After the descriptions of the sacrifices, we have (as in Deuteronomy 14, see below), regulations about what the Israelites can and cannot eat.
Leviticus 11:1-8,
The LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Say to the Israelites: `Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a split hoof completely divided and that chews the cud.
"`There are some that only chew the cud or only have a split hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. The coney, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a split hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a split hoof completely divided, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you.
You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
Animals that are acceptable must have both a split hoof and also chew their cud. It is possible (suggests Harris) that this may reflect a distinction in the ANE between animals that might carry diseases as against animals that were likely to do so.
Leviticus 11:9-12, Only if they have fins
"`Of all the creatures living in the water of the seas and the streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales. But all creatures in the seas or streams that do not have fins and scales--whether among all the swarming things or among all the other living creatures in the water--you are to detest. And since you are to detest them, you must not eat their meat and you must detest their carcasses.
Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you.
Fish are acceptable food, but other water animals, such as mollusks, are not acceptable. Harris suggests that fish, whichswim freely, would not have the parasites found in creatures that burrowed in the mud.
Leviticus 11:13-19, Detestable birds
"`These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable: the eagle, the vulture, the black vulture, the red kite, any kind of black kite, any kind of raven, the horned owl, the screech owl, the gull, any kind of hawk, the little owl, the cormorant, the great owl, the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe and the bat.
Certain birds, especially birds of prey and scavengers such as vultures, are unacceptable. As the NIV footnotes say in a parallel passage, "The precise identification of some of the birds and animals in this chapter is uncertain." It is difficult to identify some Hebrew words that are rarely used elsewhere.
Leviticus 11:20-23, No insects but ...
`All flying insects that walk on all fours are to be detestable to you. There are, however, some winged creatures that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground. Of these you may eat any kind of locust, katydid, cricket or grasshopper. But all other winged creatures that have four legs you are to detest.
Some insects are unacceptable. But grasshoppers, locusts and similar creatures are acceptable.
Leviticus 11:3-20 is almost identifical to Deuteronomy 14:6-19.
Leviticus 11:24-28, Do not touch unclean animals
"`You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening.
"`Every animal that has a split hoof not completely divided or that does not chew the cud is unclean for you; whoever touches [the carcass of] any of them will be unclean.
Of all the animals that walk on all fours, those that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. They are unclean for you.
Touching unclean animals makes the human unclean until evening.
Leviticus 11:29-35, Lizardlike animals
"`Of the animals that move about on the ground, these are unclean for you: the weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon. Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening.
When one of them dies and falls on something, that article, whatever its use, will be unclean, whether it is made of wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. Put it in water; it will be unclean till evening, and then it will be clean. If one of them falls into a clay pot, everything in it will be unclean, and you must break the pot. Any food that could be eaten but has water on it from such a pot is unclean, and any liquid that could be drunk from it is unclean. Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean.
Certain unclean animals, if they fall onto clothing or cooking utensils, make that item unclean. Clothing can be washed but unclean clay pots must be destroyed.
Leviticus 11:36-38, Spring, cistern, seeds
A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean.
If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
A spring of water is not made unclean by these actions. Nor are dry seeds.
Leviticus 11:39-40, Avoid carcasses
"`If an animal that you are allowed to eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean till evening. Anyone who eats some of the carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. Anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening.
An animal carcass is unclean. (Death is unclean.)
Leviticus 11:41-43, Animals that crawl or slither....
"`Every creature that moves about on the ground is detestable; it is not to be eaten. You are not to eat any creature that moves about on the ground, whether it moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet; it is detestable. Do not defile yourselves by any of these creatures. Do not make yourselves unclean by means of them or be made unclean by them.
Animals that crawl along the ground are unclean.
Leviticus 11:44-45, Be holy
I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground.
I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy.
The people of Israel are a special people and are to reflect the distinctiveness of being a nation of a holy God, One who brought them out of Egypt.
Leviticus 11:46-47, On eating animals
"`These are the regulations concerning animals, birds, every living thing that moves in the water and every creature that moves about on the ground. You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between living creatures that may be eaten and those that may not be eaten.'"
This passage on clean and unclean animals overlaps somewhat with Deuteronomy 14, From the viewpoint of our modern culture, these dietary laws appear strange and arbitrary. Among commentators, there appears to be no agreed upon explanation for these rules. Currid, in his commentary on Deuteronomy, lists some suggested explanations for the distinctions between "clean" and "unclean" animals. No one answer seems to explain all of the divisions. I will list four of the possibilities suggested by Currid, beginning with the explanations I find most convincing.
- The unclean animals were part of various cultic practices in Canaan and around the region.
- The unclean animals are related, in some way, to other issues of cleanliness in the Torah, such as anything dealing with death or reproduction.
- The divisions are symbolic: clean animals represented completion and unclean animals were incomplete in some way.
- The dietary distinction are for hygienic reasons; unclean animals will make the people sick or carry diseases.
It is likely that the real reasons involved combinations of these. (See a Sunday essay of April 30, 2023.)
First published August 12, 2025; updated August 12, 2025
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