Leviticus 11:27

Summary

The verse specifies that among four-footed animals, those that walk on kappayim ("paws", H3709H) are unclean. It also states that anyone touching the carcass of such a creature becomes unclean until evening.

Key words

• ho.Lekh ("[one which] walks", H1980I) — masculine singular qal participle, describing an ongoing characteristic action (habitual walking), not a single event.
• kappav — construct form of kappayim (H3709H), feminine dual, meaning "its two paws." The dual form specifically marks a pair of paws, distinct from generic "feet."
• chai.Yah ("living creature", H2416C) — feminine singular noun with definite article, functioning as the general category ("every living creature") within which the paw-walking subgroup is singled out.
• teme.'Im ("[are] unclean", H2931) — masculine plural adjective, agreeing with hem ("they", H1992), forming the predicate "unclean [are] they."
• yit.Ma' ("he will be unclean", H2930A) — qal imperfect, denoting an action/state that comes into effect (future/ongoing), used for the person who touches the carcass.

What the text says

The Hebrew sentence is built in two parts. The first part identifies a subset: kol ho.Lekh al-kap.Pav ("any that walks on its paws"), placed be.khol ha.chai.Yah ha.ho.Le.khet al-'ar.Ba' ("among every living creature that walks on four [feet]"). The construct use of kappav (dual of kappayim, H3709H) marks a specific mode of locomotion — walking on a pair of paws — as opposed to the general four-footed category ('ar.Ba', H0702) named just before it. This creates a distinction within the class of four-footed creatures: not all four-footed animals are being declared unclean, only those whose four-footedness includes walking specifically on paws.

The predicate te.me.'Im hem la.Khem ("unclean [are] they to you") uses the plural adjective te.me.'Im (H2931) agreeing with the plural pronoun hem (H1992), and the prepositional phrase la.Khem ("to you", second person plural) frames the uncleanness as relative to the addressed group, not stated as an absolute property. The second clause shifts to a new participial subject, kol ha.no.Ge.a' ("everyone who touches", H5060), and uses the qal imperfect yit.Ma' (H2930A) to describe the resulting state, bounded temporally by 'ad-ha.'A.rev ("until the evening", H6153) — indicating a set duration rather than a permanent condition.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders kappav ("its paws") as χειρῶν ("hands"), where the Hebrew specifically uses the dual form of "paws" (H3709H). The Vulgate uses "manus" ("hands") similarly, differing from the Hebrew's more concrete anatomical term for paws. The Hebrew also structures the passage as identifying a subgroup within a broader category ("among every living creature that walks on four"), while the LXX and Vulgate render this relationship somewhat more loosely as a general description of four-footed animals walking on hands/paws.