Leviticus 11:42

_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._ Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four. The first points to worms, snakes, serpents; and the second to small mammalia, as the mouse, etc. The statement is a repetition of the law as previously declared in regard to such animals, with a view probably to enforce a greater attention to it. OR WHATSOEVER HATH MORE FEET AMONG ALL CREEPING THINGS, х_ KAAL_ (H3605) _ MARBEEH_ (H7235) _ RAGLAYIM _ (H7272)]. (Gesenius renders these words, 'having many feet.' The margin, however, has, 'whatsoever doth multiply feet,' and this translation, while it is closer to the Hebrew original

Verse Leviticus 11:42. _WHATSOEVER GOETH UPON THE BELLY_] In the word גהון _gahon_, the _vau holem_, in most Hebrew Bibles, is much larger than the other letters; and a _Masoretic_ note is added in the margin, which states that this is the _middle letter_ of the law; and consequently this verse is the _middle verse_ of the Pentateuch. _WHATSOEVER HATH MORE FEET_] Than _four_; that is, all many-footed reptiles, as well as those which _go upon the belly_ having no feet, such as _serpents_; besides the _four-footed_ smaller animals mentioned above....

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 locust family (Leviticus 11:22 note), myriapods, spiders, and caterpillars....

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...

WHATSOEVER GOETH UPON THE BELLY,.... Jarchi's paraphrase is, "whatsoever goeth", as worms and beetles, and the like to them, "upon the belly", this is the serpent; and to go upon the belly is the curse denounced upon it, Genesis 3:14 this and every such creature are forbidden to be eaten; as there are others who either have no feet, or what they have so short, that they seem to go upon their belly; and yet, as horrible and detestable as the serpent is, it has been the food of some, and accounted very delicious, as by a people mentioned by the Arabic geographer e. Mela f speaks of a people, who, from their eating serpents, were called Ophiophagi, serpent eaters; and Pliny g says of the Troglodytes, that the flesh of serpents was their food. The Spaniards, when they first found out the West Indies, going ashore on the isle of Cuba, found certain spits of wood lying at the fire, having fish...

11- 15. RITUAL CLEANLINESS AND UNCLEANLINESS. Leviticus 11, Animals; Leviticus 12, Childbirth; Leviticus 13, Skin diseases (including tainted garments); Leviticus 14:1, Purgation for skin diseases; Leviticus 14:33, Leprosy in houses, and general conclusion to the Law; Leviticus 15, Issues. Probably to most modern readers, this section is the least intelligible in the book. We must consider it (_a)_ in its ethnological and (_b)_ its specifically Hebrew aspect, (_a)_ These laws are properly taboos. The term is Polynesian, signifying what is in itself, or artificially, forbidden, either for the whole community, or else for common people, or priests, or kings (p. 629). Taboos may relate to places, or to the sexes, or to certain ages. Certain kinds of food m

MORE. many....

This would come appropriately as a conclusion to the rules about eating, after Leviticus 11:23. Cp. Ezekiel 8:10 f....

TEXT 11:24-43 24 And by these ye shall become unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcass of them shall be unclean until the even; 25 and whosoever beareth _aught_ of the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. 26 Every beast which parteth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, is unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean. 27 And whatsoever goeth upon its paws, among all beasts that go on all fours, they are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcass shall be unclean until the even. 28 And he that beareth the carcass of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you. 29 And these are they which are unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and the great lizard after its kind, 30 and the gecko, and the land-crocodi...

(LEVITICUS 11-16) THE LAW OF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN This section deals with the subject of ceremonial uncleanness and the method of its purification. Four main types of uncleanness are referred to, viz. that of meats (Leviticus 11:1), of carcases (Leviticus 11:24), of leprosy (Leviticus 13:14), and of certain bodily functions and conditions (Leviticus 12, 15). The effect of ceremonial uncleanness is that it disqualifies a person for the worship of God. Its duration varies according to the cause, from a few hours, as in the case of touching the carcase of a clean beast (Leviticus 11:39), to eighty days, as in the case