Leviticus 11 Overview
Leviticus 11 distinguishes clean and unclean animals for Israel. Land animals, water creatures, birds, flying creeping things, and creatures that move upon the earth are classified according to stated characteristics or lists. Contact with carcasses can also produce uncleanness. The chapter closes by tying these distinctions to God’s holiness: Israel is to sanctify themselves and be holy because the LORD is holy.
Before you read Leviticus 11
Coming from
Leviticus 10 emphasized the priestly duty to distinguish between holy and unholy and between clean and unclean.
In this chapter
The chapter gives Israel dietary and carcass-contact distinctions between clean and unclean animals.
Leads into
Leviticus 12 applies clean-and-unclean categories to childbirth and the mother’s period of purification.
Key understanding
Leviticus 11 distinguishes clean and unclean animals for Israel. Land animals, water creatures, birds, flying creeping things, and creatures that move upon the earth are classified according to stated characteristics or lists. Contact with carcasses can also produce uncleanness. The chapter closes by tying these distinctions to God’s holiness: Israel is to sanctify themselves and be holy because the LORD is holy.
Major truths in this chapterExplore deeper
Truth 1
Clean and unclean distinctions are given by God as part of Israel’s covenant life.
Truth 2
Different classes of animals are evaluated by specific criteria or explicit identification.
Truth 3
Uncleanness can result from touching or carrying certain carcasses even when the animal itself is not eaten.
Truth 4
Holiness includes ordinary bodily and dietary life under the Mosaic covenant.
Truth 5
The chapter grounds Israel’s separateness in the character of the LORD who brought them out of Egypt.
Connections to the rest of ScriptureExplore deeper
Connection 1
Genesis 7 already distinguished clean and unclean animals before Sinai, though Leviticus gives Israel detailed covenant regulations.
Connection 2
Deuteronomy 14 repeats many of these dietary laws.
Connection 3
Mark 7 and Acts 10–11 are essential New Testament passages when considering food distinctions for Christians.
Connection 4
1 Peter 1:15–16 quotes the call “Be ye holy; for I am holy” in Christian exhortation while not reimposing Israel’s food laws.
What is clear, and where care is neededExplore deeper
Keep this clear 1
Clean and unclean are covenant categories and do not simply mean healthy and unhealthy.
Keep this clear 2
Calling an animal unclean does not mean God created it evil.
Keep this clear 3
Christians should not reimpose Israel’s dietary law as a condition of salvation or spiritual standing.
Keep this clear 4
Holiness remains a Christian calling, but the covenant form of that holiness must be interpreted through the New Testament.
Read Leviticus 11 watching for…
The categories of land, sea, air, and creeping creatures.
Physical marks used to distinguish clean animals.
Contact with carcasses.
Repeated language of abomination and uncleanness.
The closing reason: “I am holy.”