SEV Biblia, Chapter 11:29
Y estos tendréis por inmundos de los animales que se van arrastrando sobre la tierra: la comadreja, y el ratón, y la rana según su especie,
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Leviticus 11:29
Verse 29. The weasel] dlj choled, from chalad, Syr., to creep in. Bochart conjectures, with great propriety, that the mole, not the weasel, is intended by the Hebrew word: its property of digging into the earth, and creeping or burrowing under the surface, is well known.
The mouse] rbj[ achbar. Probably the large field rat, or what is called by the Germans the hamster, though every species of the mus genus may be here prohibited.
The tortoise] bx tsab. Most critics allow that the tortoise is not intended here, but rather the crocodile, the frog, or the toad. The frog is most probably the animal meant, and all other creatures of its kind.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 29. These also [shall be] unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth , etc.] As distinguished from those creeping things that fly, these having no wings as they; and which were equally unclean, neither to be eaten nor touched, neither their blood, their skin, nor their flesh, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it: and the Misnic doctors say that the blood of a creeping thing and its flesh are joined together: and Maimonides observes, that this is a fundamental thing with them, that the blood of a creeping thing is like its flesh; which in Siphre (an ancient book of theirs) is gathered from what is said in ( Leviticus 11:29) “these shall be unclean”, etc. hence the wise men say, the blood of a creeping thing pollutes as its flesh: the creeping things intended are as follow: the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind ; the first of these, “the weasel”, a creature well known; there are two sorts of it, as Pliny says, the field weasel, and the house weasel; the former are called by the Jewish writers the weasel of the bushes f366 , and the latter the weasel that dwells in the foundations of houses f367 ; and of the former there was a doubt among some of them whether it was a species of the eight reptiles in ( Leviticus 11:29) or whether it was a species of animals f368 ; and which, Maimonides says, is a species of foxes like to weasels: Bochart thinks the mole is intended; but the generality of interpreters understand it of the weasel; and so Jarchi and Kimchi, and Philip Aquinas f370 , interpret it by “mustela”, the weasel: however, all agree the second is rightly interpreted “the mouse”; which has its name in Hebrew from its being a waster and destroyer of fields; an instance of which we have in ( 1 Samuel 6:5 (see Gill on “ 1 Samuel 6:5”)); so that this sort may be chiefly intended, though it includes all others, who are distinguished by their colours, the black, the red, and the white, which are all mentioned by Jonathan in his paraphrase of the text: this animal, as a learned physician expresses it, eats almost everything, gnaws whatever it meets with, and, among other things, is a great lover of swine’s flesh, which was an abomination to the Jews; nor does it abstain from dung, and therefore it is no wonder it should be reckoned among impure creatures; and yet we find they were eaten by some people, (see Isaiah 66:17) especially the dormouse; for which the old Romans made conveniences to keep them in, and feed them, and breed them for the table f372 : so rats in the West Indies are brought to market and sold for food, as a learned author of undoubted credit assures us, who was an eyewitness of it: the last in this text, “the tortoise”, means the land tortoise; it has its name from the shell with which it is covered, this word being sometimes used for a covered wagon, ( Numbers 7:3) there are various kinds of them, as Pliny and other writers observe, and who, as Strabo and Mela also, speak of a people they call Chelonophagi, or tortoise eaters: a tortoise of the land kind is esteemed a very delicate dish:
Dr. Shaw f377 , speaking of the land and water tortoises in Barbary, says, the former, which hides itself during the winter months, is very palatable food, but the latter is very unwholesome: the Septuagint version renders it, the “land crocodile”, which, is approved of by Bochart f378 : and Leo Africanus says f379 , that many in Egypt eat the flesh of the crocodile, and affirm it to be of good savour; and so Benzon says, its flesh is white and tender, and tastes like veal; though some among them, as Strabo asserts, have a great antipathy and hatred to them; and others worship them as gods, and neither can be supposed to eat them; the land crocodiles are eaten by the Syrians, as Jerom affirms, for those feeding on the sweetest flowers, as is said, their entrails are highly valued for their agreeable odour: Jarchi says, it is a creature like a frog; he means a toad; so Philip Aquinas and many render the word: Dr. Shaw takes the creature designed to be the sharp-scaled tailed lizard f383 .
Matthew Henry Commentary
What animals were clean and unclean.
--These laws seem to have been intended, 1. As a test of the people' obedience, as Adam was forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge; an to teach them self-denial, and the government of their appetites. 2. To keep the Israelites distinct from other nations. Many also of thes forbidden animals were objects of superstition and idolatry to the heathen. 3. The people were taught to make distinctions between the holy and unholy in their companions and intimate connexions. 4. The la forbad, not only the eating of the unclean beasts, but the touching of them. Those who would be kept from any sin, must be careful to avoi all temptations to it, or coming near it. The exceptions are very minute, and all were designed to call forth constant care and exactnes in their obedience; and to teach us to obey. Whilst we enjoy ou Christian liberty, and are free from such burdensome observances, we must be careful not to abuse our liberty. For the Lord hath redeeme and called his people, that they may be holy, even as he is holy. We must come out, and be separate from the world; we must leave the company of the ungodly, and all needless connexions with those who ar dead in sin; we must be zealous of good works devoted followers of God and companions of his people.
Ceremonial purification.
--After the laws concerning clean and unclean food, come the law concerning clean and unclean persons. Man imparts his depraved natur to his offspring, so that, excepting as the atonement of Christ and the sanctification of the Spirit prevent, the original blessing, "Increas and multiply," Ge 1:28, is become to the fallen race a direful curse and communicates sin and misery. Let those women who have receive mercy from God in child-bearing, with all thankfulness own God' goodness to them; and this shall please the Lord better tha sacrifices __________________________________________________________________
Original Hebrew
וזה 2088 לכם הטמא 2931 בשׁרץ 8318 השׁרץ 8317 על 5921 הארץ 776 החלד 2467 והעכבר 5909 והצב 6632 למינהו׃ 4327
