Leviticus 11:8

Summary

The verse prohibits eating the meat and touching the carcass of certain animals (previously specified in context), declaring them ritually impure for those addressed. The prohibition is expressed through two parallel negative commands followed by a declarative statement of status.

Key words

• besaram ("their meat", H1320) — masculine singular construct noun with pronominal suffix, forming the phrase "meat of them," marked by the preposition mi ("from/any of", H9006) indicating partitive exclusion.
• tokhelu ("you must eat", H0398) — qal imperfect, second person masculine plural, expressing an ongoing or future prohibition when combined with the negation lo' ("not", H3808).
• nivlatam ("their carcass", H5038) — feminine singular construct noun with pronominal suffix, parallel in structure to besaram, paired with the preposition ve ("in", H9003).
• tigga'u ("you will touch", H5060) — qal imperfect, second person masculine plural, mirroring tokhelu in form and function within the second prohibition.
• teme'im ("[are] unclean", H2931) — masculine plural adjective, agreeing with hem ("they", H1992), forming the predicate that classifies the animals' status.

What the text says

The verse divides into two structurally parallel prohibitions followed by a summary clause. Each prohibition places the object first (mibbesaram / uvenivlatam) before the negation lo' and the verb (tokhelu / tigga'u), a word order that in Biblical Hebrew often emphasizes the object — here, the meat and the carcass — as the focus of the restriction rather than the act itself. Both verbs are qal imperfect, second person masculine plural, indicating commands directed at a group and carrying a durative or habitual sense rather than a single instance.

The final clause, teme'im hem lakhem ("unclean they [are] to you"), uses the adjective teme'im ("unclean", H2931) with the pronoun hem ("they", H1992) as its grammatical subject, followed by lakhem ("to you", combining H9005 and H9036). This construction states the classification as a status attributed relationally — the impurity is framed as applying "to you," using a preposition rather than a simple verb "to be," which the Hebrew often omits in nominal clauses.

Differences between versions

The Vulgate renders the second prohibition with cadavera contingetis ("you will touch carcasses"), using a bare accusative rather than reflecting the construct relationship nivlatam ("their carcass") as closely as the Hebrew's possessive suffix does. The LXX's ἀκάθαρτα ταῦτα ὑμῖν ("these [are] unclean to you") uses the demonstrative ταῦτα ("these") where the Hebrew has the personal pronoun hem ("they", H1992), a minor shift in how the subject of the final clause is referenced.