Leviticus 11
28 Jul 2026 - Theology
Clean or Unclean
In Leviticus 10, we saw the Lord command Aaron to put a difference between what is holy and what is unholy, what is clean and what is unclean. In this chapter the Lord speaks directly to both Moses and Aaron to show them which animals are clean and which are unclean. Those that are clean may be eaten by the Israelites. The Israelites are not permitted to eat the animals that are unclean.
You may be wondering why dietary laws are placed here, immediately after the induction of the priests in Leviticus 9 and the death of Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10.
As we have mentioned before in Exodus, the Tabernacle was a human counterpart of the universe. The two are parallel: the universe is the home God made for man. The Tabernacle was the home human beings made for God.
Rabbi Elie Munk reminds us that the first command God gave the first human was a dietary law:
Genesis 2:16-17 - “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
The dietary laws in this chapter parallel the prohibition given to Adam. As then, so now - a new era in the spiritual history of mankind, preceded by an act of creation, is marked by laws about what one may and may not eat.
Leviticus 11:1-2 - “And the Lord spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth.”
Generally, the laws allow the Israelites to eat animals that have split hooves, chew their cud, and walk on all four legs.
Leviticus 11:3 - “Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.”
Generally, any fish that has both scales and fins is clean and may be eaten.
Leviticus 11:9 - “These shall ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.”
Most birds are clean and may be eaten, but birds like vultures, eagles, and hawks that feed off other animals are not clean and may not be eaten.
Leviticus 11:21 - “Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth;”
Insects may not be eaten except for a few like locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets.
Leviticus 11:22 - “Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind.”
Animals like moles, mice, lizards, and chameleons are also declared unclean and may not be eaten.
If a person or a utensil (like a cooking pot) touches the dead carcass of an unclean animal, the person or utensil also becomes unclean and has to be washed and to wait until the next morning to be clean again.
Leviticus 11:46-47 - “This is the law of the beasts, and of the fowl, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth: To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.”
Philo believed that the laws of clean and unclean foods were given to teach us self-control. In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve that they could eat of any tree except one. Adam and Eve were forced to leave Eden when they ate fruit from that forbidden tree - that is, when they proved that they could not control themselves. In these laws, Philo says, God gives us a second chance to prove that we are not like the beasts of the jungle, that we human beings can learn to control ourselves.
We see in this passage that it was the Lord who distinguished between the animals that are clean and the animals that are unclean, and then He told Moses and Aaron that which He had decided. Only God has the right to determine what is good and what is evil. By eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve were essentially claiming the right to decide for themselves what is good and what is evil. When we choose to sin and do what we know is wrong, we are wrongly claiming the right of God to determine what is good and evil for ourselves.
References
- The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
- The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)
- Covenant & Conversation, Volume 3: Leviticus, the Book of Holiness