Leviticus chapter 11

After reading chapter 11:

*This chapter is about what meat foods are considered clean and unclean, but the definition of those terms and the fundamental difference between them is not given.

Clean:
- Animals that have  BOTH divided hoofs AND chew cud. This would have included cattle, sheep, goats, deer, and antelope.
-Water creatures that have BOTH fins AND scales.
-Birds that are not on the unclean list.
-Flying insects that have jointed legs for hopping. This includes grasshoppers and locusts.

Unclean:
- Camels, rabbits, hyraxes, and animals that walk on paws.
-All water creatures that do not have BOTH fins and scales.
- Owls, osprey, ravens, storks, herons, eagles, vultures, kites, storks, gulls, cormorants, hoopoes, and bats. (Notice that bats are included in a list of birds. Generally speaking, these birds are meat eaters, scavengers, and birds of prey. )
-Every insect that does not have jointed legs for hopping.
-Every creature that moves along the ground, wether on feet or on its belly. This includes weasels, rats, lizards, skinks, and chameleons. (I'm surprised snakes are not mentioned by name.)

*Touching the carcass of an unclean animal makes a person unclean. They must wash their clothes and they will be clean again by the end of the day. (The magic of twilight) The carcass of an unclean animal makes almost anything it touches unclean. Ovens or cooking pots must be broken if they come in contact with an unclean animal. Wet seeds that come in contact with these carcasses will be unclean, but not dry seeds for planting. Also,  springs and cisterns will not become unclean. This uncleanness  cannot be a primitive form of God ordained germ avoidance. If it was, God would tell them they didn't need to destroy their ovens and cooking pots. Fire sanitizes. Also, I would personally be worried about the water in a cistern into which any dead animal fell. But, I imagine they couldn't afford to lose water in a cistern, considering the area they lived in. Bugs, rats, and other critters must have fallen in regularly. Having water to drink trumps everything.

*Also, I don't hink that the difference between clean and unclean animals represents a divine knowledge. Notice that the clean animals tend to be domesticated or relatively easy to catch. The unclean animals tend to be more dangerous and take more effort to hunt down, which may negate any benefits. Nevertheless, other cultures throughout the world have no such restrictions and enjoy eating many of the animals considered unclean, especially sea creatures and pigs. It also cannot be equated to the difference between carnivores and herbivores. Camels, rabbits, and hyraxes are herbivores. They have long been food meat for many people. Also, chickens and other insectivore birds  are considered clean and they eat many insects and small animals.

*A person is also considered unclean if they come in contact with the carcass of a clean animal that died on its own. They can eat it, but they must wash and they will be clean again in the evening.

*These regulations fail to account for a variety of animals from around the world. What about elephants, hippos, and rhinos? What about penguins, ostriches, and emus? What about kangaroos? Why does it only speak about animals common to that part of the world? Could it be these laws were not universal and were only for the Israelites? The end of the chapter seems to suggest that "cleanness" is a form of holiness. Perhaps, in some convoluted way, that is how we got the saying, "cleanliness is next to godliness."