded as coextensive with our word vermin. It is derived from a verb which signifies not only to creep, but to teem, or bring forth abundantly Genesis 1:21; Genesis 8:17; Exodus 8:3; Psalms 105:30, and s... [ Continue Reading ]
LEGS ABOVE THEIR FEET, TO LEAP WITHAL UPON THE EARTH - The families of the Saltatoria, of which the common cricket, the common grasshopper, and the migratory locust, may be taken as types.... [ Continue Reading ]
In the uncertainty of identifying these four creatures, it has been suggested that some of the names may belong to locusts in an imperfect state of development. Most modern versions have taken a safer course than our translators, by retaining the Hebrew names.... [ Continue Reading ]
UNCLEAN - If the due purification was omitted at the time, through negligence or forgetfulness, a sin-offering was required. See Leviticus 5:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
The identification of “the creeping things” here named is not always certain. They are most likely those which were occasionally eaten. For the “Tortoise” read “the great lizard,” for the “ferret” the “gecko” (one of the lizard tribe), for the “chameleon” read the “frog” or the Nile lizard: by the w... [ Continue Reading ]
EARTHEN VESSEL - See the marginal references.... [ Continue Reading ]
See Leviticus 2:4. The word rendered “ranges for pots” has been conjectured to mean either an excavated fireplace, fitted to receive a pair of ovens, or a support like a pair of andirons.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHATSOEVER GOETH UPON THE BELLY - i. e. all footless reptiles, and mollusks, snakes of all kinds, snails, slugs, and worms. “Whatsoever goeth upon all four;” i. e. “creeping things,” or vermin; such as the weasel, the mouse or the lizard. Whatsoever hath more feet; i. e. all insects, except the locu... [ Continue Reading ]
These verses set forth the spiritual ground on which the distinction between clean and unclean is based. Compare the marginal references and Leviticus 10:10; Leviticus 20:25; 1 Peter 1:15. The basis of the obligation to maintain the distinction was the call of the Hebrews to be the special people of... [ Continue Reading ]