Uncleanness
Summary
A state of ceremonial or moral impurity under the Mosaic law that rendered a person or thing unfit for participation in worship or normal community life until purification was accomplished.
☩Prohibited Foods
The Jews were forbidden to eat things strangled, dead of themselves, or killed by beasts of prey; any beast that did not both part the hoof and chew the cud; certain 'creeping things'; specified classes of birds; water creatures lacking both fins and scales; and winged insects lacking hind legs for leaping. The practical effect excluded all carnivorous quadrupeds and raptorial birds, which may have been viewed as unfit because they were not averse to human carcasses.
☩Blood and Fat
All blood was strictly forbidden, as was fat disposed in masses among the intestines. The prohibition of blood dates from the declaration to Noah and was extended even to strangers sojourning among Israel. Blood was esteemed as 'the life' of the creature, and a mysterious sanctity attached to it. Fat was claimed as a burnt-offering to God. One who ate blood was to be cut off from the people—a more severe penalty than other dietary violations.
☩Purpose of the Laws
The dietary code served as a ceremonial barrier relating to the theocratic idea, the general health of the people, and their separateness as a nation. The same personal interest taken by Jehovah in His subjects demanded ceremonial purity in every detail of diet. However, a higher lawgiver announced that 'there is nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him,' transferring the focus from external observance to the condition of the heart.
Related Verses39 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Unclean," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. X (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).