Page 69 - Pentateuch

Chapter 10: Pentateuch Part IV:
Unclean and Clean: Holy and Common: Leviticus 11-15, 18-22

Connect…

As we enter a new section of Leviticus, we must notice the connection with what has gone immediately
before. Nadab and Abihu died because they did not “distinguish between the holy and the common,
between the unclean and the clean (10:10). Teaching Israel this difference was the main purpose of the
priests. The activity of sacrifice was in itself a teaching tool of the priest to lead each Israelite to God. Our
new section uses the words clean and unclean, along with similar words, over and over. Before and after
this section, the words are used only a few times. A proper understanding of clean and unclean was
essential for the people to come to God. Yet, for us, these chapters tend to be puzzling. We have different
concepts of “clean and unclean,” depending on our culture. Because of cultural differences, we then think
of certain people also as “clean and unclean.”

The topics of unclean and clean (Lev. 11-15) and holy and common (Lev. 18-22) are divided into chapters on
the most important day in the Jewish religious calendar, the Day of Atonement. Yet clean/unclean and
holy/common are the two types of sins requiring forgiveness on the day of atonement. In Lev. 18-22, the
words “clean” and “unclean” fade into the background. They still occur occasionally, but the references
mostly connect with the previous section. (See 17:15 and 18:19, for example.) The new topic is holiness in
everyday activities.

One sentence consistently marks these chapters: “I am the LORD your God.” Before these chapters, it
occurs in 11:44, 45. The theme continues through chapter 26, but other elements are added. Over and over
God gives his people instructions based on their relationship with him (18:4, 5, 6, 21, 30; 19:3, 4, 10, 12, 14,
16, 18, 25, 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37; 20:8, 24; 21:12; 22:3, 8, 9, 16, 29, 31, 32, 33). This is how a person lives
who knows YHWH. These things distinguish his people from the other nations (18:3). “Remember,” God
says, how you were treated by the Egyptians” (cf. 19:36).

If we go back to the death of Nadab and Abihu, we remember the main function of the priest is to
distinguish between “the holy and the common” and between “the unclean and clean (10:10). Moses
explains the second distinction first in chapters 11 through 17. Then he takes up the first distinction, which
is actually the more important. Our English versions often translate these two Hebrew words, “holy” and
“common” differently, yet their meanings are well expressed in these simple ways. In its noun form,
“common” simply means “every day.” Later in the OT in 1 Sam. 21:5, it is used about journeys that are “not
holy.” The terms are opposites. What is holy is “special.” What is common is just that, “common.”

The Lesson ...

Unclean and Clean

“You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof, and that chews the cud (11:3)” is the opening directive.
Illustrations follow. Camel, hyrax, rabbit, and pig are unclean (11:4-8). Fins and scales are required for water
creatures (11:8-12). Unclean birds are listed, and put into the category perhaps because they eat dead

67