Do Christians have any forbidden foods? You may already know this, but the quick answer is no, so how can we understand Leviticus 11 of the Bible? Today we are going to show it to you with an article entirely dedicated to this chapter.
Leviticus 11 kjv
In many religions you can find sacred texts that designate which diet believers should follow, placing prohibitions on certain animals and plants.
The main reason for these rules is to maintain the purity of people in the presence of God, in order to be worthy of his magnificence. In the Bible we also find these restrictions, although in the New Testament they are removed.
What is the reason for this apparent contradiction? How can we Christians be pure in the eyes of God? We will answer these questions in this article of Your Online Bible dedicated to Leviticus 11 of the Bible and, more deeply, to the concept of spiritual purity.
To do this, you will go through all the contents related to this passage of the Bible, passing through historical facts and others that are more spiritual and reflective.
For this reason, we leave you here Leviticus 11 complete video We have created this book so that you can feel the power of the Holy Scriptures and get in touch with this precious text in the best possible way. Relax, enjoy, and take the time to pray for as long as you need.
Leviticus 11 complete
To complete your knowledge of the text you can now read it in its written version, being this one in particular Leviticus 11 NKJV1960the most faithful translation of the Bible to date. Look at the details you don’t understand and then we will try to solve your doubts in our Bible commentary!
Clean and unclean animals
1 The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them:
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, These are the beasts which ye shall eat of all the beasts that are upon the earth.
3 Of the beasts, every one that hath cloven hoofs and cheweth the cud, that shall ye eat.
4 But of those that chew the cud or have cloven hoofs, these shall ye not eat: the camel, because he cheweth the cud but hath no cloven hoof, shall be unclean unto you.
5 A rabbit also, because it chews its cud, but has no hoof, you will regard it as unclean.
6 Likewise the hare, because he chews his cud but has no hoof, you will regard him as unclean.
7 The swine also, because he hath hoofs, and is cloven-footed, and cheweth not the cud, ye shall count him unclean.
8 Of their flesh shall ye not eat, neither shall ye touch their carcass; they are unclean unto you.
9 These shall ye eat of all the beasts that dwell in the waters: all that have fins and scales in the waters of the sea, and in the rivers, these shall ye eat.
10 But all that are without fins and scales in the sea and in the rivers, both of every moving thing, and of every living thing that is in the waters, ye shall have them in abomination.
11 Therefore they shall be an abomination unto you; ye shall not eat of their flesh, but ye shall abhor their carcasses.
12 Whatsoever hath not fins and scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.
13 And of the birds, these shall be an abomination to you; they shall not be eaten, they shall be an abomination: the eagle, the lammergeier, the goshawk,
14 the gallinule, the kite according to its species;
15 every crow according to its species;
16 ostrich, owl, gull, sparrow hawk according to their species;
17 owl, grebe, ibis,
18 the squid, the pelican, the vulture,
19 the stork, the heron according to its species, the hoopoe and the bat.
20 Every winged creeping thing that creepeth upon all fours shall be an abomination unto you.
21 But this shall ye eat of every winged creeping thing that goeth upon four legs, which hath legs beside his legs, to leap upon the earth withal;
22 these shall ye eat of them: the locust after his kind, the locust after his kind, the argol after his kind, and the hagab after his kind.
23 Every winged insect that has four legs shall be an abomination to you.
24 And by these things ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth their dead bodies shall be unclean until the even,
25 And whosoever shall take any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.
26 Every beast that hath a hoof, but is not cloven-footed, nor cheweth the cud, shall be unclean unto you; and whosoever toucheth them shall be unclean.
27 And of all beasts that walk upon all fours, every one that walketh upon his paws shall be unclean unto you: and every one that toucheth the carcass of them shall be unclean until the even.
28 And he that carrieth their carcasses shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they shall be unclean unto you.
29 And you shall regard as unclean these beasts that move upon the earth: the weasel, the mouse, the frog after their kind,
30 hedgehog, crocodile, lizard, lizard and chameleon.
31 These shall be unclean to you from among the moving animals, and whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.
32 And whatsoever any of theirs shall fall upon after they are dead shall be unclean; whether it be wood, or raiment, or skin, or sackcloth, or any tool wherewith they work, it shall be dipped in water, and shall be unclean until the even; then it shall be clean.
33 Every earthen vessel into which one of them falls shall be unclean, and all that is in it, and you shall break the vessel.
34 All food that is eaten, on which the water of such vessels is poured, shall be unclean; and all drink that is in such vessels shall be unclean.
35 Whatsoever part of their carcass falls upon shall be unclean; the oven or the stove shall be overthrown; they are unclean, and you shall regard them as unclean.
36 But the fountain and the cistern where the water is collected shall be clean; but that which touches the dead bodies shall be unclean.
37 And if any of the carcasses fall upon any seed that is to be sown, it shall be cleansed.
38 But if water be put upon the seed, and any of the carcasses fall upon it, ye shall consider it unclean.
39 And if any beast which ye have for meat die, he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even.
40 And he that eateth of the carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and he that eateth of the carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even.
41 And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth is an abomination; it shall not be eaten.
42 Every thing that creepeth upon the breast, and every thing that creepeth upon four legs or more, of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, ye shall not eat thereof: for it is an abomination.
43 Do not make your persons abominable with any creeping things, nor defile yourselves with them, nor be unclean by them.
44 For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, because I am holy: so defile not your persons with any creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
45 For I am the LORD, which bring you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God: ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
46 This is the law concerning the beasts, and the birds, and every living thing that moveth in the waters, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth,
47 to differentiate between the unclean and the clean, and between animals that can be eaten and animals that cannot be eaten.
Meaning and commentary of Leviticus 11
- Bible Commentary Leviticus 11
The text in its literal sense is clear and does not need much explanation: there are certain animals that should not be eaten or touch once they are dead, since they would contaminate our person.
This is especially clear in the case of the swine, verse Leviticus 11:7 As it is well known nowadays, the inadequate consumption of its meat can cause serious parasitic diseases, untreatable with the medicinal methods of that time.
On the other hand, the fish of the rivers and seas are considered pure, as you can see in Leviticus 11:9 The water was not very polluted at the time. Scientists have shown on numerous occasions that a diet rich in fish is very beneficial to health, so the knowledge of the ancient Jewish people went far beyond that of other civilizations.
At Leviticus 11:17 and Leviticus 11:19 we see the clear prohibition of eating exotic flying animals such as storks, owls or bats. The consumption of the latter in some parts of the world has had a lot of repercussion in recent times, being the possible origin of the coronavirus pandemic.
Thus, the Jews had a high level of knowledge, thanks to God’s help, about which animals could be eaten and which could not; avoiding numerous epidemics that did affect other peoples in the rest of the world.
Reflection on Leviticus 11
However, beyond this literal interpretation of the text, there is a much more important message about the sanctification of people.
In the New Testament we find the verse Mark 7:15 in which Jesus himself withdraws these prohibitions, remarking that it is we people who, with our sin, contaminate God’s perfect creation:
“There is nothing outside a man that enters into him, that can defile him; but that which comes out of him, that is what defiles a man.” (Mark 7:15)
So, the problem goes beyond diet: purification must be something more internal, something spiritual. For this, the Lord sent his son Jesus who bore all our sins on the cross and gave us the way to save ourselves.
Confession, forgiveness and prayer are the ways to sanctify ourselves and be worthy of God’s love. Apart from earthly human needs, Christians should nourish themselves with the Word of God and fulfill what is stated in one of the most relevant verses of this chapter, Leviticus 11:44:
“For I am Jehovah your God; ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy; so defile not your persons with any creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
Finally, then, we see that there is no contradiction between the Gospels and Leviticus, since we Christians must seek to sanctify ourselves by nourishing ourselves with heavenly things such as the Word of God and not allowing ourselves to be contaminated by the sin that dwells in the world.
Context of Leviticus 13
It is difficult to understand the chapters of Leviticus without first knowing the context of the book and to whom it is addressed, given that these are texts of great antiquity that hardly fit with our conception of life today.
Leviticus is one of the five books traditionally attributed to Moses, being the third of them, corresponding to a moment of maturity of his life in which the people of Israel had already settled in their land.
With Leviticus, the Lord intended to give the faithful of the time instructions on sacrifice, priesthood and purity so that they would be worthy to receive him in their hearts.
Thanks to this, sanitary behaviors were also established in the society of the time that prevented many infectious diseases such as leprosy and others of a more internal nature caused by contaminated food.
Thus, Leviticus is a text very much characterized by its context, given that its literal interpretation was useful only at the time of its writing and the years that followed, although today it remains a book of reference for many Jews.
However, its interpretation can go beyond that and touch on important issues for us Christians as well, such as purity and the rituals necessary to love the Lord.
After this reflection made from our point of view, we can only recommend you to have a balanced diet, adapted according to your country and your ideals and always be grateful to the Lord for giving us a plate to eat.
After this brief commentary, we say goodbye, thanking you for your support and wishing you a good time in the company of God learning the wonders of our religion.
See you next time!