The Law · Chapter 11 of 27

Leviticus 11

God gives Israel the dietary laws, distinguishing clean animals that may be eaten from unclean ones that may not. Land animals must chew the cud and have split hooves; water creatures must have fins and scales; various birds and creeping things are forbidden. Contact with certain carcasses brings uncleanness. The reason given is that Israel is to be holy, for the LORD their God is holy.

What happens in Leviticus 11

God, speaking to both Moses and Aaron, sorts the animal world into clean and unclean for Israel's diet. Among land animals, only those that both chew the cud and have divided hooves may be eaten, which excludes the camel, rock badger, hare, and pig. In the water, only creatures with fins and scales are permitted; all others are detestable. A list of forbidden birds follows, mostly birds of prey and scavengers, along with most winged insects, though certain locusts are allowed.

Touching or carrying the carcasses of unclean creatures makes a person unclean until evening, and defilement can pass to vessels, ovens, and food. The chapter grounds all these distinctions in a repeated call: ye shall be holy, for I am holy, and it ends by stating its purpose, to teach Israel to distinguish the unclean from the clean.

Leviticus 11 in context

These food laws set Israel visibly apart from surrounding nations, making holiness a daily, bodily practice at every meal. Various reasons have been proposed, hygiene, avoidance of pagan cult animals, symbolic teaching, but the text itself gives one overriding reason: God is holy and His people are to reflect His holiness.

The laws turned ordinary eating into a constant reminder of belonging to a distinct and consecrated God.

Main themes of Leviticus 11

Holiness in ordinary lifeThe dietary laws pressed holiness into the most daily act, eating. Every meal reminded Israel that they belonged to God and were set apart from the nations. Holiness was not confined to the sanctuary but carried into the kitchen and the family table.

A people made distinctBy eating differently, Israel was marked off from surrounding peoples. The laws created a visible boundary that reinforced their identity as God's own possession. To be holy meant, in part, to be set apart, recognizable as belonging to the LORD.

Be holy, for I am holyThe repeated command anchors the whole chapter, grounding Israel's conduct in God's own character. They were to be holy not arbitrarily but because their God is holy. Human holiness is a response to and a reflection of the holiness of God.

This is part of the Law, the foundation of the whole story: creation, covenant, and a God who binds Himself to a people. As you read, watch for God's character and His promises, which all lead toward Christ.

Leviticus 11 (KJV)

1And the LORD spake unto Moses and to Aaron, saying unto them, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. 3Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat. 4Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. 5And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. 6And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. 7And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. 8Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you. 9These 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. 10And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: 11They shall be even an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall have their carcases in abomination. 12Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you. 13And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, 14And the vulture, and the kite after his kind; 15Every raven after his kind; 16And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind, 17And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl, 18And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle, 19And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. 20All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you. 21Yet 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; 22Even 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. 23But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you. 24And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even. 25And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. 26The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean. 27And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even. 28And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you. 29These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind, 30And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. 31These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even. 32And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed. 33And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it. 34Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such water cometh shall be unclean: and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. 35And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you. 36Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean. 37And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean. 38But if any water be put upon the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you. 39And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even. 40And he that eateth of the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. 41And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten. 42Whatsoever 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. 43Ye shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creepeth, neither shall ye make yourselves unclean with them, that ye should be defiled thereby. 44For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 45For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. 46This 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: 47To 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.

Verses to carry from Leviticus 11

“For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”Leviticus 11:44

“For I am the LORD that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”Leviticus 11:45

“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.”Leviticus 11:47

New Testament quotation

How Leviticus 11 points to Jesus

The New Testament directly takes up this chapter. Peter twice quotes its command, be ye holy, for I am holy, applying it now to all Christ's followers as the ground of a holy life. Yet Jesus also transformed the food laws: Mark records that in one teaching He declared all foods clean, and Peter's rooftop vision of unclean animals taught him that God had cleansed the Gentiles, opening the covenant people to all nations.

So this chapter is both quoted about holiness and fulfilled in a new way through Christ, whose work makes clean what the law had separated. The call to be holy remains; the boundary marker of diet is reshaped, for in Christ the distinct people of God is drawn from every nation.

Questions about Leviticus 11

What are the clean and unclean animals in Leviticus 11?

God permitted Israel to eat land animals that both chew the cud and have split hooves, water creatures with fins and scales, and most birds except birds of prey and scavengers. Forbidden animals included the pig, camel, hare, shellfish, and many others, whose carcasses could also make a person unclean. The distinctions turned every meal into a practice of holiness and set Israel apart from the surrounding nations as God's own people.

Do Christians still have to follow the food laws of Leviticus 11?

The New Testament teaches that these dietary restrictions are not binding on Christ's followers. Mark says Jesus declared all foods clean, and Peter's vision in Acts 10 showed that God had removed the old distinction to welcome all nations. Yet the chapter's deeper call endures: Peter still quotes its be holy, for I am holy as the standard for Christian living. The boundary marker changed; the summons to holiness did not.

Reflection

It is easy to skim a chapter about camels and shellfish, yet its heart is one repeated line: be holy, for I am holy. God wanted holiness woven into the most ordinary moments, even a meal.

While the food rules themselves are fulfilled in Christ, the calling remains to let our whole daily life, table and all, be shaped by the God who is holy.

A prayer from Leviticus 11

Holy God, You set Your people apart in even the smallest habits of life. Make me holy as You are holy, not by rules that divide but by a heart devoted to You. Let my ordinary days quietly belong to You. Amen.

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