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John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Leviticus 11:1
INTRODUCTION TO LEVITICUS 11
This chapter treats of creatures clean and unclean, as fit or not fit to be eaten; and first of beasts, whose signs are given, Le 11:1 then of fishes, which are likewise described, Le 11:9 after that of fowls, and those that are not to be eaten are particularly named, Le 11:13 next of creeping things, which are distinguished into two sorts, as flying creeping things, of which those that are unclean, their carcasses are not even to be touched, as neither the carcasses of unclean beasts, Le 11:20 and creeping things on the earth, which defile by touching, as well as eating, and make everything unclean, upon which, being dead, they fall,
Le 11:29 and these laws are enforced from the holiness and goodness of God, Le 11:44 and the chapter is concluded with a recapitulation of them, Le 11:46.
Ver. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, and unto Aaron,.... The one being the chief magistrate, and the other the high priest, and both concerned to see the following laws put into execution; according to Jarchi, the Lord spoke to Moses that he might speak to Aaron; but being now in office, and one part of his office being to distinguish between clean and unclean, the following discourse is directed equally to him as to Moses:
saying unto them; as follows.
Leviticus 11:2
Ver. 2. Speak unto the children of Israel, saying,.... For to them only belong the following laws, and not unto the Gentiles, as Jarchi rightly observes; these were parts of the ceremonial law, which was peculiarly given to them, and lay, among other things, in meats and drinks, and now abolished; for it is not what goes into a man that defiles him; nor is anything common or unclean of itself, but every creature of God is good if received with thanksgiving. The sons of Noah had free liberty, without any restraint or limitation, of using for food any living creature that moved upon the face of the earth; in the choice of which they were left to exercise their reason and judgment, and is the case with us now; but as men have not so nice a smell as some animals have, and cannot distinguish by their senses so well as they what food is most wholesome, which makes the exercise of their reason and judgment necessary, and the people of the Jews being a special people, and for whom the Lord had a peculiar regard; for the sake of their health, and to preserve them from diseases they were subject to, such as the leprosy and others, and to direct them to what was most salubrious and healthful, gave them the following laws; and which, though they are not obligatory upon us, yet may be a direction to us, in the use of what may be most suitable and proper food for us, the difference of climates, and of the constitutions of men's bodies, being considered: not that we are to suppose, that the case of health was the only reason of delivering out these laws to the children of Israel, for other ends, besides that, may be thought to be had in view; as to assert his sovereign right to the creatures, and his disposal of them to them according to his will and pleasure; to lay a restraint on their appetites, to prevent luxury, and to teach them self denial, and compliance with his will; as also to keep them the more from the company and conversation of the Gentiles, by whom they otherwise might be led into idolatry; and to give them an aversion to their idols, to whom the creatures forbidden them to eat, many of them were either now or would be sacred to them; and chiefly to excite to a care for purity, both inward and outward, and create in the man abhorrence of those vices which may be signified by the ill qualities of several of the creatures; and to instruct them in the difference between holy and unholy persons, with whom they should or should not have communion; see
Ac 10:11
these are the beasts that ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth; they are not particularly mentioned here, but they are in De 14:4 and they are these ten; the ox, the sheep, and the goat, the hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois; of all which, See Gill on "De 14:4" see Gill on "De 14:5": here only some general things are observed to describe them by, as follow.
Leviticus 11:3
Ver. 3. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is cloven footed,.... That is, whose hoof is parted and cloven quite through; for there are some creatures that have partitions in their feet, but not quite through, they are parted above, but underneath are joined together by a skin; wherefore both these phrases are used to describe the beasts lawful to be eaten: the Egyptians seem to have borrowed this law from the Jews, for Chaeremon says {x}, that they abstain from such four footed beasts that have only one hoof, or have many partitions, or have no horns: and so the Targum of Jonathan adds here,
"which have horns,''
which, though not in the text, agrees well with the creatures allowed by this law to be eaten, see De 14:4 for such are all horned cattle; nor are there any cattle horned forbid to be eaten:
and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that shall ye eat: who having no upper teeth cannot thoroughly chew their food at once, and therefore bring it up again out of their stomachs into their mouths and chew it over again, that it may be better prepared for digestion in the stomach, and so yield better nourishment; and this makes the flesh of such creatures fitter for food: and these creatures have more stomachs than one; the ventricles for rumination are four; the first is the paunch, which in oxen is so big as to hold food of fifty pound weight, the second the honeycomb, the third the tripe, the fourth the honey tripe, and to which are helpful the pectoral muscle, the abdomen, with the diaphragm {y}: all this might have a moral and spiritual meaning in it, and may be applied either to ministers of the word; who ought rightly to divide the word of truth, and give to everyone their part, and who should walk uprightly according to it, and who should give themselves up wholly to the meditation of it, and thoroughly digest it; and study to show themselves workmen, that need not to be ashamed; or to private Christians, who have a discerning spirit in spiritual things, and can distinguish not only morality from immorality, but spiritual things from carnal, heavenly things from earthly, the voice of Christ from the voice of a stranger, and the doctrines of Christ from the doctrines of men; and who also walk as they should do, by faith on Christ, in the ways of God, and according to the Gospel; these chew the cud, meditate on the word, feed upon it while delivered, recall it, and have it brought to their remembrance by the divine Spirit, and ponder it in their hearts; see Ps 1:1.
{x} Apud Porphyr. de Abstinentia, l. 4. sect. 7. {y} Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 2. p. 278, 279.
Leviticus 11:4
Ver. 4. Nevertheless, these shall ye not eat,.... To whom one of these descriptive characters may agree but not the other:
of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: there being some that chewed the cud but did not divide the hoof; others that divided the hoof but did not chew the cud, of which instances are given as follow:
[as] the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he [is] unclean unto you; and not to be eaten, whether male or female; or rather, "though he cheweth the cud"; and this account agrees with what naturalists give of it; so Aristotle {z} says it has not both rows of teeth, but wants its upper teeth, and chews as horned cattle do, and has bellies like theirs; for they have more bellies than one, as the sheep, and goat, and hart, and others; since the service of the mouth is not sufficient to grind the food for want of teeth, this is supplied by the bellies, which receive the food one after another; in the first it is undigested, in the second somewhat more digested, in the third more fully, in the fourth completely: and so many bellies the camel has, as a very learned searcher {a} into these things observes; the first is the biggest, the second very small, the third much greater than the second, and the fourth equal to the second; in the second belly between the tunics, he says, seem to be the hydrophylacia, in which the water they drink is kept, very commodious for these animals passing through sandy deserts, so that they can long bear thirst: Pliny {b} says four days: Leo Africanus {c} relates a method used by travellers in the deserts of Lybia, who being in extreme want of water kill one of their camels, out of whose intestines they press out water; this they drink, this they carry about till they find a well, or must die with thirst: and the account also which is given of the feet of these creatures agrees; it parts the hoof, but not thoroughly, it is not cleft quite through, and so comes not up to Moses's descriptive character of clean creatures; its hoof is divided in two, but so divided, as Aristotle {d} observes, that it is but little divided on the back part unto the second joint of the toes; the fore part is very little divided, to the first joint of the toes, and there is something between the parts, as in the feet of geese: and so Pliny says {e} it has two hoofs, but the lower part of the foot is but very little divided, so that it is not thoroughly cleft: but though the flesh of these creatures was forbidden the Jews, it was eaten by people of other nations; both Aristotle {f} and Pliny {g} commend the milk of camels; and by the former the flesh of them is said to be exceeding sweet; and Diodorus Siculus relates {h}, that what with their milk and their flesh, which is eaten, as well as on account of their carrying burdens, they are very profitable unto men; and Strabo {i} says, the Nomades eat the flesh and milk of camels; and so the Africans, according to Leo Africanus {k}; and a countryman of ours {l}, who lived some time in Arabia, relates, that when a camel falls they kill it, and the poorer sort of the company eat it; and he says that he himself ate of camel's flesh, and that it was very sweet and nourishing: these creatures, in the mystic sense, may be an emblem of such persons, that carry their heads high, are proud and haughty, that boast of their riches, or trust in their righteousness.
{z} De Part. Animal. l. 3. c. 14. {a} Scheuchzer. ib. p. 280. {b} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 18. {c} Descriptio Africae, l. 1. p. 75. {d} Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 1. {e} L. 11. c. 45. {f} Hist. Animal. l. 6. c. 26. {g} Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 41. {h} Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 137. {i} Geograph. l. 16. p. 535. {k} Descriptio Africae, l. 1. p. 48. l. 6. 617, 620. Arab. Geogr. Clim. 1. par. 1. 3. {l} Pitts's Account of the Mahometans, c. 8. p. 106. Vid. Hieron, adv. Jovinian. l. 2.
Leviticus 11:5
Ver. 5. And the coney,.... Or rabbit:
because he cheweth the cud; or "though he cheweth"; which yet, some observe, the coney or rabbit does not, it having upper teeth, and therefore they think some other creature is meant by Shaphan, the word here used; and Bochart {m} is of opinion, that the Aljarbuo of the Arabians, a sort of mountain mouse, is meant, which chews the cud and divides not the hoof, and resides in rocks, which agrees with the account of the Shaphan in Pr 30:26 but this is rejected by Dr. Shaw {n}, who takes the creature here to be the Daman Israel, or Israel's lamb, an animal of Mount Lebanon, a harmless creature of the same size and quality with the rabbit, and with the like incurvating posture, and disposition or the fore teeth, but is of a browner colour, with smaller eyes, and a head more pointed, like the marmots; the fore feet likewise are short, and the hinder are nearly as long in proportion as those of the jerboa; and though this animal is known to burrow sometimes in the ground, yet its usual residence and refuge is in the holes and clifts of the rocks; but a learned man {o}, and very inquisitive in the things of nature, tells us, that the "cuniculus", coney, or rabbit, this sort of animals do chew half an hour after eating:
but divideth not the hoof; which is well known of this creature:
he [is] unclean unto you; not fit or proper to be eaten of, but to be abstained from as an unclean animal; and may be an emblem of timorous persons, as these creatures by Aristotle {p} are observed to be, and it is well known they are; even of the fearful and unbelieving, reckoned among the impure, who will have their portion in the lake of fire, Re 21:8.
{m} Hierozoic par. 1. l. 3. c. 33. col. 1015, 1016. {n} Travels, p. 177, 348. Ed. 2. {o} Scheuchzer. ut supra, (Physic. Sacr. vol. 2.) p. 281. {p} Hist. Animal. l. 1. c. 1.
Leviticus 11:6
Ver. 6. 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 puetia, 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.
Leviticus 11:7
Ver. 7. And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be cloven footed,.... Not only its hoofs are parted, but cloven quite through, and so in this respect answers Moses's first descriptive character of clean creatures; though Aristotle {u} and Pliny {w} speak of some kind of swine in Illyricum, Paeonia, and other places, which have solid hoofs; but perhaps these were not properly swine, though so called:
yet he cheweth not the cud; and a learned physician observes {x}, that such creatures that chew not the cud, so perfect a chyle cannot be elaborated by them as is by those that chew the cud, and therefore their flesh must be less wholesome; and of the swine, he says {y}, they have but one belly, and so there is no rumination or chewing the cud by them; wherefore they are to be placed, and are in a lower degree than the camel, the coney, and the hare; and as they cannot digest the chyle so well as those that chew the cud, and also live upon most sordid and filthy food, the eating of swine's flesh, he observes, must produce many inconveniences to the body, as especially scorbutic, arthritic, scabious, and leprous disorders: so Manetho the Egyptian says {z}, that he that eats swine's milk is liable to be filled with the leprosy; and Maimonides {a} gives it as the principal reason of its being forbid the Jews, because it is such a filthy creature, and eats such filthy things:
he [is] unclean to you: and so it has always been accounted by the Jews, and nothing is more abominable to them, as is even testified by Heathen {b} writers; and in this they have been imitated by many nations, particularly the Egyptians, who, as Herodotus says {c}, reckon swine a very filthy creature; so that if anyone does but touch it passing by, he is obliged to plunge himself into a river with his clothes on; and keepers of them may not go into any of their temples, nor do the rest of the Egyptians intermarry with them, but they marry among themselves; the reason of this their abhorrence of swine, Aelianus says {d}, is because they are so gluttonous that they will not spare their own young, nor abstain from human flesh; and this, says he, is the reason why the Egyptians hate it as an impure and voracious animal: likewise the Arabians entirely abstain from swine's flesh, as Solinus says {e}, who adds, that if any of this sort of creatures is carried into Arabia, it immediately dies; and the same Pliny {f} attests: and so the Phoenicians, the near neighbours of the Jews, would not eat the flesh of them; hence Antoninus is said to abstain from it after the manner of the Phoenicians {g}, unless the historian should mean the Jews; also the Gallo-Grecians or Galatians {h}; nay, even the Indians have such an abhorrence of it, that they would as soon taste of human flesh as taste of that {i}, and it is well known that the Mahometans abstain from it; and they have such an aversion to it, that if any chance to kill a wild pig, for tame they have none, they look on the merit of it to be almost equivalent to the killing a Christian in fight {k}: now these creatures may be an emblem of filthy and impure sinners, especially apostates, who return to their former impurities and wallow in them, 2Pe 2:22.
{u} Hist. Animal. l. 2. c. 1. {w} Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 46. {x} Scheuchzer. ut supra, (Physic. Sacr. vol. 2.) p. 282. {y} Ib. p. 284. {z} Apud Aelian. de Animal. l. 10. c. 16. {a} Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 48. {b} "Et vetus indulget", &c.; Juvenal. Satyr. 6. "nec distare putant", &c.; Ib. Satyr. 14. Vid. Porphyr. de Abstinentia, l. 4. sect. 11, 12. {c} Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 47. {d} Ut supra. (Apud Aelian. de Animal. l. 10. c. 16.) {e} Polyhistor. c. 46. {f} Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 52. {g} Herodian. Hist. l. 5. c. 16. {h} Pausan. Achaica, sive, l. 7. p. 430. {i} Ctesias apud Aelian. de Animal. l. 16. c. 37. {k} Pitts's Account of the Mahometans, p. 163.
Leviticus 11:8
Ver. 8. Of their flesh shall ye not eat,.... Meaning, not of swine only, but of the camel, coney, and hare:
and their carcass shall ye not touch; which must not be understood of touching them in any sense; for then it would have been unlawful for a Jew to have rode upon a camel, or to take out and make use of hog's lard in medicine; but of touching them in order to kill them, and prepare them for food, and eat them; and indeed all unnecessary touching of them is forbidden, lest it should bring them to the eating of them; though perhaps it may chiefly respect the touching of them dead:
they [are] unclean to you: one and all of them; for as this was said of each of them in particular, so now of all of them together; and which holds good of all wild creatures not named, to whom the description above belongs, and which used to be eaten by other nations; some of which were called Pamphagi, from eating all sorts, and others Agriophagi, from eating wild creatures, as lions, panthers, elephants {l}, &c.;
{l} Plin. l. 6. c. 30. Solinus, c. 43.
Leviticus 11:9
Ver. 9. These shall ye eat of all that [are] in the waters,.... In the waters of the sea, or in rivers, pools, and ponds; meaning fishes; for though some persons abstain from eating them entirely, as the Egyptian priests, as Herodotus {m} relates; and it was a part of religion and holiness, not with the Egyptians only, but with the Syrians and Greeks, to forbear eating them {n}; and Julian {o} gives two reasons why men should abstain from fishes; the one because what is not sacrificed to the gods ought not to be used for food; and the other is, because these being immersed in the deep waters, look not up to heaven; but God gave the people of Israel liberty of eating them, under certain limitations:
whatsoever hath fins and scales, in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat; some render it disjunctively, "fins or scales" {p}; but as Maimonides {q} observes, whatsoever has scales has fins; and who also says, if a fish has but one fin and one scale, it was lawful to eat: fins to fishes are like wings to birds, and oars to boats, with which they swim and move swiftly from place to place; and scales are a covering and a protection of them; and such fishes being much in motion, and so well covered, are less humid and more solid and substantial, and more wholesome: in a spiritual sense, fins may denote the exercise of grace, in which there is a motion of the soul, Godward, Christward, and heavenward; and scales may signify good works, which adorn believers, and protect them from the reproaches and calumnies of men.
{m} Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 37. {n} Plutarch. Sympos. p. 730. {o} Orat. 5. p. 330. {p} So Bootius. {q} Hilchot Maacolot Asurot, l. 1. sect. 24.
Leviticus 11:10
Ver. 10. And all that have not fins nor scales in the seas, and in the rivers,.... Such as eels, lampreys, &c.;
of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which [is] in the waters; the former of these are interpreted by Aben Ezra and Ben Gersom of little fishes that have but a small body, and such as are created out of the waters; and the latter, of such as are produced of a male and female; or, as Maimonides {r} explains it, the one signifies the lesser creatures, such as worms and horse leeches; the other greater ones, sea beasts, as sea dogs, &c.;
they shall be an abomination to you; not only unclean, and so unfit to eat, but to be had in abhorrence and detestation, as being exceeding disagreeable and unwholesome; and, as a learned man observes {s}, to these prohibited in general belong all those animals in lakes, rivers, or seas, which are of a slow motion, and which, because of the slow motion of their bodies, do not so well digest their food; and for that may be compared with four footed beasts that have but one belly, and so unwholesome as they.
{r} Hilchot Maacolot Asuret, l. 1. c. 2. sect. 12. {s} Scheuchzer. ut supra, (Physic. Sacr. vol. 2.) p. 287.
Leviticus 11:11
Ver. 11. They shall be even an abomination to you,.... This is repeated again and again, to deter from the eating of such fishes, lest there should be any desire after them:
ye shall not eat of their flesh, here mention is made of the flesh of fishes, as is by the apostle, 1Co 15:39. Aben Ezra observes, that their wise men say, this is according to the usage of words in those ages:
but you shall have their carcasses in abomination; not only abstain from eating them and touching them, but to express the utmost aversion to them.
Leviticus 11:12
Ver. 12. Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters,.... Which is repeated that they might take particular notice of this law, and be careful to observe it, this being the only sign given:
that [shall be] an abomination unto you; the Targum of Jonathan says, that not only the flesh of such fish, but the broth, and pickles made of them, were to be an abomination; which contradicts what Pliny {t} relates, that the Jews made a pickle of fishes that lacked scales; so Grotius understands him: this law of the Jews is taken notice of by Porphyry {u}, who says, it is forbidden all the Jews to eat horse flesh, or fishes that lack scales, or any animal that has but one hoof: and Pliny {w}, from an ancient author, Cassius Hemina, makes mention of a law of Numa, forbidding the use of fish that had not scales, in feasts made for the gods.
{t} Nat. Hist. l. 31. c. 8. {u} De Abstinentia, l. 4. c. 14. {w} Nat. Hist. l. 32. c. 2.
Leviticus 11:13
Ver. 13. And these [are they which] ye shall have in abomination among the fowls,.... No description or sign is given of fowls, as of beasts and fishes, only the names of those not to be eaten; which, according to Maimonides, are twenty four; so that all the rest but these are clean fowls, and might be eaten; wherefore the same writer observes {x}, that,
"whoever was expert in these kinds, and in their names, might eat of every fowl which was not of them, and there was no need of an inquiry:''
but what creatures are intended by these is not now easy to know; very different are the sentiments both of the Jews and Christians concerning them; and indeed it does not much concern us Christians to know what are meant by them, but as curiosity may lead us to such an inquiry, not thinking ourselves bound by these laws; but it is of moment with the Jews to know them, who think they are; wherefore, to supply this deficiency, they venture to give some signs by which clean and unclean fowls may be known, and they are three; such are clean who have a superfluous claw, and also a craw, and a crop that is uncovered by the hand {y}; and on the contrary they are unclean, and not to be eaten, as says the Targum of Jonathan, which have no superfluous talon, or no craw, or a crop not uncovered:
they shall not be eaten, they [are] an abomination; and they are those that follow:
the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray; about the first of these there is no difficulty, all agree the eagle is intended; which has its name either from the nature of its sight, or from the casting of its feathers, or from its tearing with its bill: it is a bird of prey, a very rapacious creature, and sometimes called the bird of Jupiter, and sacred to the gods; and these may be the reasons why forbid to be eaten, as well as because its flesh is hard, and not fit for food, and unwholesome; "the ossifrage" or "bone breaker" has its name from its tearing its prey and breaking its bones for the marrow, as the word "peres" here used signifies, Mic 3:3 it is said to dig up bodies in burying places to eat what it finds in the bones {z}: this is thought to be of the eagle kind, as it is reckoned by Pliny {a}, though Aristotle {b} speaks of it as very different from the eagle, as larger than that, and of an ash colour; and is so kind to the eagle's young, that when they are cast out by that, it takes them and brings them up: the "ospray" is the "halioeetus", or sea eagle, as the Septuagint version and several others render it; which Aristotle {c} describes as having a large and thick neck, crooked wings, and a broad tail, and resides about the sea and shores: Pliny {d} speaks of it as having a very clear sight, and, poising itself on high, having sight of a fish in the sea, will rush down at once and fetch it out of the water; and he also reports that she will take her young before they are fledged, and oblige them to look directly against the rays of the sun, and if any of them wink, or their eyes water, she casts them out of her nest as a spurious brood. Aristotle {e}, who relates the same, says she kills them. The name of this creature, in the Hebrew text, seems to be taken from its strength; wherefore Bochart {f} is of opinion, that the "melanoeetos", or black eagle, which, though the least of eagles as to its size, exceeds all others in strength, as both Aristotle {g} and Pliny {h} say; and therefore, as the latter observes, is called by the Romans "valeria", from its strength. Maimonides {i} says of these two last fowls, which we render the ossifrage and the ospray, that they are not to be found on the continent, but in the desert places of the isles of the sea very far off, even those which are at the end of the habitable world.
{x} Maacolot Asurot, c. 1. sect. 14, 15. {y} T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 75. 1. Maimon. ib. sect. 15. {z} Calmet's Dictionary in the word "Ossifraga". {a} Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3. {b} Hist. Animal. l. 6. c. 6. l. 8. c. 3. & l. 9. c. 34. {c} Ib. l. 9. c. 32. {d} Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3.) {e} Ib. c. 34. {f} Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2. c. 6. col. 188. {g} Ut supra, (Hist. Animal. l. 9.) c. 32. {h} Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3.) {i} Maacolot Asurot, c. 1. sect. 17.
Leviticus 11:14
Ver. 14. And the vulture, and the kite after his kind. Perhaps it might be better if the version was inverted, and the words be read, "and the kite, and the vulture, after his kind"; and the last word is by us rendered the vulture in Job 28:7 and very rightly, since the kite is not remarkable for its sight, any other than all rapacious creatures are, whereas the vulture is to a proverb; and besides, of the vulture there are two sorts, as Aristotle says {k}, the one lesser and whiter, the other larger and more of an ash colour; and there are some that are of the eagle kind {l}, whereas there is but one sort of kites; though Ainsworth makes mention of two, the greater of a ruddy colour, common in England, and the lesser of a blacker colour, known in Germany, but produces no authority for it; however, these are both ravenous creatures: of the kite, Aelianus says {m}, it is very rapacious, and will take meat out of the meat market, but not touch any sacrificed to Jupiter; the truth of which may well be questioned; and of vultures he reports {n}, that they will watch a dying man, and follow armies going to battle, expecting prey; See Gill on "Mt 24:28".
{k} Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 3. {l} Aristot. ib. l. 9. c. 32. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3. Aelian. de Animal. l. 2. c. 46. {m} De Animal. l. 2. c. 42. {n} Ib. c. 46.
Leviticus 11:15
Ver. 15. Every raven after his kind. The red raven, night raven, the water raven, river raven, wood raven, &c.; this also includes crows, rooks, pies, jays, and jackdaws, &c.; The raven was with the Heathens sacred to Apollo {o}, is a voracious creature, and so reckoned among unclean ones, and unfit for food; nor does the care that God takes of these creatures, or the use he has made of them, contradict this; see
Job 38:41.
{o} Aelian. De Animal. l. 1. c. 48. & l. 7. c. 18.
Leviticus 11:16
Ver. 16. And the owl,.... The great and little owls being after mentioned, it seems best, by the word here used, to understand the "ostrich" with the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, the Oriental versions, and the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan: the account which Pliny {p} gives of the African and Ethiopic ostriches is this; that they are the largest of birds, and almost of the kind of beasts; that they exceed the height of a horseman on horseback, and are swifter than the horses; that their wings are given them to help them in their running, otherwise they are not flying fowls, nor are they lifted up from the earth. Their hoofs are like to those of harts, with which they fight, and are cloven, and serve to gather up stones, which in their flight they throw with their feet against them that follow them; they have a wonderful concoction, digesting whatever is swallowed down; and, according to Galen {q}, all the parts of them, their flesh and their eggs, are hard and difficult of digestion, and excermentitious: Aben Ezra says {r}, their flesh is as dry as a stick, and it is not usual to eat it, for there is no moisture in it; and therefore nothing can be eaten of the whole species, but the daughter or young one, for that being a female and little, there is some moisture in it; but not so the male when little; wherefore as the flesh of this creature is always reckoned by the Jews as unlawful to be eaten, it may the rather be supposed to be intended here, since if not here, it cannot be thought to be any where observed; and yet we find that both the eggs and the flesh of this creature have been eaten by some people: their eggs with the Indians were reckoned delicate eating, as Aelianus {s} reports; and near the Arabians and Ethiopians were a people, as both Diodorus Siculus {t} and Strabo {u} relate, who were called Struthophagi, from their living on ostriches; and they eat them in Peru, where they are common {w}; and in several parts of Africa, as Nubia, Numidia, and Lybia, as Leo Africanus {x} relates:
and the night hawk; which, according to Pliny {y}, is sometimes called "cymindis", and is seldom to be found in woods, sees not so well in the day time, and wages a deadly war with the eagle, and they are often found joined together: Bochart {z} who thinks that the female ostrich is meant by the preceding bird, is of opinion that the male ostrich is meant here, there being no general name in the Hebrew language to comprehend both sexes:
and the cuckoo; a bird well known by its voice at least: some have thought it to be the same with the hawk, changing its figure and voice; but this has been refuted by naturalists {a}: but though it is here forbidden to be eaten, yet its young, when fat, are said to be of a grateful savour by Aristotle: and Pliny {b} says, no bird is to be compared to it for the sweetness of its flesh, though perhaps it may not be here intended: the word is by the Septuagint rendered a "sea gull", and so it is by Ainsworth, and which is approved of by Bochart {c}:
and the hawk after his kind; a well known bird, of which, according to Aristotle {d}, there are not less than ten sorts: Pliny {e} says sixteen; it has its name in Hebrew from flying, it being a bird that flies very swiftly; see Job 39:26 the hawk was a symbol of deity with the Egyptians, and was reverenced and worshipped by them {f}.
{p} Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 1. Vid. Aristot. de Part. Animal. l. 4. c. 14. {q} Apud Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2. c. 14. col. 226. {r} Pirush in Exod. xxiii. 19. {s} De Animal. l. 14. c. 13. {t} Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 162. {u} Geograph. l. 16. p. 531. {w} Calmet's Dictionary in the word "Ostrich". {x} Descriptio Africae, l. 6. p. 601, 605, 613. l. 9. p. 766. {y} Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 8. {z} Ut supra, (Apud Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2.) c. 15. col. 235. {a} Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 6. c. 7. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 9. {b} Ibid. {c} Ut supra, (Apud Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2. c. 15.) col. 26. {d} Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 36. {e} Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 8. {f} Plutarch. de Iside & Osyr. Strabo. Geograph. l. 17. p. 559, 562. Diodor. Sicul. l. 1. p. 78. Clement. Alex. Stromat. l. 5. p. 566.
Leviticus 11:17
Ver. 17. And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl. Ainsworth translates the words just the reverse, and takes the first word to signify the great owl, and the last the little one; the great owl may intend the great horn owl, called sometimes the eagle owl, which is thus described; it is of the size of a goose, and has large wings, capable of extending to a surprising breadth: its head is much of the size and figure of that of a cat, and has clusters of black feathers over the ears, rising to three fingers' height; its eyes are very large, and the feathers of its rump long, and extremely soft; its eyes have yellow irises, and its beak black and crooked: it is all over mottled with white, reddish, and black spots; its legs are very strong, and are hairy down to the very ends of the toes, their covering being of a whitish brown {g}: and as this is called the great horn owl, others, in comparison of it, may be called the little owl. Some reckon several species of owls--there are of three sizes; the large ones are as big as a capon, the middle sized are as big as a wood pigeon, the smaller sort about the size of an ordinary pigeon--the horned owl is of two kinds, a larger and a smaller--the great owl is also of two sorts, that is, of a larger and a smaller kind {h}; it is a bird sacred to Minerva: but though it is pretty plain that the last of the words used signifies a bird that flies in the twilight of the evening, from whence it seems to have its name, as Aben Ezra, Ben Gersom, and other Jewish writers observe, and fitly agrees with the owl which is not seen in the day, but appears about that time; yet the first is thought by Bochart {i} to be the "onocrotalus" or "pelican", which has under its bill a bag or sack, which will hold a large quantity of anything; and the word here used has the signification of a cup or vessel, see
Ps 102:6. The word we render "cormorant", the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan paraphrase it, a drawer of fish out of the sea, so Baal Hatturim; and thus it is interpreted in the Talmud {k}; and the gloss upon it says, this is the water raven, which is the same with the cormorant; for the cormorant is no other than "corvus aquaticus", or water raven; See Gill on "Zep 2:14". The Septuagint render it by "catarrhactes", which, according to the description of it {l}, resides by rocks and shores that hang over water; and when it sees fishes swimming in it, it will fly on high, and contract its feathers, and flounce into the water, and fetch out the fish; and so is of the same nature, though not the same creature with the cormorant. Aben Ezra observes, that some say this is a bird which casts its young as soon as born; and this is said of the "catarrhactes", that it lets down its young into the sea, and draws them out again, and hereby inures them to this exercise {m}.
{g} Ray's Ornithol. p. 63. apud Supplement to Chambers's Dictionary in the word "Bubo". {h} Calmet's Dictionary in the word "Owl". {i} Ut supra, (Apud Bochard. Heirozoic. par. 2. l. 2.) c. 20. col. 275. {k} Bab. Cholin, fol. 63. 1. {l} Gesner. apud Bochart. ut supra, ({i}) c. 21. col. 278. {m} Ibid.
Leviticus 11:18
Ver. 18. And the swan,.... This is a bird well known to us, but it is a question whether it is intended by the word here used; for though it is so rendered in the Vulgate Latin, it is differently rendered by many others: the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call it "otia", which seems to be the same with the "otus" of Aristotle {n}, who says it is like an owl, having a tuft of feathers about its ears (from whence it has its name--> and some call it "nycticorax", or the owl; and here, by Bochart {o}, and others, the owl called "noctua" is thought to be meant; and with which agrees the account some Jewish writers give of it, as Aben Ezra and Baal Hatturim, who say it is a bird, which every one that sees is astonished at it, as other birds are at the owl, are frightened at the sight of it, and stupefied. But as the same word is used Le 11:30 among the creeping things, for a mole, what Jarchi observes is worthy of consideration, that this is "calve (chauve) souris" (the French word for a bat), and is like unto a mouse, and flies in the night; and that which is spoken of among the creeping things is like unto it, which hath no eyes, and they call it "talpa", a mole. The Septuagint version renders it by "porphyrion", the redshank; and so Ainsworth; and is thought to be called by the Hebrew name in the text, from the blowing of its breath in drinking; for it drinks biting, as Aristotle says {p}:
and the pelican; which has its name in Hebrew from vomiting; being said by Aben Ezra and Baal Hatturim to be a bird that vomits its food; and it is observed by several naturalists {q}, of the pelican, that it swallows down shellfish, and after they have lain some time in its stomach, it vomits them up again; where having been heated, the shells open, and it picks out the meat:
and the gier eagle; or vulture eagle, the "gypoeetos" of Aristotle {r}, and who says it is called also "oripelargos", or the mountain stork; and which Pliny {s} also makes to be an eagle of the vulture kind. Dr. Shaw says {t}, that near Cairo there are several flocks of the "ach bobba" (white father, differing little from the stork but in its colour), the "percnopterus" or "oripelargos", which like the ravens about London feed upon carrion, and nastiness that is thrown without the city; this the Arabs call "rachama", the same with Mxr,
Le 11:18 and hmxr in De 14:17 and whatever bird is here meant, it must be one that is tender toward its young, as its name signifies, as Aben Ezra and Baal Hatturim observe; and though both the eagle and the vulture are rapacious birds, yet have a great regard to their young; of the eagle see De 32:11 and the vulture, with the Egyptians, was an "hieroglyphic" of a tender mother, or any merciful person; it being reported of it, that during the one hundred twenty days its young are under its care, it very rarely flies from them, being so solicitous of nourishing them; and that by making incisions in its thigh, it lets out a bloody flow of milk, when it has nothing else to support them {u}. The Talmudists {w} say, that the bird "racham", as it is here called, is the same with "serakrak", and is by the Targum of Jonathan, and in the Syriac version, here rendered "serakraka", so called from qrv, which signifies to "squall"; and, according to Munster {x}, is thought by some to be the "pica", magpie, or rather the jay; and Dr. Shaw {y} observes, that by a small transmutation of letters, that and the "shagarag" of the Arabs are the same; which he says is of the size and shape of a jay, though with a smaller bill, and shorter legs; the back is brownish; the head, neck, and belly, of a light green; and upon the wings and tail there are several spots or ringlets of a deep blue; it makes a "squalling" noise; and, he adds, it has no small affinity both in voice and plumage with the jay. The Septuagint version renders the word by the "swan"; which if not intended by the first word in this text, may by this, being kind to its young, though otherwise reckoned a cruel and unmerciful bird, as Bochart {z} observes; some think the woodpecker is meant, so called from its love to its parents {a}.
{n} Hist. Animal. l. 8. c. 12. Vid. Plin. l. 10. c. 23. {o} Ut supra, (Apud Bochard Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2.) c. 23. {p} Ut supra, (Hist. Animal. l. 8.) c. 6. so Plin. l. 10. c. 46. {q} Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 10. Aelian. de Animal. l. 3. c. 20, Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 40. {r} Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 32. {s} Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 3. {t} Travels, p. 449. Ed. 2. {u} Horns Apollo & Pisidas apud Bochart. ut supra, ({o}) c. 27. col. 388. {w} T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 63. 1. {x} Dictionar. Chald. p. 4. 18. {y} Travels, p. 183. {z} Ut supra ({o}), c. 25. col. 300. {a} Plin. l. 10. c. 33.
Leviticus 11:19
Ver. 19. And the stork,..... A bird of passage, Jer 8:7 it has its name from kindness, which it exercises both to its dam, and to its young. Various writers {b} speak of the kindness of these birds to their dams, which when they are old they take care of and feed them, to which the apostle is thought to allude, 1Ti 5:4 and its tenderness to its young is no less manifest: when the city of Delf in Holland was on fire, the storks were seen very busy to save their young from the flames, and which when they could not do, threw themselves into the midst of them, and perished with them, as Drusius from the Dutch historians relates. It is said to feed upon serpents; and hence by Virgil {c} to be "invisa colubris"; and Juvenal {d} says, it nourishes its young with them; and which may be a reason of its being forbid to be eaten, and is the reason given by the Mahometans {e} for the prohibition of it; though on this account it was in great honour in Thessaly, that country being freed from serpents by it, and therefore they made it a capital crime to kill them, as Pliny {f} relates; formerly people would not eat the stork, but at present it is much esteemed for the deliciousness of its flesh {g}
the heron after her kind; this bird has its name in Hebrew from its being soon angry, as Aben Ezra observes; and Jarchi calls it the angry vulture or kite, as it is in the Talmud {h}; and adds, and it appears to me to be what they call the "heron", one sort of which named "asterias", as there is one sort so called by Pliny {i}; it becomes tame in Egypt, and so well understands the voice of a man, as Aelianus {k} reports, that if anyone by way of reproach calls it a servant or slothful, it is immediately exceeding angry. There are three kinds of herons, as both Aristotle {l} and Pliny {m}; and by a learned man of ours {n}, their names are thus given, the criel or dwarf heron, the blue heron, and the bittour; some reckon nineteen:
and the lapwing; the upupa or hoopoe; it has its name in Hebrew, according to Jarchi, from its having a double crest; and so Pliny {o} ascribes to it a double or folded crest, and speaks of it as a filthy bird; and, according to Aristotle {p} and Aelian {q}, its nest is chiefly made of human dung, that by the ill smell of it men may be kept from taking its young; and therefore may well be reckoned among impure fowl. Calmet {r} says, there is no such thing as a lapwing to be seen in any part of England; but there are such as we call so, whether the same bird with this I cannot say:
and the bat; a little bird which flies in the night, Aben Ezra says; Kimchi {s} describes it a mouse with wings, which flies in the night, and we sometimes call it the "flitter mouse"; it is a creature between a fowl and a beast; and, as Aristotle says {t}, it partakes of both, and is of neither; and it is the only fowl, as Pliny {u} observes, that has teeth and teats, that brings forth animals, and nourishes them with milk. It is a creature so very disagreeable, that one would think almost there was no need of a law to forbid the eating of it; and yet it is said by some to be eatable, and to be eaten, as Strabo {w} affirms, yea, to be delicious food. It is asserted {x}, that there is a sort of them in the east, larger than ordinary, and is salted and eaten--that there are bats in China as large as pullets, and are as delicate eating. Of these several fowls before mentioned, some are of the ravenous kind, and are an emblem of persecutors and covetous persons, and such as live by rapine and violence; others are of a lustful nature, and are an emblem of those who serve various lusts and pleasures, and give up themselves to uncleanness; others are night birds, and are a proper emblem of them whose works are works of darkness, and love darkness rather than the light; and others never rise higher than the earth, and so may denote earthly minded persons; and others live on impure things, and so fitly represent such who live an impure life; with all such the people of God are to have no fellowship.
{b} Aristot. Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 13. Aelian. de Animal. l. 3. c. 23. & l. 10. c. 16. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 23. {c} Georgic. l. 2. {d} Satyr. 14. {e} Apud Bochart. ut supra, (Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 2.) c. 29. col. 329. {f} Ut supra. (Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 23.) {g} Calmet in the word "Stork". {h} T. Bab. Cholin, fol. 63. 1. {i} Ut supra, ({f}) c. 60. so Aristot. l. 9. c. 1. {k} De Animal. l. 5. c. 36. {l} Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 1. {m} Ut supra. (Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 23.) {n} Ainsworth's Dictionary, in voce "Ardea". {o} Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 29. {p} Hist. Animal. l. 9. c. 15. {q} De Animal. l. 3. c. 26. {r} Dictionary, in the word "Lapwing". {s} Sepher Shorash. in voc. Plje. {t} De Part. Animal. l. 4. c. 13. {u} Nat. Hist. l. 10. c. 61. l. 11. c. 37. {w} Geograph. l. 16. {x} Calmet's Dictionary in the word "Bat".
Leviticus 11:20
Ver. 20. All fowls that creep,.... Or rather "every creeping thing that flies"; for what are designed are not properly fowls, but, as the Jewish writers interpret them, flies, fleas, bees, wasps, hornets, locusts, &c.; so the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and Maimonides {y}:
going upon [all] four; that is, upon their four feet, when they walk or creep:
[these shall be] an abomination to you; not used as food, but detested as such.
{y} Maacolot Asurot, c. 2. l. 5.
Leviticus 11:21
Ver. 21. Yet these may ye eat,.... Which are after described and named:
of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon [all] four; even though it is a creeping thing that flies and goes upon four feet, provided they be such,
which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth