Commentary - Leviticus 11:1-8

Bird's-eye view

In this chapter, the Lord lays out for Israel the foundational principles of what we commonly call the dietary laws. But we must not think of this as God being a celestial health inspector, concerned primarily with trichinosis. This is not about hygiene; it is about holiness. These laws are a central part of what the New Testament calls the ceremonial law, which functioned as a massive, acted-out object lesson for Israel. God was teaching His people, through their very mouths and stomachs, the fundamental distinction between clean and unclean, holy and common. This was a pedagogical tool, a schoolmaster, designed to train them in the grammar of discernment. The world is not a morally neutral place, and these laws engraved that reality onto their daily lives. Every meal was a reminder that they were a people set apart, called out from the nations to be holy as God is holy. The principles here are symbolic, pointing forward to the true separation from sin that would be accomplished in Christ, who would ultimately declare all foods clean, not by abolishing the principle of holiness, but by fulfilling it perfectly.

The specific rules for land animals, the split hoof and the chewing of the cud, are not arbitrary. They are symbolic representations of a righteous walk and a meditative heart. The animals that were declared clean were those that embodied both of these characteristics. The unclean animals were those that had one but not the other, or neither. This was a constant, tangible sermon on the necessity of both right living and right thinking, both outward obedience and inward digestion of God's truth. The pig, which became the very emblem of uncleanness, was rejected not because it was inherently more wicked than a cow, but because it presented a picture of spiritual hypocrisy, having the outward sign of a split hoof but lacking the inward reality of chewing the cud. This entire system was designed to cultivate a deep-seated instinct for holiness in God's people, preparing them for the day when the substance would arrive and the shadows would flee away.

Outline

Context In Leviticus

Leviticus 11 comes right after the narrative of Nadab and Abihu's judgment for offering strange fire in chapter 10. The connection is crucial. The priests failed to distinguish between the holy and the common, and the result was death. God's response is not just a rebuke, but a detailed set of instructions on how to make these distinctions in the most basic area of life: food. This chapter is the beginning of a large section (chapters 11-15) dealing with various forms of cleanness and uncleanness. It is not an isolated dietary code. It is part of the grammar of holiness that God is teaching His covenant people. Having established the sacrificial system for dealing with sin (chapters 1-7) and consecrated the priesthood to administer it (chapters 8-9), God now lays out the practical, daily-life implications of dwelling in the presence of a holy God. Holiness is not just for the tabernacle; it must permeate the kitchen, the bedroom, and the marketplace. These laws are the application of the central command of the book: "You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy" (Lev. 19:2).

Key Issues

The Grammar of Creation

Before we dive into the specifics, we need to get our bearings. Why these animals and not others? Many have tried to explain these laws on the basis of naturalistic reasons, health, or hygiene. While some of the unclean animals may have been more prone to disease, this is not the central reason. The Israelites were permitted to eat locusts, but not pigs. The key is found in understanding that God was teaching His people through a symbolic theology rooted in the created order. The world God made has a certain grain to it, a structure, a grammar. The animals declared clean were generally those that fit neatly into the established patterns of creation. Land animals that were clean had both a split hoof and chewed the cud. Fish that were clean had both fins and scales. Anything that blurred these categories, that was an anomaly, was generally declared unclean.

This was a way of teaching Israel to love order and to be wary of confusion and mixture. The pagan nations all around them were characterized by their worship of chaos and their blurring of all distinctions, especially sexual ones. God, through these dietary laws, was building a worldview into His people. He was teaching them to make distinctions, to evaluate, to approve what is excellent and to reject what is defiled. This was a training ground for moral and spiritual discernment. Every time an Israelite went to the market, he had to think theologically. This entire system was a magnificent audiovisual aid, designed by God to prepare the world for the coming of Christ, the one who perfectly distinguished between good and evil, and who makes us clean, not through diet, but through His blood.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1-2 Yahweh spoke again to Moses and to Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘These are the creatures which you may eat from all the animals that are on the earth.

The instruction begins with its source. This is not a suggestion from a public health committee; it is a direct command from Yahweh, the covenant Lord. He speaks to both Moses, the civil head, and Aaron, the priestly head, because these laws touch every aspect of Israel's life, both civil and ceremonial. The command is for all the "sons of Israel." This is a matter of national identity. What you eat defines who you are. The surrounding nations ate whatever they wanted, but Israel was to be different. Their diet was to be a declaration of their allegiance. God asserts His total authority over creation, "from all the animals that are on the earth," and claims the right to dictate which of them are permissible for His people. This is a foundational lesson in the lordship of God over all of life, down to the dinner plate.

3 Whatever divides a hoof, thus making split hoofs, and chews the cud, among the animals, that you may eat.

Here is the positive rule for land animals. Two characteristics are required for an animal to be considered clean. First, it must have a divided or cloven hoof. This speaks of the outward walk. A divided hoof provides a firm footing and represents a path that is discerning, that separates, that walks carefully in the way of righteousness. Second, it must chew the cud. This is an internal characteristic. Ruminants have a complex digestive system that involves regurgitating their food and chewing it again. This is a powerful picture of meditation on God's Word. It is not enough to simply swallow the truth; we must bring it back up, ponder it, and extract all the nourishment from it. A clean life, therefore, is one that combines a discerning outward walk with a deep, meditative, inward life. Both are required. An Israelite could look at a cow or a sheep and see a living sermon on the nature of true piety.

4 Nevertheless, you shall not eat of these, among those which chew the cud or among those which divide the hoof: the camel, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you.

Now we come to the exceptions, which powerfully reinforce the rule. The camel chews the cud, which is a positive trait. It represents a meditative nature. But its feet are padded; it does not have a truly divided hoof. It has the appearance of inwardness, but it lacks a firm, discerning walk. This is a picture of a certain kind of false spirituality, one that is full of contemplation but does not translate into a sharp, obedient walk in the real world. It is a mystical piety that floats above the hard ethical demands of God's law. Because it is an incomplete piety, it is declared unclean. God demands both the heart and the feet.

5-6 likewise, the shaphan, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you; the rabbit also, for though it chews cud, it does not divide the hoof; it is unclean to you;

The shaphan (or rock badger) and the rabbit are placed in the same category as the camel. Ancient observers saw their jaw movements and classified them as cud-chewers. Whether this fits modern zoological categories is beside the point; this is what was observed in their world. Like the camel, they have the appearance of rumination, of taking in and pondering. But they too lack the divided hoof. Their walk is not ordered according to God's standard. This reinforces the lesson: a life of contemplation that does not result in a holy walk is unclean. It is a form of godliness that denies its power. It is not enough to have a quiet time if that quiet time does not reform your business practices and your family life.

7 and the pig, for though it divides the hoof, thus making a split hoof, it does not chew cud; it is unclean to you.

The pig is the quintessential unclean animal, the arch-abomination. And here we see why. The pig has the opposite problem of the camel. It has the outward sign of conformity; it "divides the hoof." Its walk appears to be correct. But it does not chew the cud. There is no inward meditation, no digestion of the truth. The pig will eat anything; it is utterly undiscerning in its appetite. This is a perfect symbol of religious hypocrisy. It is the man who has all the outward forms of religion down pat. He goes to church, carries his Bible, and can talk the talk. He has the split hoof. But inwardly, his heart is far from God. He does not meditate on God's law day and night. His heart is full of garbage. This combination of outward conformity and inward corruption is particularly detestable to God, and so the pig is declared unclean.

8 You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

The prohibition is twofold. First, they are not to eat the flesh of these animals. This is the primary point. Their very diet is to be a confession of faith. Second, they are not even to touch their dead bodies. Contact with the carcass of an unclean animal rendered an Israelite ceremonially unclean. This drove the point home with great force. The separation was to be absolute. This was not just about ingestion, but about association. It taught them that defilement is contagious. You cannot dabble in the world's ways without becoming stained by them. The final phrase, "they are unclean to you," is crucial. The uncleanness is not metaphysical; it is covenantal. God is defining for His people what is to be considered defiling for them. This sets the stage for the New Covenant, where Christ, by His cleansing work, makes it possible for us to move in the world without being defiled by it, engaging it with the gospel precisely because we have been made truly clean on the inside.

Application

So what does a twenty-first-century Christian do with a passage about not eating bacon? First, we recognize with thanksgiving that in Christ, the ceremonial law has been fulfilled. Peter's vision in Acts 10, and Paul's teaching in Romans 14, make it abundantly clear that the dietary restrictions of the Old Covenant are no longer binding on believers. Jesus has declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19). To go back to observing these laws would be to retreat into the shadows now that the substance has come. We are free to eat pork, shrimp, and rabbit.

But this does not mean the passage has nothing to say to us. The underlying principles are permanent. God still demands that His people be holy and discerning. He still requires both a holy walk and a meditative heart. The symbols have been fulfilled, but the reality they pointed to is now our responsibility in Christ. Do you chew the cud? Do you meditate on the Word of God, digesting it, making it part of who you are? Or do you just swallow it whole once a week and forget about it? And do you have a divided hoof? Does your meditation on the Word translate into a careful, discerning, obedient walk in the world? Are you making sharp distinctions between righteousness and unrighteousness, or are your ethical edges blurred and padded like a camel's foot?

And most pointedly, are you a pig? Do you have the outward appearance of a Christian walk, but an inward life that is a stranger to true spiritual rumination? Do you consume the garbage of the world all week and then trot off to church on Sunday with your split-hoof piety? These laws were given to drive us to Christ. We are all, by nature, unclean. We all have a walk that is unsteady and a heart that is full of filth. We need Christ to give us a new heart, one that delights in His law, and we need His Spirit to empower us to walk in a manner worthy of the gospel. The goal is not just to avoid certain animals, but to be the kind of person who, having been made clean by the blood of the Lamb, instinctively recoils from the spiritual uncleanness of the world.