Leviticus 11:35

Summary

Leviticus 11:35 states that anything upon which part of the carcass of the unclean creatures (referenced from the preceding verses) falls becomes unclean. It specifies that an oven or stove affected this way must be torn down, and it doubles the declaration of impurity for such objects.

Key words

• yiPol ("it will fall", H5307G) — qal imperfect, marking a future/conditional event within the relative clause introduced by 'a.Sher ("that", H0834A).
• nivlaTam ("their carcass", H5038) — feminine singular noun in construct form with the pronominal suffix -am ("their"), linking the falling substance to the dead creatures discussed earlier in the chapter.
• yitMa' ("it will be unclean", H2930A) — qal imperfect, describing the object's transition into a state of impurity as a direct consequence of contact.
• yutTatz ("it will be broken up", H5422) — hophal (causative passive) imperfect, distinct in stem from yitMa': this form indicates that an external action must be performed on the object (dismantling it), not merely that a state occurs on its own.
• teme'Im ("unclean", H2931) — masculine plural adjective, used twice in the verse (lines 15 and 18) to declare the status of the named objects.

What the text says

The verse opens with a conditional relative construction: khol 'asher yiPol ("all that falls") governs the entire first clause, with the qal imperfect yiPol setting up a hypothetical or recurring scenario. The source of contamination is specified by mi-nivlaTam ("from their carcass") plus alayw ("upon it"), and the qal imperfect yitMa' states the resulting condition of impurity.

The second half shifts to specific vessels: tanNur ("oven", H8574H) and khiRayim ("stove", H3600 — a dual-form noun, suggesting a two-part or paired structure). These take the hophal verb yutTatz, a causative passive distinct grammatically from the simple qal yitMa' used earlier — it does not merely describe the vessels becoming unclean but requires that they be actively torn down.

The verse closes with two parallel declarations using the adjective teme'Im ("unclean"): first a bare nominal clause, teme'Im hem ("unclean they [are]"), then a second clause with the qal imperfect yihyu ("they will be") plus lakhem ("to you"), extending the declaration into an ongoing status for the addressees.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate compresses the Hebrew's two closing declarations (teme'Im hem / u-teme'Im yihyu lakhem) into a single clause, "et immundi erunt," where the Hebrew's repetition with distinct verb forms (nominal clause followed by yihyu lakhem) is not preserved. The LXX retains two parallel clauses, "ἀκάθαρτα ταῦτά ἐστιν, καὶ ἀκάθαρτα ταῦτα ὑμῖν ἔσονται," corresponding more closely to the Hebrew's double structure.