Leviticus 11:32

Lev 11:32 And upon whatsoever [any] of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether [it be] any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel [it be], wherein [any] work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed.

Ver. 32. It shall be unclean.] With a ceremonial uncleanness only, and not moral: howbeit, the disobedience, even in such a small matter, brought a guilt upon the soul, which did defile, while the prohibition was in force; as one well observeth.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:32-40 Dead animals could make things and people unclean. Even a clean animal that died without having its blood drained was considered unclean (11:39-40). When a person became unclean from contact with an animal’s carcass, it lasted only until evening. Household articles that came into contact with a carcass had to be purified (11:25, 28, 32, 40) or destroyed (11:33, 35).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

As a bottle or bag.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 32. Any vessel of wood] Such as the wooden bowls still in use among the Arabs. Or raiment, or skin - any trunks or baskets covered with skins, another part of the furniture of an Arab tent; the goat-skins, in which they churn their milk, may be also intended. Or sack - any hair-cloth used for the purpose of transporting goods from place to place.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(32) And upon whatsoever any of them.—Better, and upon whatsoever aught of them, that is, not only if the whole carcase fell upon any of the specified vessels were the vessels in question defiled, but if a portion of the carcase came in contact with the utensils it made them unclean. (See Lev_11:25.) According to the law which obtained during the second Temple it was only when the portion of the carcase of an unclean animal had flesh on it that it defiled, but not otherwise. Hence the skins, hair, bones, horns, hoofs, sinews, &c. of all unclean creatures were exempted. These were made into different domestic utensils and implements. The use thus made of the parts in question also constituted one of the differences between the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the time of Christ. The Sadducees regarded every portion of every unclean animal in whatever state as defiling, and hence prohibited its being made up into any vessel.

Vessel of wood.—That is, vessels made of bulrushes (Isa_18:2), reeds, wicker, shells of nuts, barks of trees, or of anything which grew out of the earth like wood.

Or raiment.—That is, any garment made of a woven material, such as wool, flax, hemp, or anything which grows on the dry land. Hence cloth made of a material which grows in the sea was not defiled, according to the canons which obtained during the second Temple.

Or skin.—This also, according to the same authorities, only applied to the skins of land animals; skins of aquatic creatures received no defilement.

Or sack.—From the parallel passage in Num_31:20, we see that by this expression here is meant garments made of stuffs of goats’ hair, in contradistinction to the textures of which the garments were made, denoted by the expression beged, “raiment.” (See also Isa_20:2.) Skins which were not made into garments or vessels, or which exhibited unfinished vessels, received no pollution.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

32. The case of one of these small animals creeping into a pan or bag or garment, and being found dead, seems to be contemplated. In such a case the vessel is unclean for the rest of the day and (Lev_11:33) if earthen must be broken, cp. Lev_6:28.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean,.... Any of the above eight creeping things, that is, of their flesh, for as for their bones, nails, nerves, and skin, as before observed, being separated from them and dry, they do not defile:

whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack; every wooden vessel, as the Targum of Jonathan; and all sorts of clothes, of woollen, linen, or silk, and all sorts of skins, excepting skins of sea beasts; for these, according to the Jews (t), received no pollution; and also sacks or sackcloth, made of goats' hair, and the like:

whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done; any tool or instrument made use of by any artificer in his trade, or any vessel wrought by him:

it must be put into water; dipped into it, even into forty seahs of water, according to the Targum of Jonathan; and which is to be understood, not of any working tool, or finished vessel only, but of any vessel of wood, raiment, skin, or sack, before mentioned:

it shall be unclean until the even; even though put into water and washed:

so it shall be cleansed; in the above manner, by being put or dipped into water; or "afterwards", as the Septuagint, when it has been dipped and the even is come, and not before. (t) Bartenora in Misn. Celaim, c. 17. sect. 13.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

32. Vessel… must be put into water — This explains the baptism of cups, and pots, and brazen vessels, (Mar_7:4,) and “divers washings” mentioned in Heb_9:10, as characteristic of the Jews.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

במים יובא IT MUST BE PUT INTO WATER — but even after it has been immersed, טמא IT IS UNCLEAN in respect to using it to hold the heave - offering,

עד הערב UNTIL THE EVENING, AND — afterwards — וטהר IT BECOMETH CLEAN at the setting of the sun (Yevamot 75a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

AND EVERY THING UPON WHICH ANY PART OF THEM, WHEN THEY ARE DEAD, DOTH FALL, SHALL BE UNCLEAN: WHETHER IT SHALL BE ANY VESSEL OF WOOD etc. It appears to me in the interpretation of this verse that most likely the expression any of them, when they are dead, alludes to all those mentioned above — impure animals, creeping things, and beasts. For why should He mention the law of impurity of vessels and garments only with reference to creeping things, when it applies also to carcasses? Similarly, all the rules that He mentions with reference to making food susceptible to impurity [conveyed by creeping things], apply equally to all [forms of] impurity, and Scripture speaks of the general concept of them. Do not find it difficult to accept that the expression touch them when they are dead in the first verse. applies to the creeping things, while the same expression any of them when they are dead [in Verse 32 before us] applies to all things that convey impurity, for such is the case in many places in Scripture [where similar words apply to different things].It is possible to say that Scripture waited until it had mentioned all impure things amongst cattle, beasts, and creeping things, and then at the end mentioned impurity of vessels with reference to one of them [namely, the creeping things], with which it had concluded this theme, in order that the law of all the others be derived from it, for the opinion of our Rabbis is that the expression any of them when they are dead [in Verse 32 before us] refers [only] to creeping things, and from that they learn that a creeping thing in [a minimal] size of a lentil conveys impurity., it shows that even though one has not touched the whole creeping thing but “any” part of it, he is rendered impure. “Now since the sand-lizard [one of the eight creeping things that convey impurity] when born is the size of a lentil,” therefore that amount of any of the eight creeping things when dead also conveys impurity (Chagiga ibid.). Thus according to the interpretation of the Rabbis, Verse 32 before us also speaks only of the impurity conveyed by creeping things, and not, as explained above, about all other impurities. Scripture dealt likewise with the subject of immersion, in mentioning at the end of all [the laws of] impurity, the impurity [conveyed by creeping things] to vessels and their purification by immersion, and from it we learn the law of man and vessels with reference to all the impurities mentioned above.

IT MUST BE PUT INTO WATER, AND IT SHALL BE UNCLEAN UNTIL THE EVEN; AND IT SHALL BE CLEAN. “Even after it has been immersed, it is still impure with regard to the heave-offering, until the setting of the sun, and afterwards at the setting of the sun it becomes pure.” This is Rashi’s language. And the interpretation in the Torath Kohanim is: 6:9. “And it shall be unclean until the even. I might think that [it shall be impure] for all [purposes]; Scripture therefore says, and it shall be clean. But if so, I might think that it is pure for all purposes; Scripture therefore says, and it shall be unclean until the even. How then can this be explained? It is pure with respect to ordinary food (the heave-offering) eaten by the priest. Thus if an Israelite who was impure immersed himself to be purified, he may straightaway eat of the Second Tithe, even though the sun has not yet set. But a priest who was impure and immersed himself before sunset, may not eat of the heave-offering until the sun has set and the stars have come forth. when it is still daytime [immediately after it was immersed to be purified], but regarding the heave-offering it is not held to be pure until it becomes dark.” The interpretation of the verse according to the explanation of the Torath Kohanim is thus: “it must be put into the water [before sundown] and it shall remain unclean till the evening.” But by way of the simple meaning of Scripture [the verse is to be transposed, thus]: “it must be put into water and it shall be clean, but it shall be unclean until the evening.”Now Scripture mentioned in all the sections [that the impurity is] “until the evening,” because it refers to the degree of purity required for the holy heave-offering, as He said, The soul that toucheth any such [unclean things] shall be unclean until the even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he bathe his flesh in water. And when the sun is down, he shall be clean; and afterward he may eat of the holy things, because it is his bread. (the heave-offering). But the purification required for ordinary food or the [Second] Tithe is attained after immersion alone, and it is not mentioned here because it is not mandatory upon an impure person to purify himself in order to eat ordinary food, for if he wants to, he may eat it in a state of impurity. purify himself, and wait till evening, whereas for ordinary food there is no requirement that it must be eaten in a state of purity, and thus no necessity to immerse oneself. If he does wish to eat it in a state of purity, however, he attains this immediately after immersion and even before sundown, as explained above in Ramban and in Note 246.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.