Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 11:6
And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he [is] unclean unto you.
Verse 6. The hare] arnebeth, as Bochart and others suppose, from arah, to crop, and nib, the produce of the ground, these animals being remarkable for destroying the fruits of the earth. That they are notorious for destroying the tender blade of the young corn, is well known. It is very likely that different species of these animals are included under the general terms shaphan, and arnebeth, for some travellers have observed that there are four or five sorts of these animals, which are used for food in the present day in those countries. See Harmer, vol. iii., p. 331, edit. 1808. Some think the mountain rat, marmot, squirrel, and hedgehog, may be intended under the word shaphan.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
6. the hareTwo species ofhare must have been pointed at: the Sinai hare, the hare of thedesert, small and generally brown; the other, the hare of Palestineand Syria, about the size and appearance of that known in our owncountry. Neither the hare nor the coney are really ruminating. Theyonly appear to be so from working the jaws on the grasses they liveon. They are not cloven-footed; and besides, it is said that from thegreat quantity of down upon them, they are very much subject toverminthat in order to expel these, they eat poisonous plants, andif used as food while in that state, they are most deleterious[WHITLAW].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the hare, because he cheweth the cud,…. Or, “though he chews” it:
but divideth not the hoof, he [is] unclean to you; and so not to be eaten; so Plutarch q says, that the Jews are said to abstain from the hare, disdaining it as a filthy and unclean animal, and yet was in the greatest esteem with the Romans of any four footed beast, as Martial says r: Moses, as Bochart s and other learned men observe, is the only writer that speaks of the hare as chewing the cud; though they also observe, that Aristotle t makes mention of that in common with those that do chew the cud, namely a “coagulum” or “runnet” in its stomach; his words are,
“all that have many bellies have what is called , a coagulum or runnet, and of them that have but one belly, the hare;”
only that: this creature being prone to lust, may be an emblem of lustful persons, who give up themselves to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness, Eph 4:19.
(The “hare” is this verse may be an animal that is now is extinct but was alive at the time of Moses. It is only other mentioned in De 14:7. Editor.)
q Sympos. l. 9. c. 5. r L. 13. Epigr. 87. s Ut supra, (Hierozoic par. 1. l. 3.) c. 31. col. 977. t De Part. Animal. l. 3. c. 15. & Hist. Animal. l. 3. c. 21.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(6) And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but.Better, though he cheweth the cud, yet. Other nations, too, shunned the flesh of hares. The Parsees considered the hare as the most unclean of all animals, and the ancient Britons abstained from eating it because of the loathsome disorders to which the hare is subject. Like the rabbit, or the hyrax, the hare has not the peculiar stomach of the true ruminant; but, like the rabbit, the hare, when sitting at rest, so moves its jaws that it appears to masticate. As the object of the legislator was to furnish the people with marks by which they were to distinguish the clean from the unclean animals, he necessarily adopted those which were in common vogue, and which alone were intelligible in those days.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. The hare This is probably the species lepus Sinaiticus, seen by modern travellers in the Sinaitic Peninsula and in Mount Lebanon. Hares are hunted in Syria with falcon and greyhound. Only the Arabs eat their flesh.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Lev 11:6. And the hare, because he cheweth the cud Because, in this and the former verse, should be read though, as it is in the verse following. The original word arne-beth, from aren, to crop, and nib, the produce of the ground, is properly rendered a hare; these animals being remarkable for destroying the fruits of the earth; see Bochart and Parkhurst on the word. It is said to chew the cud, because, as Aristotle has observed, it has a kind of runnet in its stomach, as those animals have which chew the cud. We learn from Plutarch and Clemens Alexandrinus, that the Jews abstained from eating the hare; from which, it is remarkable, the ancient Britons also abstained religiously. “The hare,” Dr. James observes, “is remarkable for being extremely timorous: this makes it use a great deal of exercise by way of precaution when it goes to seek its food, and at the approach of any danger; and this habitual exercise probably contributes to the exaltation of the salts. We find, in effect, that the hare has a very high taste, even in our cold climates; and this high taste universally is an evidence, that the animal flesh which gives it, is strongly inclined to alkaline putrefaction.”
See commentary on Lev 11:4
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lev 11:6 And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he [is] unclean unto you.
Ver. 6. Because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not. ] Meditation must end in practice: as lessons of music must be practised, and a copy not read only, but written after.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
hare. Only here, and Deu 14:7. Hebrew. ‘arnebeth, not yet identified.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
hare
Heb. arnebeth, an unidentified animal, but certainly not a hare, possessing as it is said to, characteristics not possessed by the hare. The supposed error in the text is due entirely to the translators’ assumption that the English hare and the ancient “arnebeth” were identical.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
the hare: Deu 14:7
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 11:6. The hare, because (rather, though) he cheweth the cud He has a runnet in his stomach, as those animals have which chew the cud, and therefore is said to chew it. The hare is extremely timorous, and therefore uses a great deal of exercise, by way of precaution, when it goes to seek its food, and at the approach of danger, either real or imaginary. This probably contributes to the exaltation of the salts. Hence it has a very high taste, even in our cold climate, which is an evidence that the animal flesh which gives it is strongly inclined to alkaline putrefaction.