^11:2“Tell the Israelites: ‘This is the kind of creature you may eat from among all the animals¹ that are on the land. ^11:3You may eat any among the animals that has a divided hoof (the hooves are completely split in two²) and that also chews the cud.³^11:4However, you must not eat these⁴ from among those that chew the cud and have divided hooves: The camel is unclean to you⁵ because it chews the cud⁶ even though its hoof is not divided.⁷^11:5The rock badger⁸ is unclean to you because it chews the cud even though its hoof is not divided. ^11:6The hare is unclean to you because it chews the cud even though its hoof is not divided. ^11:7The pig is unclean to you because its hoof is divided (the hoof is completely split in two⁹), even though it does not chew the cud.¹⁰^11:8You must not eat from their meat and you must not touch their carcasses;¹¹ they are unclean to you.

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Footnotes

1 Heb “the animal,” but as a collective plural, and so throughout this chapter.
2 Heb “every divider of hoof and cleaver of the cleft of hooves”; , “parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted.”
3 Heb “bringer up of the cud” (a few of the ancient versions include the conjunction “and,” but it does not appear in the ). The following verses make it clear that both dividing the hoof and chewing the cud were required; one of these conditions would not be enough to make the animal suitable for eating without the other.
4 Heb “this,” but as a collective plural (see the following context).
5 Regarding “clean” versus “unclean,” see the note on .
6 Heb “because a chewer of the cud it is” (see also vv. 5 and 6).
7 Heb “and hoof there is not dividing” (see also vv. 5 and 6).
8 A small animal generally understood to be Hyrax syriacus; , , “coney”; “rock hyrax.”
9 See the note on .
10 The meaning and basic rendering of this clause is quite certain, but the verb for “chewing” the cud here is not the same as the preceding verses, where the expression is “to bring up the cud” (see the note on v. above). It appears to be a cognate verb for the noun “cud” (גֵּרָה, gerah) and could mean either “to drag up” (i.e., from the Hebrew Qal of גָרָר [garar] meaning “to drag,” referring to the dragging the cud up and down between the stomach and mouth of the ruminant animal; so J. Milgrom, Leviticus [], 1:, ) or “to chew” (i.e., from the Hebrew Niphal [or Qal B] of גָרָר used in a reciprocal sense; so J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [], , and compare 176 גָרַר, “to chew,” with גרר qal.B, “to ruminate”).
11 The regulations against touching the carcasses of dead unclean animals (contrast the restriction against eating their flesh) is treated in more detail in Lev 11:24–28 (cf. also vv. 29–40). For the time being, this chapter continues to develop the issue of what can and cannot be eaten.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the hare, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Say to the Israelites: ‘Of all the animals that live on land, these are the ones you may eat: You may eat any animal that has a divided hoof and that chews the cud.

“ ‘There are some that only chew the cud or only have a divided hoof, but you must not eat them. The camel, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is ceremonially unclean for you. The hyrax, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you. And the pig, though it has a divided hoof, does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or touch their carcasses; they are unclean for you.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“Tell the Israelites: You may eat all these kinds of land animals. You may eat any animal with divided hooves and that chews the cud. But among the ones that chew the cud or have divided hooves you are not to eat these:

camels, though they chew the cud,

do not have divided hooves—they are unclean for you;

hyraxes, though they chew the cud,

do not have hooves—they are unclean for you;

hares, though they chew the cud,

do not have hooves—they are unclean for you;

pigs, though they have divided hooves,

do not chew the cud—they are unclean for you.

Do not eat any of their meat or touch their carcasses—they are unclean for you.

NLTNew Living Translation

“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“Of all the land animals, these are the ones you may use for food. You may eat any animal that has completely split hooves and chews the cud. You may not, however, eat the following animals that have split hooves or that chew the cud, but not both. The camel chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is ceremonially unclean for you. The hyrax chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. The hare chews the cud but does not have split hooves, so it is unclean. The pig has evenly split hooves but does not chew the cud, so it is unclean. You may not eat the meat of these animals or even touch their carcasses. They are ceremonially unclean for you.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

“Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘These are the animals that you may eat from all the animals that are on the land: Any among the animals that has a divided hoof and has a split cleft in the hoof and that chews cud, such you may eat. However, these you may not eat from those that chew the cud and from those that have a divided hoof: the camel, because it is a chewer of cud but it does not have a hoof that is divided—it is unclean for you; and the coney, because it is a chewer of cud but it does not have a hoof that is divided—it is unclean for you; and the hare, because it is a chewer of cud but it does not have a hoof that is divided—it is unclean for you; and the pig, because it has a divided hoof and has a split cleft in the hoof but it does not chew cud—it is unclean for you. You must not eat from their meat, and you must not touch their dead body—they are unclean for you.

KJV 1900King James Version

Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which ye shall eat among all the beasts that are on the earth. Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat. Nevertheless these shall ye not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the hoof: as the camel, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. And the coney, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. And the hare, because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof; he is unclean unto you. And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you. Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they are unclean to you.

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