These creatures will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening,
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘By these you will become unclean: whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening.
- KJV And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even.
- NKJV ‘By these you shall become unclean; whoever touches the carcass of any of them shall be unclean until evening;
- NASB ‘By these, moreover, you will be made unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening,
- NLT “The following creatures will make you ceremonially unclean. If any of you touch their carcasses, you will be defiled until evening.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Touching the carcasses of unclean creatures makes a person unclean until evening. Contact with death brings ceremonial defilement.
Overview
The text turns from eating to contact, teaching that uncleanness spreads through touching dead bodies. The defilement is temporary, lasting 'until the evening,' signaling that purification and restoration are available. This concern with death and defilement points to humanity's deeper need, met in Christ, who conquers death and cleanses his people from all defilement (Hebrews 9:13-14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Lev 11:27–28All the four-footed animals that walk on their paws are unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening,
- Eph 2:1–3And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
- Eph 5:11Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.
- 1 Jn 1:7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
- Col 2:20If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations:
- Lev 11:31These animals are unclean for you among all the crawling creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.
- Lev 17:15–16And any person, whether native or foreigner, who eats anything found dead or mauled by wild beasts must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening; then he will be clean.
- Isa 22:14The LORD of Hosts has revealed in my hearing: “Until your dying day, this sin of yours will never be atoned for,” says the Lord GOD of Hosts.
- Heb 9:26Otherwise, Christ would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
- Lev 11:38–40but if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
- Col 2:16–17Therefore let no one judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a feast, a New Moon, or a Sabbath.
- 1 Cor 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- 2 Cor 6:17“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
- Lev 11:8You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 11:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.