Leviticus 11

## Summary Leviticus 11 records Yahweh's instruction to Moses and Aaron establishing which land animals, water creatures, birds, and swarming things the Israelites may or may not eat. The chapter closes by naming the purpose of these distinctions: separating the *tame* ("unclean", H2931) from the *tahor* ("pure", H2889), and grounding the whole classification in Yahweh's own holiness. ## Key words - *tame'* ("unclean", H2931) — adjective repeated throughout as a predicate ("it is unclean to you"), marking ritual status rather than physical dirt. - *sheqetz* ("detestable thing", H8263) — noun used for creatures stronger than mere impurity; things called *sheqetz* may not be eaten at all, distinct from carcass-contact impurity. - *maf.reset parsah* ("dividing hoof", H6536 + H6541) — hiphil participle + noun construct, the recurring diagnostic phrase for split-hoofed animals. - *ma'aleh gerah* ("bringing up cud", H5927M + H1625) — hiphil participle construct describing rumination as the second diagnostic criterion. - *tit.tamme'u* ("you will make yourselves unclean", H2930A) — hithpael imperfect, reflexive form showing the people's own action of becoming impure through contact, not an externally imposed state alone. ## What the text says The chapter's grammar builds its classifications through participles functioning as technical descriptors: *maf.reset* ("dividing", H6536) and *sho.sa'at* ("cleaving", H8156) for hooves, *ma'alat gerah* ("bringing up cud", H5927M/H1625) for rumination. These participial constructions (v.3) create a durative, defining sense — not "it divided" but "it is a divider" — establishing permanent categories rather than one-time observations. The repeated formula *tame' hu' lakhem* ("unclean is it to you", H2931/H1931/H9036) uses the second-person plural suffix *lakhem* consistently, framing uncleanness as relational to Israel specifically rather than an absolute property of the animal. The text distinguishes two verbs for impurity: *tame'* (qal, simple state, H2930A) describing what happens to a person or object through contact, and *shaqetz* (piel/hithpael, intensive/reflexive, H8262/H8263) describing detestation applied to certain creatures categorically forbidden as food. The hithpael form *tittamme'u* (v.43) shifts responsibility onto the addressee — "you will make yourselves unclean" — rather than passive contamination. The chapter's final verses (44-45) shift from casuistic list format to motive clause, using *ki* ("for", H3588A) twice to ground the dietary rules in Yahweh's self-identification (*ani Yahweh*, H0589/H3068G) and his bringing Israel from *Eretz Mitzrayim* ("land of Egypt", H0776G/H4714G). ## Differences between versions The LXX and Vulgate diverge from the Hebrew primarily in the identification of specific animal and bird names, where exact species are uncertain: the Hebrew *shafan* (H8227A, "rock badger") is rendered δασύπους ("hairy-foot/hare") in the LXX and *chœrogryllus* in the Vulgate; the Hebrew *tinshemet* (H8580) appears twice (vv.18, 30) with different LXX renderings (πορφυρίων/πελεκάν in v.18 versus ἀσπάλαξ in v.30) despite the same Hebrew word, and the Vulgate likewise varies (*porphyrionem* vs. *talpa*). In verse 20, the Hebrew *sheretz ha'of hahole kh 'al arba'* ("swarming thing of the wing walking on four", H8318/H5775/H1980G) is rendered by LXX and Vulgate as "reptiles/things that walk on four feet," a phrase understood by both versions as flying insects, though the Hebrew word *sheretz* itself carries broader "swarming" sense not tied only to insects elsewhere in the chapter.