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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Leviticus 11:13 - 11:28
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Of Animals of the Air
v. 13. And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the osprey, three varieties of eagles, the latter two being more exactly identified as the sea eagle and the black eagle, respectively,
v. 14. and the vulture, a ravenous bird which may have been similar to a hawk or falcon, and the kite after his kind, the class of hawks which includes the chicken-hawk,
v. 15. every raven after his kind, all the birds that belong to this family, including crows and blackbirds of every description,
v. 16. and the owl, literally, "the daughter of the desert," the ostrich, and the night-hawk, very likely the desert owl, and the cuckoo, either the desert hawk or the seagull, and the hawk after his kind, the entire family of falcons,
v. 17. and the little owl, often found in ruins, and the cormorant, or a kind of pelican found in Syria, and the great owl, also a frequenter of ruins in the desert,
v. 18. and the swan, probably an owl with a dismal cry, and the pelican, and the gier-eagle, or carrion vulture,
v. 19. and the stork, the heron after her kind, the entire tribe of swamp birds, and the lapwing, and the bat, which was at that time commonly enumerated with the birds.
v. 20. All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you. As those that had been mentioned until now were chiefly such as lived on filth and carrion, they were unclean. They are here classed with the vermin of the earth, with the smaller animals equipped with wings for flight.
v. 21. Yet these may ye eat of every flying, creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth, whose strong hind legs are built for jumping;
v. 22. even these of them ye may eat: the locust after his kind, the migratory variety, and the bald locust after his kind, an exceptionally voracious variety, and the beetle after his kind, a very large, hopping variety of grasshopper, and the grasshopper after his kind, a variety with only rudimentary wings. The insects here named were very commonly used as food by the poorer classes of the Orient, either roasted or broiled in butter and eaten with spices and vinegar. Locusts are mentioned as the food of John the Baptist, Mat_3:4.
v. 23. But all other flying, creeping things which have four feet, that walk, not in an upright, but in a horizontal position, "on all fours," shall be an abomination unto you.
v. 24. And For these ye shall be unclean; whosoever toucheth the carcass of them shall be unclean until the even; contact with their dead bodies should be avoided under penalty of being declared unclean for the day.
v. 25. And whosoever Beareth aught of the carcass of them, even in removing it from his land, shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the even.
v. 26. The carcasses of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not cloven-footed nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you; every one that toucheth them shall be unclean.
v. 27. And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, or, the bare soles of whose feet touch the ground, as in most beasts of prey, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you; whoso toucheth their carcass shall be unclean until the even.
v. 28. And he that beareth the carcass of them shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the even, being contaminated in even a higher degree than the one that merely touched the carcass; they are unclean unto you.