These shall be unclean unto you among all that crawl whoever toucheth them when they are dead, shall be unclean until the even.
This verse closes the list of small creatures that swarm along the ground. It turns from what Israel could eat to what Israel could touch. A dead mouse or lizard was a small thing. Yet whoever handled one lost his usual place before God until evening. Why did God give a law about something so small?
The named animals have little in common as natural species, yet the ruling covers them all without exception.
In this regulation creeping things without wings are forbidden. The creatures that burrow were unclean for the people of old who were separated to God, as were those that devoured and destroyed in the field. So were those that darted about in the sun, silent or crying, that hid in the sand, or that dived into rubbish they liked. Some too might enjoy the grass or the shrub or the tree, and not without lively activity after their insect prey, and with beautiful colouring as well. They did not all grovel on the earth. But they were all alike unclean. Whoever touched them when dead was to be unclean till evening.
The creatures here are only a sample of a wider rule. One writer asks what such a class pictures.
Only some of the forbidden creeping things are named here. Verses 41-43 widen this to cover every kind of creeping thing. These picture people of a repulsive, earthbound character. No doubt each creature stands for some particular bad trait in such unbelievers, though we may not be able to interpret the details.
What defiled was not the animal itself but its death. The rule held even when a man wanted nothing from the carcass.
Death was the great defiler, death as the wages of sin, the greatest defiler of all. Yet God did not leave this to a general principle. In these verses He told the Israelite plainly that a touch of those dead bodies made him unfit for the fellowship he normally enjoyed under the law. No one who only touched escaped the consequence. No contact went without penalty. "Bearing a carcass" might mean removing it out of the way, without any wish to use it for profit or any other selfish end. Even so, the bearer had to take the place of defilement, wash his clothes, and be unclean himself till evening. The requirement was inflexible.
Much of the chapter is about food. This verse is about the hand. The prophets press the same point: holiness does not spread by touch, but uncleanness does.
God did not guard His people so carefully only about eating something unclean. Bare contact was forbidden too. (See verses 8, 24, 26-28, 31-41.) No member of the Israel of God could touch what was unclean without becoming defiled. Both the law and the prophets unfold this principle at length. "Thus says the Lord of hosts: Ask the priests about the law: 'If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment and touches with his fold bread or stew or wine or oil or any kind of food, does it become holy?'" The priests answered and said, "No." Then Haggai said, "If someone who is unclean by contact with a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean?" The priests answered and said, "It does become unclean." (Haggai 2:11-13)
Such a rule could look like superiority. The reason runs the other way: it rests on who God is, and on whose the people are.
The principle is not "stand by yourself, I am holier than you." It is simply this: God is holy, so everyone He brings into association with Himself must be holy too... Suppose someone had asked an Israelite of old, "Why do you shrink back from that reptile crawling along the path?" He would have answered, "The Lord is holy, and I belong to Him. He has said, 'Do not touch.'" It is the same now. If someone asks a Christian why he walks apart from the ten thousand things the men of this world share in, his answer is simply to be, "My Father is holy."
Later in the chapter a spring stays clean even when a carcass falls into it. One writer reads that undefiled water as a picture of the Spirit, then turns to the man who touched the carcass.
There was something, then, that the carcass of the creeping thing could not make unclean. There is One who cannot be defiled: the Holy Spirit, whom the Word pictures as water. Though He is on earth, He is completely pure, while the whole world lies in the evil one, and sin dwells in those in whom He also dwells... the water in the spring or pit was not defiled, yet whoever touched the carcass that had fallen into it became unclean. What is man? A touch of the carcass defiled him. For there was only one Man who could touch what defiles without becoming unclean, for in Him there is no sin (1 John 3:5).
The uncleanness ended at evening, and it ended by a set path. One writer traces that path for the believer today.
If we have had such contact with uncleanness, willingly or not, we are to judge the matter truly in ourselves. Then comes a washing of our clothes (our habits), and then restoration.
- Touch. Food was only half of it. Bare contact with a dead creeping thing defiled, and no creature on the list was an exception.
- Death. What defiled was death, the wages of sin. Even carrying a carcass out of the way put a man in the place of uncleanness.
- Inflexible. Accident and good intent changed nothing. The requirement did not bend.
- Holiness. The reason was never "I am holier than you." It was belonging: God is holy, and His people are His.
- Evening. The defilement was real, but it had an end: self-judgment, washing, restoration. And only One has ever touched what defiles and stayed clean.
And on whatever any of them when they are dead doth fall, it shall be unclean; all vessels of wood, or garment, or skin, or sack, every vessel wherewith work is done -- it shall be put into water, and be unclean until the even; then shall it be clean.
Leviticus 11:32 moves the law of clean and unclean beyond what Israel ate to what Israel owned. A dead creature falling on a bowl, a coat, a leather bag or a working tool made that object unclean. The only way back was water and the passing of a day.
The verse does not describe a sin. It describes an accident — something dead dropping where a person works and lives. One writer notes how far the ruling reaches:
Every form of service, and the means of living, contract pollution in a scene where death reigns.
The list in the verse is deliberately domestic. A second writer walks through what an Israelite would picture:
A dead mouse, or lizard, or other creeping thing could fall on a man, his food, his drink, his clothing, or vessels for household work. All would become unclean, and the stands for pots, or fire hearths, had to be broken down. Uncleanness spread easily.
The point of the law is not hygiene. It is that death carries the mark of sin, and God wanted His people to feel that every time it touched their lives:
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. So we too are urged to touch no unclean thing, and to come out and be separate to the Lord according to our new and near relation to Him.
Verse 32 is not the whole rule. The material of the object decided its fate:
The item is not destroyed and not ignored. It goes into water. One writer takes that washing as a picture of what Scripture does for a believer's surroundings:
Before leaving this chapter, notice the remedy God graciously provided. It was for those who made themselves unclean by touching the carcasses of unclean things. Several times we are told he "shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening." In every case the instruction is to "wash his clothes." To us this pictures bringing our near 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.
That pattern runs through the whole book, and it is not left in the past:
Now look through this Book of Leviticus, and you will find every possible defilement must be washed by water. In the same way every possible defilement to the believer must be met by the washing of water by the Word of God.
The uncleanness has a fixed end. The day closes it:
If such a dead body fell on any article of wood or clothing or skin or sack, or whatever was used to work with, the article was to be put in water and be unclean until evening, when it would again be clean.
- Contact. No sin was committed here — something dead simply fell. Even accidental contact defiled, and it passed on to clothing, bags, tools and cookware.
- Cause. Death defiles because death came in through sin. God wanted His people to feel that, not cover it over.
- Cost. Ordinary work and ordinary living picked up pollution in a world where death reigns. The writers call this law a yoke too heavy to carry.
- Cure. Wood, cloth, skin and sack went into water. Writers read this as bringing what is near us under the cleansing action of God's word, which both admits the defilement and removes it.
- Close. The uncleanness lasted only until evening. Clay had to be broken, but what could be washed was washed, and by nightfall it was clean again.
And every earthen vessel into which [any] of them falleth -- whatever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it.
Leviticus 11 lists the creatures Israel must not eat. Now one of them falls dead into a clay pot, and the command is not to wash it but to smash it.
Wood, cloth and leather come first; clay comes next. One writer notes that the creatures named just before are the ones found indoors, and that the law handles the two kinds of container in different ways:
Commentators can say little more than this: these creatures are named because of the special danger of defilement from them in the way described here — dropping into vessels and so on. They are usually found in houses, or in the places where people live. But we also see how they affect different things in different ways. Some things take in defilement more readily than others. Every vessel of wood, every garment, skin or sack that they fell on when dead had to go into water, and it would be clean at evening. But the earthen vessel could only be broken.
Nobody plans for a lizard to fall into the water jar. The law counted it as defilement all the same.
Even accidental contact with these dead things defiled. So the vessels in verse 32 had to go into water for cleansing, and those in verse 33 had to be broken outright. The Rabbis do not tell us the truth about this law; the apostle Peter does. He called it a yoke that neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. Every form of service, and the means of living, contract pollution in a scene where death reigns.
The broken pot was not the whole loss.
If the body fell into an earthen vessel, anything inside the vessel was unclean, and the vessel had to be broken. Any food in such a vessel that water had touched was unclean, and so was any liquid in it (v. 34). Even an oven or a cooking stove, likely made of clay, became unclean if a carcass or part of one fell on it. It too had to be broken.
The rule reached the person too, and what he wore.
Suppose a dead mouse, or lizard, or other creeping thing had fallen on a man, his food, his drink, his clothing, or the vessels he used for housework. All of them became unclean. The stands for pots, or fire hearths, had to be broken down. Uncleanness spread with ease.
Three verses later the law names two things that death did not make unclean.
Verses 36 and 37 name two exceptions. First, a spring or well — a body of water — resisted this pollution. Still, whatever touched the carcass was unclean. Next, seed kept for sowing stayed clean if something dead fell on it. The cleansing of the word, and the life that gives life, were stronger than death. They picture what belongs to Christ and His own.
A rule about a broken cooking pot can look petty until you ask what it was teaching. One writer traces it back to who God is, and to who His people are because of Him.
Suppose someone had asked an Israelite of old, "Why do you shrink back so from that reptile crawling along the path?" He would have replied, "Jehovah is holy, and I belong to Him. He has said, Touch not." The same holds now. If someone asks a Christian why he walks apart from the ten thousand things the men of this world share in, his answer is to be just this: "My Father is holy." That is the true foundation of personal holiness.
- Clay — Wood, cloth and leather went into water and were clean by evening. The clay pot could only be broken. Different materials, different capacity to take in defilement.
- Contact — No one chose to have a dead creature fall into a jar, yet the defilement counted anyway. Where death reigns, even ordinary work and daily living pick up pollution.
- Contents — The loss spread from the pot to what was in it, to the food and drink, and on to the oven and hearth. One small death reached a whole household.
- Counterweight — The spring and the sowing seed stayed clean. Water and living seed picture the cleansing of the word and the life that is stronger than death.
- Cause — The reason behind every detail was relationship. God is holy, and His people belong to Him — that is why even a small creature meant a broken pot.
All food that is eaten on which [such] water hath come shall be unclean; and all drink that is drunk shall be unclean, in every [such] vessel.
This rule sits inside a set of household instructions. A dead creeping thing falls into a clay pot. The water in that pot then carries the trouble further, into the food and the drink. Why would God give laws about a kitchen at all? And what should a reader take from it today?
The defilement here is second-hand. The carcass never touched the food. The water that had touched it did.
But if the body fell into a clay pot, they had to break the pot, and everything inside it was unclean. In such a pot, any food that had been made wet with water, or any liquid in it, would be unclean (v. 34). Even an oven or a cooking stove (likely made of clay) would become unclean if a dead body, or part of one, fell on it, and it too had to be broken.
One small dead animal was enough to reach into every corner of a family's ordinary day.
A man, his food, his drink, his clothing, or the vessels he used for housework — all of them became unclean. The stands for pots, or the fire hearths, had to be broken down, if a dead mouse, or lizard, or other creeping thing had fallen on any of them. Uncleanness spread easily.
What made the water unclean was contact with something dead. Nobody plans for a mouse to fall into the water jar, so the law caught people in what they never chose.
Even accidental contact with these dead things brought defilement. So the vessels described in verse 32 had to be put in water to be cleansed, and those in verse 33 had to be broken in pieces. Not the Rabbis, but the apostle Peter tells us the truth: it was a yoke that neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. Every kind of work, and the means of making a living, pick up pollution in a scene where death reigns.
The chapter does not treat every object the same way. One writer finds the real lesson in that difference.
But we also see how differently these creatures affect what they touch. Things are not equally open to defilement. Every vessel of wood, every garment, skin or sack they fell on when dead, had to be put into water, and it would be clean by evening. A clay pot could only be broken. A spring or a well could not be defiled at all, and neither could seed meant for sowing — but if that seed had been made wet with water, to be used for food, then it would be defiled.
The law lands on what a person takes in. One writer draws a line from feeding the body to feeding the soul.
Perhaps nothing has so much effect on people, for good or bad, as what they take in to feed the body, and what they take in to feed the soul. A people who eat foul things will be foul in body in most ways, and a man who thinks foul thoughts will be unclean in spirit in most ways. So everything the Jews took into the body by eating had to be clean, and everything a Christian takes into the soul should be pure.
Such detail over pots and hearths was not fussiness. It came from who the people were.
He wanted to keep His people free from the defilement that came from touching, tasting, or handling anything unclean. They were not their own, so they were not to do as they pleased. They belonged to Jehovah; they were called by His name; they were identified with Him.
The same writer sets this chapter beside the moment Peter was told to eat what he had always called unclean.
A Jew might hide behind the narrow fences of the Jewish ritual and cry, "By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." But the tide of God's grace was rising in majesty above all such fences, to take in every kind of object and carry it up to heaven, on the strength and authority of those precious words, "What God has made clean, do not call common." What was in the vessel did not matter, if God had cleansed it.
- Death spreads. A dead creeping thing in a jar passed its uncleanness to the water, and the water passed it to the food and drink.
- Spreads far. Food, drink, clothing, work tools, even the fire hearth — one dead animal reached a whole household.
- Spreads unequally. Wood was washed, clay was smashed, a spring stayed clean — not everything took in defilement the same way.
- Spreads inward. The law fell on what a person takes in — and what the soul takes in should be pure too.
- Stops at grace. The rules guarded a people who belonged to God. They ended when Peter heard that what God has made clean must not be called common.
And everything where upon [any part] of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; oven and hearth shall be broken down they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you.
Leviticus 11 has been listing small creatures — the mouse, the lizard, the things that creep around a house. Now it follows one of them after it dies, into the family cooking fire, and asks why God orders a clay oven smashed instead of washed.
The oven and the stove belonged to the kitchen. One writer notes what they were made of.
If the body fell into an earthen vessel, the vessel was to be broken and anything inside the vessel was unclean. In such a vessel any food that had been made wet with water or any liquid in the vessel would be unclean (v. 34). Even an oven or a cooking stove (likely made of earth) would be unclean through a dead carcass or part of it falling on it, and it was to be broken.
One dead mouse could touch a whole household.
A man, his food, his drink, his clothing, or vessels used for housework would all be made unclean. The stands for pots, or fire hearths, had to be broken down if a dead mouse, or lizard, or other creeping thing had fallen on any of them. Uncleanness spread easily, and the dead body of an unclean creeping thing defiled everything that touched it — except a spring or a pit holding plenty of water, or seed meant for sowing that no water had yet touched.
Nobody chose for a dead lizard to drop into the oven. That is part of the point. The rule attaches to contact, not to intention, and it exposes the world the Israelite was living in.
Even accidental contact with these dead things defiled. The vessels described in verse 32 had to be put in water to be cleansed, and those in verse 33 had to be completely broken. Not the Rabbis, but the apostle Peter tells us the truth: it was a yoke which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. Every form of service, and the means of living, contract pollution in a scene where death reigns.
One writer traces the defilement back to death itself.
Something that died on its own, though otherwise clean, became unclean — death in this way being a picture of what had come in through sin.
Verse 32 lets a household rinse wood, cloth and leather clean by evening. Verse 35 gives the oven no such second chance.
But we also see how differently they affect what they touch — some things take defilement more readily than others. Every vessel of wood, or garment, skin or sack on which they fell when dead had to go into water, and it would be clean by evening. But the earthen vessel could only be broken… Whether we can read these things or not, they plainly imply a different susceptibility to evil, and a difference in how the defiled thing was treated. That should be suggestive and important to us.
The verse ends flatly: unclean, and staying unclean. The prophets later put the same question to the priests.
It was impossible for a member of the Israel of God to touch what was unclean without becoming defiled. Both the law and the prophets unfold this principle at length. "This is what the Lord of hosts says: Ask the priests about the law. If someone carries holy meat in the fold of his garment, and touches bread, stew, wine, oil or any food with that fold, does it become holy? The priests answered, No. Then Haggai said, If someone who is unclean from a dead body touches any of these, does it become unclean? The priests answered, It shall be unclean." (Hag. 2:11-13) The Lord would have His people holy in all things. They were neither to eat nor touch anything unclean.
Holiness spreads to nothing; uncleanness spreads to everything it touches.
One writer reads the chapter's closing rules as a picture of what the New Testament states openly.
The latter part of the chapter gives rules as to how unclean creatures might communicate defilement to other things or persons. Here we have foreshadowed what is plain in the New Testament. There is an infection or a contagion about what is evil, so that the Christian has to be on his guard as to his associations. Such scriptures as 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; 1 Timothy 5:22; 2 Timothy 2:19 are quite clear as to this.
- Contact. A dead creature falling on an oven made it unclean — no intent needed, since "even accidental contact with these dead things defiled."
- Contagion. Uncleanness spread to food, drink, clothing and tools. Haggai's question shows that it only ever runs one way.
- Comparison. Wood and cloth washed clean by evening. Clay could only be broken — the same defilement, a different "susceptibility to evil."
- Cost. The rule hit the family's own cooking fire: "every form of service, and the means of living, contract pollution in a scene where death reigns."
- Caution. Evil is infectious, so a Christian stays on guard about his associations.
Nevertheless, a spring or a well, a quantity of water, shall be clean. But he that toucheth their carcase shall be unclean.
Leviticus 11 tells Israel what they could eat and what would make them unclean. By the middle of the chapter, death spreads uncleanness to almost everything it touches. Then comes one word of relief — "nevertheless" — and a spring of water stays clean.
Up to this point the rule runs one way: whatever the dead creature falls on catches its uncleanness. Verses 36 and 37 break that pattern, and commentators read the two together.
The chapter names two exceptions, in verses 36 and 37. First, a fountain or well — a quantity of water — resisted pollution from this source. But whatever touched the carcass was unclean. Next, anything dead falling on seed meant for sowing did not defile it. The cleansing power of the word, and the life that gives life, stood above death. Both picture what belongs to Christ and His own. But if the seed was for another use, it became unclean.
A dead creature defiled a vessel or a piece of clothing. It could not defile a spring, because water is what removes uncleanness in the first place.
When dead, their touch defiled, even a vessel or clothing, and so on (verses 9-35). Not so a fountain or pit, or gathering of water, which cleansed instead of contracting uncleanness (v. 36); not so sowing seed (v. 37). The power and life of the Spirit cannot be contaminated... Jehovah laid all this on His people, who were to be holy because He was.
The verse names a spring and a cistern holding water. Commentators find meaning in both the water and its flowing.
On the other hand, the dead carcass could not defile a spring that produced plenty of water (v. 36). Typically this tells us that the word and Spirit of God are superior to death and cannot be defiled by it. For water speaks of the word of God and its flowing speaks of the energy of the Spirit of God in giving power to the word.
To Israel this was a bare command. One writer says the reason is open to us now.
To an Israelite these exceptions might have looked like plain commands, with no reason given. To Christians they look like moral instructions, and the reasons are clear.
The water stays clean, but the man who touches the carcass in it does not.
This whole scene shows moral uncleanness, caused by the presence of sin. Yet in the middle of it there is One who cannot be defiled: the Holy Spirit. The Word pictures Him as water (John 4; 7). The Israelite learnt that this water was undefiled. Undefiled too, we gladly own, is the Holy Spirit. That holds whether we think of Him as the Spirit of God coming from above, or as dwelling on earth in the assembly and in the saint... He cannot be defiled, though man can, and even the saint can. God never lets us forget that difference. Even this chapter teaches it. The water in the fountain or pit was not defiled. But the man who touched the carcass of the creeping thing that had fallen into that water became unclean. What is man? A touch of the carcass defiled him. Only one man could touch what defiled without becoming unclean, for in Him is no sin (1 John 3:5).
Nothing can spoil the spring. That is no reason to treat defilement lightly. It is where the cleansing comes from once defilement has happened.
Sin is no trifle. God would have us "take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness," and not even touch the unclean thing. While we "hold fast to what is good," it equally suits us to "abhor what is evil." And when we know our fellowship has been broken off, we should at once turn to self-examination, self-judgment, and the confession of our sins. Then we have not only the assurance of forgiveness from His own word, but the sense of being fully cleansed... The Holy Spirit brings this home to us, applying the word to wash away the defilement.
- Nevertheless. Death spreads through the chapter to vessels and clothing. One thing is exempt: a spring or a gathering of water stays clean.
- Cleanses, not catches. Water does not pick up uncleanness, because water is what removes it — the clean thing in the scene is the cleansing thing.
- Word and Spirit. Commentators read the water as the word of God, and its flowing as the Spirit's power in that word; both stand above death and cannot be defiled by it.
- Undefiled on earth. Nothing can defile the Spirit here on earth. The carcass still defiles the man who touches it. God never blurs that difference.
- So, use the spring. Refuse contact with what defiles. When defilement happens, confess it and let the Spirit apply the word to wash it away.
And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing-seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean;
In this chapter a dead mouse or lizard can ruin a pot, a garment, or an oven. One thing stays clean: a heap of grain set aside for sowing. Why does God rule on a farmer's seed pile at all? And why does dry seed escape a defilement that reaches nearly everything else?
These rules reach into kitchens, sacks and grain heaps. One writer makes that reach the point:
The same principle of telling clean from unclean carries over into the everyday things of common life. These rules are past, and their letter no longer binds us. Yet they still hold a very clear lesson: be separate and distinct from the world in the habits of life. An idea you sometimes hear runs the other way: if the heart is right, we need not be careful about anything else. Put in its plainest form, that means that if we are saved we need not be careful about the testimony due to God. The minuteness of detail as to food is proof that God looks for holiness in the smallest things of life.
The exemption is not a loophole. It rests on the same ground as every other rule here: not on human opinion, but on who God is:
These directions are definite. But why give them? The holy people had to keep themselves from uncleanness. They had to separate clean from unclean, because the Lord their God was holy. Again and again they were reminded that on such matters man's opinion could carry no weight. These requirements rested on the character of God Himself, with whom they had to do as His redeemed people. Every human standard must therefore fall short of what God would set before them. So the Lord had to reveal what was required.
The next verse draws the line: once water touches the seed, a falling carcass does defile it. Why should a little moisture change everything? One explanation turns on what the seed is heading toward:
The carcass of any creeping thing falling on seed about to be sown did not make it unclean. But if water had already fallen on that seed, contact with the carcass would defile it. The moistened seed, beginning to germinate, could not die again. But the dry seed, when sown, would die, so it did not count as unclean.
Another reading looks not at what the seed loses but at what it carries:
Next, seed for sowing was not defiled if something dead fell on it. The cleansing by the word, and the life that quickens, were superior to death — the picture of what is special to Christ and His own. But if the seed were for another use, it became unclean.
The same grain, kept back for the table instead of the field, loses the exemption. What the seed is for decides whether death can touch it.
Read across the whole section, the differing rulings teach something about defilement itself:
We also see how differently these creatures affect the things they touch — how much defilement each thing can take on. Any vessel of wood, garment, skin or sack on which they fell when dead had to go into water, and it would be clean at evening. But an earthen vessel they could only break. Nothing could defile the fountain or well, or seed meant for sowing. But if water had moistened that seed, for use as food, then it would be defiled. Whether we can read these things or not, it is clear that they imply two things: a different openness to evil, and a different treatment of what was defiled. Both should be suggestive and important to us.
Commentators differ over the picture behind the seed. What holds either way is the differing capacity to take on defilement.
The dry seed is clean because it is on its way to dying. The believer still meets defilement now, and waits for a freedom not yet enjoyed:
It is by death, if he dies, that he gets free from the presence of sin within him. Nothing short of death can free him from that defiling thing: the old man, the flesh, which we get from Adam by the fall. When death comes in, freedom from it follows. Until then, unless caught up alive to meet the Lord, that cannot be enjoyed.
- Seed — grain set aside for sowing stays clean under a falling carcass. Once water touches it, verse 38 reverses the ruling.
- Sown — dry seed is headed for the ground and for death, so death falling on it changes nothing. The wet seed has already begun to live and "could not die again."
- Superior — another reading finds here a life that death cannot reach. The same grain kept for eating, not sowing, would be defiled.
- Soaks up — wood washed, clay pots broken, springs and sowing seed untouched. Things differ in how much defilement they soak up.
- Smallest — a rule about a grain heap shows that God looks for holiness in the smallest things of life, not only in the heart.
but if water have been put on the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you.
Leviticus 11 teaches Israel to tell clean from unclean, right down to the grain in the barn. Wet grain catches defilement from a dead body, while dry grain stays clean — so why does water make the difference?
These instructions can look fussy. One writer asks why God gives such small rules at all, and answers from God's own character.
These directions are certainly definite. But why give them? The holy people had to keep themselves from uncleanness, and to separate between clean and unclean, for the Lord their God was holy. Again and again they were reminded that on such matters man's opinion could carry no weight. These requirements rested on the character of God — the God they dealt with as His redeemed people. Every human standard must therefore fall short of what God would set before them. So the Lord had to reveal what was required.
Why does water change the seed's standing? One writer ties it to what the seed is going to do next.
Seed about to be sown was not made unclean if the carcass of any creeping thing fell on it. But if water had already fallen on that seed, contact with the carcass would defile it. The moistened seed, beginning to germinate, could not die again. But the dry seed, when sown, would die, so it was not counted unclean. The Christian should be able to understand this, because it is by death, if he dies, that he gets free from the presence of sin within him. Nothing short of death can free him from that defiling thing, the old man, the flesh, which we get from Adam by the fall. … In this sense death acts as a cleanser from what defiled.
Another writer weighs seed kept for sowing against seed kept for any other use.
Next, seed for sowing was not defiled if something dead fell on it. The cleansing by the word, and the life that quickens, were superior to death — the figure of what is special to Christ and His own. But if the seed was for other use, it became unclean.
Verse 38 sits on a scale: some things resist defilement, others catch it at once. One commentator sets out that scale and admits parts of it stay obscure.
Nothing could defile the fountain or well, or seed meant to be sown. But if water had moistened the seed for use as food, then it became unclean. … Whether we can read these things or not, one thing is plain: different things take evil differently, and not all defiled things were treated alike. That should be suggestive and important to us.
Commentators differ on how far the detail can be pressed. One writer notes the exception for dry seed and then adds: "the spiritual significance of this is perhaps hard to discern" (L. M. Grant).
The rules around verse 38 show how far a dead body's stain travelled, and what that cost Israel day by day.
Here we read the application of all three rules: handle not, nor taste, nor touch. The first of these goes even further. If any of them when dead fell on another thing, that thing became unclean: vessels of wood, clothing or sacks, and every vessel used for work, had to be put into water and stay unclean until evening. Even involuntary contact with these dead things defiled. … Not the Rabbis, but the apostle Peter tells us the truth: it was a yoke which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. Every form of service, and the means of living, contract pollution in a scene where death reigns.
Set against that, the same chapter names two things death does not reach — the spring and the seed for sowing. One writer carries that forward into the Christian's own life.
We now contract defilement, though the Spirit of God in us, and on earth, never can be defiled. But freedom from the presence of sin we await, and by death, if we die, it will be at once and for ever effected.
- The standard — God's own holiness, not human opinion, is the groundwork of every rule here.
- The dry seed — Seed meant for sowing is going to die anyway, so a dead body falling on it leaves it clean.
- The wet seed — Water starts the germination, and the seed that cannot die again is the seed that can be defiled.
- The reach of death — Everywhere else in the chapter death spreads: clothes, pots, sacks, working tools. Living in this world means contact with what pollutes.
- The hope — The Spirit of God in the believer can never be defiled, and full freedom from sin's presence is still to come.
And if any beast which is to you for food die, he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even.
For thirty-eight verses, Leviticus 11 sorts creatures into clean and unclean, then turns a corner. An animal on the approved list can still defile you — if it dies on its own, one touch costs an Israelite his day.
What matters is not the animal but how it died. Killed for the table, it was food; found dead, it defiled.
The forbidden creatures defiled, small as many of them are. But even those that could be eaten were defiling if they "died." The point is not an animal killed in the proper way, but one that dies on its own. The one who touched its carcass, the one who ate of it, and the one who carried it away were each unclean until evening (vv. 39, 40).
Why should a dead clean animal defile at all? The answer lies in what death is — and in how little it takes to catch it.
If a clean beast died on its own, contact with its carcass passed on 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... How easily a man became defiled. The Israelite might have touched the carcass without knowing it, or necessity may have required it. No matter what the cause, the effect was the same: the man was made unclean.
Verses 39 and 40 change the subject in a chapter about forbidden creatures.
Verses 39 and 40 deal with a different subject. They are inserted here concerning clean animals. If one of these were to die (so not slaughtered for meat), a person who touched its carcass would be unclean until evening. If he ate of its carcass, he must wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. Even what is clean may fall into the corruption of death.
Snell turns this into a picture for believers today.
So we see that something may have been clean to us at one time, and the Spirit of God would lead us into happy fellowship with it. Later that same thing may show itself so corrupt and unclean that it calls for our withdrawal, and forbids us even to touch it.
What did a day of uncleanness cost in ordinary life? A place at the family's feast.
Picture a feast day. The family and household are about to share their portion of a peace offering. Anyone there who had touched the carcass of a clean beast that had died on its own would be shut out from fellowship with the others. All the rest would feast on the peace offering, but he would have no part in it.
Commentators differ on what verse 39 required. Stuart takes it to include washing. Another writer notes that verse 39, unlike verse 40, names no washing — only the passing of the day.
Even if a man touched the carcass of a clean animal that had died, he was unclean until the evening (Lev. 11:39). It is one of the exceptional cases where cleansing of some kind was not demanded.
Contact with uncleanness still calls for a response in the believer.
If we have had such contact with uncleanness, whether unwillingly or not, there is to be true self-judgment of the matter, and a washing of our clothes (our habits). Then comes restoration.
Where does that cleansing power come from?
Our purity has its source in Christ. He is not only life to us by faith; He also washes us by the word and purifies us by the hope of His coming.
- Death defiles. The creature was clean. The dying is what made the carcass defiling — "death is an unclean thing, being for man the fruit of sin."
- Death spreads by touch. Intention made no difference. Accident or necessity — the effect was identical: unclean.
- Death reaches the clean. These two verses sit among the forbidden creatures for a reason. Even what is clean may fall into corruption. What was once fit for fellowship can become something to withdraw from.
- Death costs the feast. The unclean man lost his place at the shared peace offering while everyone else ate — until evening ended his day.
- Death's stain is answered in Christ. Self-judgment and the washing of habits restore the walk. But the purity itself has its source in Christ, who washes by the word.
And he that eateth of its carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even he also that carrieth its carcase shall wash his garments, and be unclean until the even.
Leviticus 11 has sorted the animal world into clean and unclean. Now it turns to a different problem: an animal that was fit to eat but died on its own. The rule reaches anyone who eats it or carries it. What makes a person unfit for God's company, and how is that undone?
The problem is not the animal. It is death.
An animal that died on its own also became unclean, even though it was otherwise clean. Death in this way is a picture of what had come in through sin.
The animal in view is not on the forbidden list. The problem is how it died.
Verses 39 and 40 do not deal with the same subject. They come in here about clean animals. Suppose one of these died on its own, and so was not slaughtered for meat. Then a person who touched its carcass would be unclean until evening. And if someone ate of its carcass, he had to wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. Even what is clean may fall into the corruption of death.
Carrying is the more surprising of the two acts.
Death was the great defiler, death as the wages of sin, the greatest defiler of all... No one who so much as touched it escaped the consequence. No contact could go without penalty. "Bearing a carcass" might mean removing it out of the way, without any 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 himself unclean until evening. The requirement was inflexible.
The uncleanness came with a time limit.
If a clean animal died on its own, touching its carcass passed on defilement. The one who touched it had to wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening — that is, until the close of that period of time... So any man who ate of such a carcass became unclean, and so did the man who carried it. Both had to wash their clothes in water and wait until evening to be clean.
Nothing in the verse asks why the man ate or carried. Intention, accident and hard necessity all landed in the same place — and the cost was real.
How easily a person picked up defilement. The Israelite might have touched the carcass without knowing. Or necessity may have required it. Yet whatever the cause, the effect was the same: the man became unclean. Suppose a feast day. The family and household were about to share their portion of a peace offering. Say one of them had touched the carcass of a clean animal that died on its own. He would for that reason be shut out from fellowship with the others... The LORD his God was holy, and He could not allow anyone in uncleanness to have fellowship with Him.
The remedy is ordinary washing. So what do the clothes stand for?
Clothes tell us of what touches us — our associations, what we have to do with, what the world around us sees as connected with us... All these associations and ways must be "washed." How do we wash our ways and associations? We get that question answered in Psalm 119:9 — "How can a young man keep his way pure?" That is the question. Here is God's own answer: "By guarding it according to your word."
The washing is one step in a short process.
Have we had such contact with uncleanness, willing or not? Then there must be true self-judgment of the matter, a washing of our clothes (our habits), and then restoration.
Other passages deal with this same meat in another way. One writer offers a possible explanation:
The law of Leviticus 17:15 may have had to do with finding a carcass in open country while hunting. Leviticus 11 deals with death among their flocks or herds. If that is so, in exceptional cases they could eat what had died on its own or had been torn by animals. They had to carry out the purification required. But once they entered the land, they could not eat what had died on its own (Deuteronomy 14:21).
The washing pictures something the believer does not supply for himself.
Our purity has its source in Christ. He is not only life to us by faith. He also washes us by the word, and purifies us by the hope of His coming.
- Death defiles. The rule turns on death itself — the picture of what sin brought in.
- Clean things die. An animal on the approved list still became unclean once it died on its own. What is clean can fall into the corruption of death.
- Contact counts. Eating it, carrying it, even clearing it away with no selfish motive — the requirement was inflexible. Necessity excused no one.
- Fellowship suffers. Defilement shut the man out of the feast the others shared. That is what it costs while it lasts.
- Washing restores. Clothes stand for habits and associations. Self-judgment, washing by the word, then restoration — and the purity comes from Christ, not from us.
And every crawling thing which crawleth on the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten.
Leviticus 11 sorts the animal world into clean and unclean for Israel. Verse 41 closes the list with a rule that sweeps in everything left over: nothing that crawls on the ground may be eaten. Why would God give a law about reptiles and insects? What can such a rule teach anyone today?
Earlier the chapter dealt with animals, fish, birds, and the defilement of touching a dead body. This verse drops to the ground and changes the question. The ESV calls it a "swarming thing that swarms"; older translations read "creeping thing that creeps."
Here the things that crept on the earth are forbidden to be eaten. It is a lower level than in verse 2 and verse 9, for those creatures flew or hopped. The ones now before us crawled and went on their belly. And here we read not of touching, but of eating.
Earlier the chapter named only some crawling creatures. Verse 41 throws the net wide.
Only some of the forbidden creeping things are named here. Verses 41-43 widen this to include creeping things of every kind. These picture people of a repulsive, earthbound character.
That God gave a rule about reptiles at all says something about Him, and about whom Israel belonged to.
How wonderful to think of the grace of Jehovah, stooping so low! He could stoop to give directions about a crawling reptile. He would not leave His people at a loss as to the smallest matter… They were not their own, so they were not to do as they pleased. They belonged to Jehovah. They bore His name. They were identified with Him. His word was to be their governing standard in every case… Other nations might eat what they pleased. Israel had the high privilege of eating only what pleased Jehovah.
The creature's problem is where it lives — pressed to the ground and never above it.
Everything that creeps on the earth was unclean: the earth is under the curse because of sin, and there must be a moral rising above it.
Notice too how such a creature moves: quietly and low.
Creeping things move quietly, steadily, and with apparent humility; but for the most part they burrow in the earth and know nothing higher. Jude traces the start of the great falling away back to certain men who crept in unnoticed. Because God's people were not watching, these men quietly and steadily pursued their purpose, and found a way into the assembly of God's people.
The chapter is not a health code. It sorts food by a different test.
Spiritually, our food declares our character, and it also forms it. Anyone who eats Christ will not only live by Him; his life will be made like Christ's in practice. So the food God allows here to His people pictures the spiritual life of His people… Still, health is never brought forward. The law deals not with what is wholesome or unwholesome, but with what is clean or unclean.
The rule forbids; it does not change the appetite behind the disobedience.
Sin has corrupted man, and he is easily drawn to feed on what is disgusting. Jehovah takes note of the lowliest creatures, the things that crawl on the earth, and forbids them as food for His people… Nature has no power against the fall or its effects. The law has no power either, except to forbid, and to condemn when it is broken… But the law gave power no more than it gave life. Both are given only in Christ, received by faith.
These rules bound Israel only. Gentiles — the nations outside Israel — never lived under them, and a vision to Peter showed why.
These laws were never put upon Gentiles, but only on Israel. Some were forbidden only because of a spiritual meaning, not because there was any evil in the creature itself. Acts 10:9-15 and Acts 10:28 show this clearly. In a vision the Lord told Peter to eat all kinds of animals. Peter objected, but the Lord insisted. Then he realized that the unclean animals stood for people — that is, Gentiles. Before the cross, Israel stayed strictly separate from Gentiles, because they counted Gentiles unclean. But the sacrifice of Christ cleanses all who trust Him as Savior, whether Jews or Gentiles. So God has removed the barrier between clean and unclean animals, so that "everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving" (1 Tim. 4:4).
- Ground. One thing marks the forbidden creature: its level. It crawls on an earth under the curse, and God's people were to rise morally above it.
- Stooping. God stooped to the ground to give a rule about a reptile, so His people never had to guess. His word, not their own reasoning, was the standard.
- Diet. What we feed on both shows and shapes what we are; the law here asks what is clean, never what is healthy.
- Quiet. Crawling things move quietly and look humble. Jude uses that same picture of men who crept in unnoticed while God's people were not watching.
- Lift. The command could only forbid and condemn. Life and power to live above the ground come through Christ, received by faith. In Him the food rule itself is lifted.