To make a difference between the unclean and the clean, and between the beast that may be eaten and the beast that may not be eaten.
Parallel translations
- WEB to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the living thing that may be eaten and the living thing that may not be eaten.’”
- BSB You must distinguish between the unclean and the clean, between animals that may be eaten and those that may not.’”
- NKJV to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, and between the animal that may be eaten and the animal that may not be eaten.’ ”
- NASB to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten.
- NLT By these instructions you will know what is unclean and clean, and which animals may be eaten and which may not be eaten.”
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
The purpose is to distinguish unclean from clean and what may be eaten from what may not. These laws trained Israel to discern between holy and common.
Overview
The dietary code aims to teach Israel to distinguish between the unclean and the clean, the edible and the forbidden. This habit of discernment shaped a people attuned to God's holiness in every part of life. The distinctions were a tutor pointing to the greater realities of holiness and sin, ultimately resolved in Christ, who makes His people clean (Acts 10:15; Ephesians 5:26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Lev 10:10And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;
- Ezek 44:23And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
- Rom 14:13–23Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
- Rom 14:2–3For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
- Mal 3:18Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 11:47 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.