These animals are unclean for you among all the crawling creatures. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.
Parallel translations
- WEB These are they which are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead, shall be unclean until the evening.
- KJV These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even.
- NKJV These are unclean to you among all that creep. Whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until evening.
- NASB These are to you the unclean among all the swarming things; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening.
- NLT All these small animals are unclean for you. If any of you touch the dead body of such an animal, 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 dead bodies of these creatures makes a person unclean until evening. Contact with death rendered one temporarily unfit for worship.
Overview
Among all crawling things, these are unclean, and touching their carcasses brings defilement until evening. The link between death and uncleanness reflects that death is the intruder marring God's good creation, the wages of sin (Romans 6:23). The short duration—until evening—shows the defilement was real but readily cleansed, anticipating the fuller cleansing Christ secures.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- Lev 11:8You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.
- Lev 11:24–25These creatures will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening,
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 11:31 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.