And by these ye shall make yourselves unclean; whoever toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.
The chapter has just sorted the animals Israel could eat from those they could not. Now the law moves from the table to the hand. Touching the dead body of an unclean creature left an Israelite unclean until the evening. Why should a passive touch matter, and what was a person meant to do about it?
God's care for His people reached past their food to what they touched.
They were not their own, and so they were not to do as they pleased. They belonged to the Lord; His name was called on them; they were identified with Him… It was not only in the matter of eating anything unclean that the people of God were so carefully guarded. Bare contact was forbidden. It was impossible for a member of the Israel of God to touch what was unclean without contracting defilement… The Lord would have His people holy in all things.
What made a carcass dangerous was not the animal. It was death.
If a clean beast died of itself, contact with its carcass communicated defilement. The one who had touched it had to wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening — that is, until the close of that period of time. For death is an unclean thing, being for man the fruit of sin, and Israel were always to remember that.
Other nations dressed death up. Israel was taught to feel it.
Death came through sin, and the Lord would have it felt by His people. Heathen feeling sought to hide it under flowers; but Israel were taught its defiling effect.
A person might touch a carcass without wanting to, or only to clear it away. The law made no allowance for motive.
These verses told the Israelite plainly that a touch of those carcasses unfitted him for his usual communion of privilege under the law. No contact could be passed over without penalty. "Bearing a carcass" might be to remove it out of the way, without any wish to use it for gain or any other selfish end. Even so the bearer must take the place of defilement, wash his clothes, and be himself unclean till evening. The requirement was inflexible.
One writer puts the obvious objection into words.
How could they avoid this? you say. I reply — will God lower His standard of holiness because man would excuse himself under the plea that he could not avoid it? Never, my friend. He provides the way in which you shall be restored; but He will not declare you clean when it is not so.
Being unclean was not a technicality. It cost a man his place at the family's shared meal.
Suppose a festive occasion, when the family and household were about to share their portion of a peace offering. Anyone among them who had touched the carcass of a clean beast that had died of itself would be shut out from fellowship with the others. Some might have thought this hard on him, but that was not the real question. The Lord his God was holy, and He could not allow anyone in uncleanness to have fellowship with Him.
God did not leave the unclean man without a remedy.
God graciously provided a remedy for those who made themselves unclean by touching the carcasses of unclean things. In every instance the instruction is to "wash his clothes." To us this pictures bringing our immediate surroundings under the cleansing action of the word of God. In it there is both the acknowledgment of defilement and its removal according to God's mind.
The food and touch rules no longer bind believers. The holiness behind them still does.
"Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch" are legal rules. Colossians 2:21 quotes them so that the apostle can deny flatly that we are under such commands… So restrictions of touch, taste and the like have passed away for us. By faith we stand on the resurrection side of Christ's grave. Yet all the more we are urged to cleanse ourselves, as God's children here below, from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
The practical edge falls on the company we take up and endorse.
There was no moral uncleanness in the dead body itself. But it pictured the uncleanness believers today may pick up by associating with what is morally or spiritually unclean. There was very real reason behind the instruction to Timothy: "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure" (1 Timothy 5:22). In disobeying this we might be virtually handling a dead carcass.
- Contact — God guarded not only what Israel ate but what they touched. Holiness covered the hand as well as the mouth.
- Cause — death defiles because death is the fruit of sin. God meant His people to feel that, not to cover it over.
- No excuse — accident, necessity, or clearing a carcass away changed nothing. God provides restoration, but He will not call a person clean while he is not.
- Cost — the defiled man missed the feast. A holy God will not share fellowship with anyone unclean.
- Cleansing — washing the clothes pictures bringing our surroundings under the word of God. It owns the defilement and removes it.
And whoever carrieth [ought] of their carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 11 has been sorting creatures into clean and unclean, and at verses 24–25 the law moves from the plate to the hands. Why should handling a dead body make a person unclean, and what do washed clothes and a wait till evening put right?
Kelly reads verses 24 and 25 together and traces the defilement back to death, and death back to sin:
There is no obscurity about what defiles (verses 24, 25). Touching the carcass made a person unclean till evening. Carrying any of it meant he had to wash his clothes and be unclean till then. Death came through sin, and the Lord would have His people feel it. Pagan culture tried to hide death under flowers, but Israel learned how defiling it is.
Elsewhere Kelly allows the man the most innocent of motives, and the rule still holds:
No one who only touched escaped the consequence. No contact went without penalty. "Carrying a carcass" might be to move it out of the way, with no wish to use it for gain or any other selfish end. Even so, the one who carried it had to take the place of defilement, wash his clothes, and be unclean himself till evening. The requirement did not bend.
Writers are careful to say the corpse was not morally wrong in itself. The rule was a picture, and the picture has a modern equivalent:
Everything unclean to Israel was not only forbidden as food. Anyone who had contact with the dead body of one of them became unclean himself. He had to wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. Again, we must stress that there was no moral uncleanness in the dead body itself. It stood for the uncleanness believers today may pick up by associating with what is morally or spiritually unclean. There is very real reason behind the instruction to Timothy: "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure" (1 Tim. 5:22). If we disobey this, we might in effect be handling a dead carcass. The person may be guilty of serious sins we do not suspect, and by associating with him we would tie ourselves to his sins. In other words, we must take time to know a person before we identify ourselves with him.
The danger is not limited to a few rare contacts:
The touching of the things named in these verses pictures many kinds and degrees of uncleanness. In a world that has forfeited life, the defilement of death lies heavy over the whole area ruled by the one who holds the power of death. We cannot be close friends with those who belong to this world. If we make companions of them and walk with them, it makes us unclean.
Uncleanness was not the last word. Snell points to the way back that God gave:
Before we leave this chapter, notice the remedy God graciously provided for those who made themselves unclean by touching the carcasses of unclean things. Several times we read that he "shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening." In every case the instruction is to "wash his clothes." To us this is a picture of bringing our immediate surroundings under the cleansing action of the word of God. It is both an admission of defilement and the removal of it according to God's mind.
The uncleanness had a limit. Kelly notes what a touch cost the man: it "made him unfit for his usual communion of privilege under the law." Evening ended that. Grant draws the practical line for today:
If we have had such contact with uncleanness, whether willingly or not, there is to be real self-judgment about it, a washing of our clothes (our habits), and then restoration.
- Contact — the law is not only about diet. Touching a carcass defiled; carrying it defiled further. Contact with what is dead marks a person.
- Cause — death is the defiler. Death came through sin, and God wanted His people to feel it, not hide it under flowers.
- Character — the dead body held no evil of its own. It pictured what a believer picks up from close ties with what is unclean.
- Cleansing — washing the clothes stands for letting God's word clean what is nearest us. It admits the defilement and removes it on God's terms.
- Close of day — the uncleanness was real but limited. It cost the man his fellowship for a time. Self-judgment, washing, and evening brought him back.
Every beast that hath cloven hoofs, but not feet quite split open, nor cheweth the cud, shall be unclean unto you every one that toucheth them shall be unclean.
An animal had to pass two tests to count as clean: a fully split hoof and the chewing of the cud. This verse takes up the animal that passes only one — unclean at the table, and unclean to the touch.
One mark is about what the animal does with its food. The other is about the print it leaves on the ground.
What, then, are we to learn from those two features in a clean animal? The chewing of the cud pictures the natural process of "inwardly digesting" what one eats. The divided hoof sets out the character of one's outward walk. There is, as we know, a close connection between the two in the Christian life. The one who feeds on the green pastures of the Word of God and digests what he takes in — the one who can combine calm meditation with prayerful study — will without doubt show an outward walk that praises Him. He has graciously given us His word to form our habits and govern our ways.
The hoof is split into two halves that press against each other.
The cloven foot suits a light, firm tread and so gives speed. It also keeps the animal from sinking in soft ground. These opposed hoofs join to give stability. They may hint to us how the truths of the Word that seem most opposed to one another in fact only give balance and a firm tread to the one who rests on them. They certainly keep him from sinking in the very place where he feeds. The speed the foot is above all made for surely reminds us of this: where spiritual digestion is found in the believer, faith that looks at what is unseen turns the Christian's course into a race.
This verse describes an animal that half-qualifies: the hoof is divided, but not fully, and it does not chew the cud. Looking like a clean animal was not enough.
The two things were inseparable in every clean animal. The spiritual application matters greatly in practice. The inward life and the outward walk must go together. A man may claim to love the Word of God and feed on it — to study it and turn it over, the pasture of the soul. But if his footprints along the path of life are not what the Word calls for, he is not clean. On the other hand, a man may seem to walk with blameless correctness. But if his walk does not come out of the hidden life, it is worse than worthless.
The verse does not stop at diet. Why should a touch make a person unclean?
Death was the great defiler — death as the wages of sin, the greatest defiler of all. Yet it was not left to a general principle. In these verses the Israelite was told plainly that a touch of those carcasses made him unfit for his usual communion of privilege under the law. No one who only touched escaped the consequence. No contact passed without result. The requirement was inflexible.
A dead body was not evil in itself. So what was this rule teaching?
The unclean animals of Israel were not only forbidden as food. Anyone who touched the dead carcass of one of them became unclean himself. He had to wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening. Again, we must insist that there was no moral uncleanness in the dead body itself. It stood for the uncleanness that believers today may pick up by associating with what is morally or spiritually unclean. With very real reason Timothy was told, "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure" (1 Tim. 5:22). If we disobey this, we may in effect be handling a dead carcass. The person may be guilty of serious sins we do not suspect, and by associating with him we would identify ourselves with his sins. In other words, we must take time to know a person before we identify ourselves with him.
The Christian is not bound by these food and contact rules. But the holiness behind them still stands.
It is not for the Christian a matter of eating or drinking. "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" are legal rules. The apostle quotes them in Colossians 2:21 in order to deny flatly that we are subject to such commands… Restrictions of touch, taste and the like have passed away for us. By faith we stand on the resurrection side of Christ's grave. Yet that makes the call stronger, not weaker. As God's children here below, we are urged to cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1).
- Feed — chewing the cud pictures taking in the Word and digesting it, not merely reading it.
- Walk — the divided hoof pictures the walk. It is built for firm footing where soft ground would swallow it.
- Both — one mark without the other left the animal unclean. Inward life and outward walk go together.
- Touch — the rule reached past the table to the hand. Death, the wages of sin, defiled every contact.
- Holiness — the food rules are gone for the Christian. The call to cleanse ourselves from every defilement remains.
And whatever goeth on its paws, among all manner of beasts that go upon all four, those are unclean unto you whoever toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even.
The list of unclean land animals now moves past hoofs and cud to a third test: how the creature walks. Anything that goes on padded feet is off limits. Even touching its dead body left an Israelite unclean until evening. So why does God look at feet, and why does a touch matter when nothing is eaten?
Commentators pick up the older wording that these animals go on their "hands." They take it as a point about the foot itself, and read the chapter's order as moral rather than scientific.
The stain of the earth in view here explains why rules about death come in, since even a touch of the carcasses of unclean animals defiled a person. From this same point of view this chapter also names as unclean the beasts that go on their "hands" — that is, those whose feet have no hoofs to protect them. Classifying them this way shows how a moral symbolism governs the list; otherwise there is no order to see.
The list has another pattern in it: what these creatures live on.
We know from other scriptures that the animals described here as unclean are not really so, but are good as creatures of God. Yet Israel was to regard them as unclean and an abomination. The unclean are mostly those that eat flesh.
The clean animal had to carry two marks at once. Commentators suggest each one pictures something in a believer's life.
Dividing the hoof and chewing the cud may point to a steady, patient walk (like the camel or the ox), and to digesting or meditating on what is received.
Neither mark counts on its own. What God looks at is the footprint left on the road of life.
The inward life and the outward walk must go together. A man may claim to love and feed on the Word of God — to study it and turn it over as the pasture of the soul — but if his footprints along the pathway of life are not what the Word requires, he is not clean. On the other hand, a man may seem to walk with the blamelessness of a Pharisee; but if his walk is not the result of the hidden life, it is worse than worthless.
The verse does not stop at food. It reaches the person who only handles the dead animal.
Death was the great defiler — death as the wages of sin, the greatest defiler of all. Yet it was not left as a general principle. These verses tell the Israelite plainly that a touch of those carcasses made him unfit for the fellowship he normally enjoyed under the law. No one who so much as touched escaped the consequence. No contact could be passed over without penalty. "Bearing a carcass" might mean removing it out of the way, with no wish to use it for gain or any other selfish end. Even so, the bearer had to take the place of defilement, wash his clothes, and be unclean till evening. The requirement was inflexible.
The uncleanness had a time limit and a set remedy. Commentators see the washing as more than hygiene.
It is worth noticing the remedy God graciously provided for those who made themselves unclean by touching the carcasses of unclean things. Several times we are told that he "shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening." In every case the instruction is to wash his clothes. For us this pictures bringing our immediate surroundings under the cleansing action of the word of God. In it there is both the admission of defilement and its removal according to God's mind.
The rules about touching carcasses no longer bind the Christian. The holiness behind them still stands.
It is not for the Christian a matter of eating or drinking. "Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch" are legal rules quoted in Colossians 2:21, so that the apostle can deny outright that we are under such commands... We died with Christ from the elements of the world... So restrictions of touch, taste and the like have passed away for us. By faith we stand on the resurrection side of Christ's grave. Even so — and all the more — we are urged, as God's children here below, to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (2 Corinthians 7:1).
- Foot — God judges the animal by its foot: paws instead of hoofs, with nothing to protect it from the ground.
- Food — The unclean creatures are mostly the flesh-eaters, and Israel was to treat them as an abomination.
- Footprint — Clean needs two marks together: a steady walk and inward feeding. A fine walk with no hidden life is worse than worthless.
- Contact — Touching defiled a man, not only eating. Even carrying a carcass out of the way did. The rule allowed no exceptions.
- Cleansing — The remedy was washing and waiting till evening. It points to the cleansing action of God's word. The touch rules have passed for the Christian; the call to perfect holiness has not.
And he that carrieth their carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even they shall be unclean unto you.
This rule closes a section on animals that walk on their paws. Touching their dead bodies makes a person unclean. Carrying one costs more: washed clothes, and uncleanness until evening. Why would God care about a man handling a dead animal? And what does a one-evening stain teach readers who no longer keep these food laws?
The carcass defiles because it is dead. God wanted His people to feel what death means.
To touch the carcass makes a person unclean till evening; to carry part of the carcass meant he had to wash his clothes and be unclean till then. Death came through sin, and the LORD would have His people feel it. Pagan feeling tried to hide death under flowers. But Israel learned how defiling death is. So Scripture urges us too to touch no unclean thing, and to come out and be separate to the Lord, in keeping with our new and near relationship to Him.
The verse says nothing about why the man picked the carcass up. That silence matters. A good reason for handling it did not keep the man clean.
This was not left to a general principle. In these verses God told the Israelite plainly that a touch of those carcasses made him unfit for his usual share in the privileges of fellowship under the law. No one who merely touched it escaped the consequence; no contact went without penalty. "Carrying a carcass" might mean removing it out of the way, with no wish to profit by it or any other selfish end. Even so, the one who carried it had to take the place of defilement, wash his clothes, and be unclean till evening. The requirement did not bend.
Commentators read the dead body as a picture of what is morally unclean. Carrying it pictures taking a share in someone else's sin.
There was no moral uncleanness in the dead body itself, but it symbolised the uncleanness believers today may pick up by associating with what is morally or spiritually unclean. There is very real reason behind Timothy's instruction, "Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure" (1 Tim. 5:22). In disobeying this we would in effect be handling a dead carcass. The person may be guilty of serious sins we do not suspect. By associating with him we would identify ourselves with his sins. In other words, we must take time to know a person before identifying ourselves with him.
The picture covers more than one kind of contact. It reaches everyday friendships too:
These verses picture many kinds and degrees of uncleanness. In a world that has forfeited life, the defilement of death lies heavy over the whole realm ruled by the one who holds the power of death. We cannot be close friends with those who belong to this world, or make companions of them and walk with them, without being made unclean.
The cure here is not a sacrifice but a wash. Writers take the clothes as a picture of a person's habits.
Suppose we have had such contact with uncleanness, willingly or not. Then there is to be true self-judgment about it, a washing of our clothes (our habits), and then restoration.
Scripture itself says how that washing is done:
The clothes tell us of what touches us — our associations, what we have to do with, what the world around us sees connected with us. Perhaps people have been used to seeing us in the gambling halls, or in other evil places. All these associations and ways must be "washed." How do we wash our ways and associations? Psalm 119:9 answers that for us. It asks, "How can a young man keep his way pure?" Here is God's own answer: "By guarding it according to your word."
The uncleanness has an end. Commentators compare it to the way dealing with evil leaves its mark on us for a while.
Being occupied with evil, however necessary, is defiling. It has effects on the mind until we return to what is our normal state — occupation with Christ and His Word. How seriously all this speaks to us! Having to do with evil defiles for a time. So we need to apply what God has written to ourselves — to examine our ways and circumstances in the light of God's truth.
Christians are not under rules about touching and tasting. That makes the moral lesson stronger, not weaker.
"Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch" are legal ordinances quoted in Colossians 2:21 so that the apostle can deny outright that we are under such commands... By faith we stand on the resurrection side of Christ's grave. Yet we are urged all the more, as God's children here below, to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1).
- Contact. Death came through sin, so a dead body defiled. God taught His people to feel that, not hide it under flowers.
- No excuse. The carrier might have been clearing the carcass away for good reasons. The law still counted him unclean.
- Company. The picture reaches our friendships. Taking part in another's sins is handling a dead carcass.
- Cleansing. Clothes stand for habits, and God's Word washes our habits clean.
- Closure. The stain ran only until evening. Judge yourself, find restoration, and return to Christ and His Word.