Lev. 11: Clean Animals, Detestable Animals

Continuing the theme from chapter 10 about the distinction between clean and unclean, the LORD reveals to Moses and Aaron a list of characteristics of ceremonially clean and unclean aminals. It has to do with various things...a split hoof, cud chewery, fins and scales, the amount of legs, how close it moves to the ground, etc.

On Land
They were allowed to eat animals with a completely divided split hoof and chews the cud. Later on in the chapter, it is revealed that the animals that walk on their paws are unclean, implying that the split hoof elevates the animal above the dirt.
Cud, yes. Split hoof, no: Camel, coney, and rabbit.
Split hoof, yes. Cud, no: Pig

In Seas and Streams
The Israelites could eat anything that had fins and scales. And its hard to think of things that swim that don't...Sea Turtles? Jellyfish? Clams? I don't know. In fact, all other creatures under the sea were detestable, meat and carcass.

Detestable Birds
Eagle, vulture, black vulture, red kite, black kite, any kind of raven, horned owl, screech owl, gull, any kind of hawk, little owl, cormorant, great owl, white owl, desert owl, osprey, stork, any kind of heron, hoopoe and the bat.

And, well...a bat isn't really a bird, in the taxonomic sense. But it was a creature of the air. And I find it interesting that verse 13 states, "These are the birds you are to detest and not eat because they are detestable." God doesn't give specific reasons here, and I think it's at least a little amusing that he sort of gives the reason, "Because I said so." Which would be enough for a deity. Why does God make this distinction between what is safe and what isn't? We can only speculate, as the Bible doesn't really say. What's listed above appear to be a combination of predatory birds and scavengers, so that may be part of the answer. But these birds were also created to be this way. And this (creating birds that would eventually be detestable to the Israelites) is sort of a microcosm of the question of why God would allow sin to take place...I'll have to ponder on that.

Icky Bugs
Every winged insect that crawled on the ground was to be detestable. There were of course a couple of exceptions. These were the ones with jointed legs for hopping: the locust, katydid, cricket and grasshopper. In my speculation, I would say that these were the ones with the best chance of escaping...?

Ground Animals
The weasel, rat, any kind of great lizard, gecko, monitor lizard, wall lizard, skink and chameleon
With the exception of the rodents, could these lizards be considered part of the family of the serpent, which was cursed to walk on it's belly? Or be like Dan?

Uncleanness came from:
Touching a carcass - And the toucher would have to wash his clothes, and be considered unclean until evening.

A carcass falling on something - wood, cloth, hide or sackcloth. It had to be put into water, and then it would be clean by evening.

A carcass falling into a clay pot or oven - anything in the pot became unclean (food or water), and the pot or oven had to be destroyed.

Exceptions:
A carcass falling into a spring or cistern
Unplanted, unwatered seeds - but if the seeds had been watered, then they become unclean. Yeesh. I know.

So people could be considered unclean, and they had to wash their clothes. By evening, they would be considered clean again. So what would be the big deal anyway? So I touched a carcass. Aside from the practicality in avoiding disease in mostly unscientific times, what would I really have to lose?

God commands the people not to be unclean. They were forbidden to touch or eat or handle these things or their carcasses. God says "consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy." There was this distinction, and cleanliness was what identified people as God's. As Nadab and Abihu offered an unauthorized, un-consecrated fire, there were consequences for actions that were contrary to God's commands.