And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even.

LEVITICUS 11:39KJV
Know the Bible

Leviticus 11:39 (KJV)

What does Leviticus 11:39 mean?

Leviticus 11:39 says that if an animal that is normally allowed for food dies on its own, anyone who touches its dead body will be considered unclean until evening. This rule is about ritual purity, not about moral wrongdoing, and sets a temporary period of uncleanness for contact with a dead animal.

In this verse, God is giving instructions to the Israelites through Moses about how to handle animals that die naturally. The focus is on ritual cleanliness, which was important for participating in community and worship life. The verse clarifies that even clean animals, if found dead, could make a person unclean just by touching the carcass, highlighting the seriousness of ritual purity in daily life.

The Hebrew behind Leviticus 11:39

  • בְּהֵמָה (behemah, "beast"): This word refers to domesticated animals or livestock, not wild animals, which is important because only certain animals were permitted as food.
  • נָבֵלָה (nevelah, "carcase"): This word means the dead body of an animal that died by itself, not by slaughter. Touching a nevelah, even of a clean animal, brings ritual impurity.
  • יִטְמָא (yitma, "shall be unclean"): This verb means to become ritually impure, which affected one's ability to participate in worship or community events until the impurity period ended.
  • עֶרֶב (erev, "even"): This refers to the evening, marking the end of the day and the time when the period of uncleanness would be over, allowing the person to return to normal activities.

Why Leviticus 11:39 matters

  • Leviticus 11:39 clarifies that ritual impurity was not just about eating forbidden animals, but also about how one handled even permitted animals after death, showing the broader concern for purity.
  • The verse connects to the larger section on clean and unclean animals, emphasizing that purity laws affected everyday life, not just religious ceremonies.
  • Understanding this rule helps explain later stories and laws where touching a dead body (even of a clean animal) required specific actions to restore purity, shaping the rhythms of ancient Israelite life.

Where else these words appear

“eat” Hebrew H402 · used in 18 verses

  • Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
  • Leviticus 25:6 And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee,
  • Ezekiel 29:5 And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.

“carcase” Hebrew H5038 · used in 41 verses

  • Leviticus 5:2 Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.
  • Leviticus 17:15 And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.
  • 2 Kings 9:37 And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; so that they shall not say, This is Jezebel.

“even” Hebrew H6153 · used in 130 verses

  • Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
  • Leviticus 15:19 And if a woman have an issue, and her issue in her flesh be blood, she shall be put apart seven days: and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even.
  • 1 Kings 17:6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

“toucheth” Hebrew H5060 · used in 142 verses

  • Genesis 3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
  • Numbers 19:21 And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.
  • Psalms 73:14 For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.