If an animal that you may eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass will be unclean until evening.
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘If any animal, of which you may eat, dies; he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening.
- KJV And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even.
- NKJV ‘And if any animal which you may eat dies, he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until evening.
- NASB ‘Also if one of the animals dies which you have for food, the one who touches its carcass becomes unclean until evening.
- NLT “If an animal you are permitted to eat dies and you touch its carcass, 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
Even a clean animal that dies of itself defiles anyone who touches its carcass until evening. Death itself, not just unclean species, brought ritual impurity.
Overview
If a permitted animal dies naturally, touching its body makes a person unclean until evening. This shows that contact with death, even of a clean creature, conveys defilement, because death is the curse on a fallen world. The temporary nature of the uncleanness pointed ahead to Christ, who by His death conquered death and removes its defiling power (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Lev 11:28and anyone who picks up a carcass must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. They are unclean for you.
- 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.
- Num 19:11Whoever touches any dead body will be unclean for seven days.
- Lev 11:24These creatures will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening,
- Lev 15:5Anyone who touches his bed must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
- Lev 15:7Whoever touches the body of the man with a discharge must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be unclean until evening.
- Num 19:16Anyone in the open field who touches someone who has been killed by the sword or has died of natural causes, or anyone who touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
- Lev 11:40Whoever eats from the carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening, and anyone who picks up the carcass must wash his clothes and 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 11:39 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.