Leviticus 11:6

_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...

Verse Leviticus 11:6. _THE HARE_] ארנבת _arnebeth_, as Bochart and others suppose, from ארה _arah_, to _crop_, and ניב _nib_, the _produce of the ground_, these animals being remarkable for destroying the fruits of the earth. That they are notorious for destroying the tender blade of the young corn, is well known. It is very likely that different species of these animals are included under the general terms שפן _shaphan_, and ארנבת _arnebeth_, for some travellers have observed that there are _four_ or _five_ sorts of these animals, which are used for food in the present day in those countries. See _Harmer_, vol. iii., p. 331, edit. 1808. Some think the _mountain rat, marmot, squirrel_, and _hedgehog_, may be intended under the word _shaphan_....

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...

AND THE HARE, BECAUSE HE CHEWETH THE CUD,.... Or, "though he chews" it: BUT DIVIDETH NOT THE HOOF, HE [IS] UNCLEAN TO YOU; and so not to be eaten; so Plutarch q says, that the Jews are said to abstain from the hare, disdaining it as a filthy and unclean animal, and yet was in the greatest esteem with the Romans of any four footed beast, as Martial says r: Moses, as Bochart s and other learned men observe, is the only writer that speaks of the hare as chewing the cud; though they also observe, that Aristotle t makes mention of that in common with those that do chew the cud, namely a "coagulum" or "runnet" in its stomach; his words are, "all that have many bellies have what is called πυετια, a coagulum or runnet, and of them that have but one belly, the hare;'' only that: this creature being prone to lust, may be an emblem of lustful persons, who give up themselves to lasciviousness, to...

HARE Hebrew, arnebeth, an unidentified animal, but certainly not a hare, possessing as it is said to, characteristics not possessed by the hare. The supposed error in the text is due entirely to the translators' assumption that the English hare and the ancient "arnebeth" were identical....

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

HARE. Only here, and Deuteronomy 14:7. Hebrew. _'arnebeth,_ not yet identified....

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...