Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 11:41
And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth [shall be] an abomination; it shall not be eaten.
41. creeping thing that creepeth ] swarming thing that swarmeth, and so in Lev 11:42-44 except the last part of Lev 11:44 ‘that moveth ( creepeth A.V.) upon the earth.’
43 45 may be an excerpt from H (see Introd. p. xix, The Law of Purification). In fact, Horst and Kuenen (and Dillm. partially) would include in H a large part of this ch.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
41 44. This would come appropriately as a conclusion to the rules about eating, after Lev 11:23. Cp. Eze 8:10 f.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Except those before expressly excepted above Lev 11:21,22
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth,…. Nothing is called a creeping thing, as Jarchi says, but what is low, has short feet, and is not seen unless it creeps and moves: and “every creeping thing” comprehends, as Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom observe, the eight creeping things before mentioned, Le 11:29 and mention is made of them here, that they might not be eaten, which is not expressed before; and being described as creeping things “on the earth”, is, according to Jarchi, an exception of worms in pease, beans, and lentiles; and, as others observe, in figs and dates, and other fruit; for they do not creep upon the earth, but are within the food; but if they go out into the air, and creep, they are forbidden:
[shall be] an abomination; detested and abhorred as food:
it shall not be eaten; it shall not be lawful to eat such a creature. This, as Jarchi, is binding upon him that causes another to eat, as well as he that eats, the one is guilty as the other. And indeed such are not fit to eat, and cannot be wholesome and nourishing; for, as a learned physician observes y, insects consist of particles exceeding small, volatile, unfit for nourishment, most of them live on unclean food, and delight in dung, and in the putrid flesh of other animals, and by laying their little eggs or excrements, corrupt honey, syrups, c. see Ec 10:1 and yet some sorts of them are eaten by some people. Sir Hans Sloane, after having spoken of serpents, rats, and lizards, sold for food to his great surprise at Jamaica, adds z, but what of all things most unusual, and to my great admiration, was the great esteem set on a sort of “cossi” or timber worms, called cotton tree worms by the negroes and the Indians, the one the original inhabitants of Africa, and the other of America these, he says a, are sought after by them, and boiled in their soups, pottages, olios, pepper pots, and are accounted of admirable taste, like to, but much beyond marrow; yea, he observes b, that not they only, but the most polite people in the world, the Romans, accounted them so great a dainty, as to feed them with meal, and endeavour breeding them up. He speaks c also of ants, so large as to be sold in the markets in New Granada, where they are carefully looked after, and bought up for food; and says, the negroes feed on the abdomen of these creatures: he observes d, that field crickets were found in baskets among other provisions of the Indians.
y Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 2. p. 302. z Nat. Hist. of Jamaica, vol. 1. Introduct. p. 25. a Ib. vol. 2. p. 193. b Introduct. ut supra. (a) Vid. Plin. l. 17. c. 24. & Aelian. de Animal. l. 14. c. 13. c Ib. vol. 2. p. 221, 223. d Ib. p. 204. Vid. Aristotel. Hist. Animal. l. 5. c. 30.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Verses 41-47:
The class of unclean creatures listed in this text includes vermin, part of the unwinged creepers previously mentioned, verses 29, 30. These are all creatures “Whatsoever…
“Goeth upon the belly,” as snakes, grubs, worms, etc;
“Goeth all fours,” or which grovel, as moles, rats, etc; “Hath more feet,” as centipedes, spiders, caterpillars, etc.
It seems unthinkable that one would eat such loathsome creatures. However, some of these are a part of the diet of primitive people even in today’s world.
Verses 44-47 confirm that the primary purpose of the dietary regulations regarding clean and unclean were not solely for hygienic or sanitary purposes. They pictured that ceremonial cleanness symbolizes spiritual holiness.
There are no Scriptural sanctions against eating any of these creatures designated as “unclean” in the Law, for God’s people today, Ac 10:9-15. However, it is suggested that it would be helpful to observe these restrictions, from a health standpoint, see Ro 15:4.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(41) And every creeping thing.Besides the eight reptiles which defile by touching their carcase, and which are enumerated in Lev. 11:29-30, all other creeping things upon the earth, with the exception of those specified in Lev. 11:21-22, are to be treated as an abomination, and must not be eaten, though their carcases do not defile by coming in contact with them. From the fact that the creeping things here proscribed are expressly described as creeping upon the earth, the administrators of the law during the second Temple concluded that the small worms which do not creep upon the earth do not come within the operation of this prohibition. Hence worms bred in vegetables, fruit, and certain kinds of food are permitted. Thus the worms in figs, dates, and berries, the mites in peas, beans, and lentils, the maggots in cheese, the insects found in the flesh and under the skin of fishes, are not proscribed, and only when they quit the object wherein they have been generated, and creep about upon the ground, are they forbidden. Hence the Chaldee Version of Jonathan renders the passage and every creeping thing that flieth is unclean unto you (Deu. 14:19) by and all bees and wasps, and all worms of vegetables and of pulse which leave the objects of food and fly like birds, are unclean unto you.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
No Creeping Thing Is To Be Eaten ( Lev 11:41-43 ).
Having seen examples of what cannot be eaten because of contact with what is unclean we now return to what cannot be eaten. The ban on creeping things is universal. To eat such things is not only not worthy of God, it is an abomination to Him. They grovel among the dirt outside man’s sphere. That is the sphere of the snake.
Lev 11:41-42
“And every creeping thing which creeps on the earth is an abomination; it shall not be eaten. Whatever goes on the belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, them you shall not eat, for they are an abomination.”
Every creeping thing is to be an abomination as far as eating is concerned, including snakes (going on the belly) and centipedes (having many feet). The question is not whether some of them are edible, but that they eat and live among the dirt and dust. They share the snake’s environment. They are an abomination. Furthermore they are to be despised because they ‘have no ruler over them’. They are not of the regulated world, they are outside man’s orbit (Habbakuk 1:14).
The stress in all these cases is on the need to develop purity and cleanness, and to avoid what is unclean by means of connection with death, degradation, dust and dirt. By these means they would be kept from harm and contact with death and remain pure in God’s eyes. The positive side is that God’s people should ever be taken up with what is pure and true and of good report (Php 4:8).
Lev 11:43
“You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, nor shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled by it.”
To partake of any of these unclean ‘creeping things that creep’ would be to make them both abominable and unclean. It would be to share their environment. It would doubly defile them. It is an absolute ban, not just something that could easily be remedied. They were not there for man to eat. The thought is abhorrent. And they were closely connected with idolatry (Eze 8:10).
Note the distinction that has been maintained. Eating unclean animals, rodents and lizards is forbidden, but eating unclean sea creatures, birds, and insects is an abomination. The prohibition for the latter is thus much stronger, and may well relate to the curse on the snake, and the sphere in which they live. What is common for all these creatures are that they belong to the unclean world, and live from and lurk among either what dies or what is of the dust. They are thus not fitted for God’s holy people, because God’s people are superior to such things, and not to be connected with anything connected with death or uncleanness.
We may not be tempted to eat such things, although of course some do, but the principle behind it is the avoidance of all that is unfitting.
Now God states His purpose. It is that they might be holy as He is holy. That meant avoiding all that was looked on as unclean or loathsome, and all that was connected with dirt, dust and death. It meant seeking their true sphere, the holiness of God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Lev 11:41. And every creeping thing, that creepeth upon the earth, &c. All creeping things, the reptile tribe in general, are here forbidden; in opposition to the Phrygians, as Le Clerc thinks, who frequently ate a kind of worm, found in the bark of trees or in rotten wood: but the prohibition seems rather to be founded in nature.
Note; In all these things God’s Israel must learn the necessity of a holy walk and conversation. We ought, at least, to be as careful of moral defilement as they were of ceremonial.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lev 11:41 And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth [shall be] an abomination; it shall not be eaten.
Ver. 41,42. And every creeping thing. ] Whether it goeth upon the belly, as snakes, worms; or crawls upon all fours, as toads, scorpions; or hath any feet to creep withal, as caterpillars, Millepedae, &c.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 11:20, Lev 11:23, Lev 11:29
Reciprocal: Lev 7:18 – an abomination Lev 7:21 – abominable Lev 11:43 – Ye shall