Leviticus 11:4

_WHATSOEVER PARTETH THE HOOF, AND IS CLOVENFOOTED, AND CHEWETH THE CUD, AMONG THE BEASTS, THAT SHALL YE EAT._ Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth the cud. Ruminating animals, by the special structure of their stomachs, digest their food more fully than others. It is found that in the act of chewing the cud a large portion of the poisonous properties of noxious plants eaten by them passes off by the salivary glands. This power of secreting the poisonous effects of vegetables is said to be particularly remarkable in cows and goats, whose mouths are often sore, and sometimes bleed, in consequence. Their flesh is therefore in a better state for food, as it contains more of the nutritious juices, and is more easily digested in the human stomach, and is consequently more easily assimilates. Animals which do not chew the cud convert their food less perfectly: their f...

4_Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of. _He more clearly expresses what he had previously glanced at, viz., that an animal, although it may ruminate, shall not be clean unless it also cleaves the hoof; and, on the other hand, that the cloven hoof will not be sufficient unless combined with rumination. In these words Moses taught that partial and imperfect purity must not be obtruded upon God. If any choose to think that rumination is the symbol of internal purity, and the cloven hoof of external, his opinion will be a probable one. Since this distinction has occurred to my mind, although I have no taste for subtle speculations, I have thought it well to mention it, yet leaving it free for any one to accept it or not. Meanwhile we must hold it as certain, as I have lately said, that God demands perfect cleanliness, undefiled by any admixture. But the prohibition was most onerous to the...

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....

PART III UNCLEANNESS, CEREMONIAL AND MORAL: ITS REMOVAL OR ITS PUNISHMENT SECTION I EXPOSITION THE two preceding parts having made manifest the way of approach to God by means of sacrifice and the appointed priesthood of mediation, there follows a part having for its subject that which keeps man apart from God, namely, uncleanness, whether ceremonial uncleanness, which may be removed by ceremonial observances, or moral uncleanness, that is, unrighteousness, which, so far as it is a ceremonial offense, may be also dealt with ceremonially, but in respect to its moral character demands punishment. This part consists of four sections. The _first _section, comprising chapters 11-15, treats of ceremonial uncleanness, caused...

NEVERTHELESS, THESE SHALL YE NOT EAT,.... To whom one of these descriptive characters may agree but not the other: OF THEM THAT CHEW THE CUD, OR OF THEM THAT DIVIDE THE HOOF: there being some that chewed the cud but did not divide the hoof; others that divided the hoof but did not chew the cud, of which instances are given as follow: [AS] THE CAMEL, BECAUSE HE CHEWETH THE CUD, BUT DIVIDETH NOT THE HOOF; HE [IS] UNCLEAN UNTO YOU; and not to be eaten, whether male or female; or rather, "though he cheweth the cud"; and this account agrees with what naturalists give of it; so Aristotle z says it has not both rows of teeth, but wants its upper teeth, and chews as horned cattle do, and has bellies like theirs; for they have more bellies than one, as the sheep, and goat, and hart, and others; since the service of the mouth is not sufficient to grind the food for want of teeth, this is supplie...

III. HOLINESS DEMANDED 1. The Clean and the Unclean CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Concerning the beasts on the earth (Leviticus 11:1)_ 2. Concerning things in the water (Leviticus 11:9) 3. Concerning flying and creeping things (Leviticus 11:13) 4. Concerning defilement with dead bodies (Leviticus 11:24) The Chapter s which form the third section of Leviticus are by some taken to give evidence that not Moses, but another person arranged the material of the book. Even men who do not deny the inspiration of the book claim that the hand of a redactor is here discovered. In their opi

FIRST PROHIBITION. Animals, etc., not allowed for food. The test is, Is it cloven-footed, and does it chew the cud? For fishes, Has it fins and scales? No test of this nature can be given for birds; leaping insects are clean, insects which only fly, unclean. The tests, especially the first, are clearly artificial and not original; _e.g._ in the case of swine. Undoubtedly, in primitive thought, each species, allowed or banned, is classed on its merits; but later legislators would naturally be puzzled by the apparent caprice, and desire to find some principle. Leviticus 11:5. Coney, as RVm (Proverbs 30:26 *). Leviticus 11:13. Eagle denotes the majestic and abundant carrion vulture, t

NOT EAT. These laws are not arbitrary. Food plays. chief part in health and sickness. It is our _wisdom_ to obey these laws now, as far as possible. All are based on the preservation and health of the race. Some for sanitary reasons. Some from peculiarities of climate. Some for separating from other peoples....

THE LAWS OF PURIFICATION These laws suitably follow chs. 8 10 which record the consecration of the priests. As sacrifice was the principal element in that consecration, the laws of sacrifice (chs. 1 7) appropriately _precede_the account of the inauguration of the worship in chs. 8 10. One of the chief duties of the priests was -to put difference between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean" (Leviticus 10:10); instructions for putting this difference appropriately _follow_the account in chs. 8 10. These laws may be divided into two groups: (1) those in ch. 11, which relate to food and contact with the carcases of animals; (2) those in chs. 12 15, concerning the uncleanness of persons, garments, furniture, and houses....

THESE SHALL YE NOT EAT OF THEM THAT CHEW THE CUD, &C.— Some few creatures (which were deficient in one or other of the marks above given, either not _having,_ or not _dividing_ the hoof, or not _chewing the cud;_ see Houbigant's note) are excepted in these following verses from those allowed by the general rule in the 3rd verse; and of which, as other nations have commonly eaten, it may seem probable that they are forbidden only to mark the separation of the Jewish people: which is the more likely, as the camel, the first of those prohibited, was then and is still eaten by the Arabians; with whom and the Hebrews, by means of this prohibition, all familiar intercourse was cut off. However, it is observed, that though the food of this animal is only vegetables and water, yet the fibres are hardened, or rendered in a great measure indigestible, and the salts are highly exalted by its habitu...