Leviticus 11:8

Lev 11:8 Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they [are] unclean to you.

Ver. 8. Of their flesh shall ye not eat.] Not above the quantity of an olive, say the Jew doctors, who will needs be mending magnificat, adding to the law.

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.

Lev 11:8. Ye shall not touch — Not in order to eating. But the fat and skins of some of the forbidden creatures were useful, and might be used by them.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God would that hereby for a time they should be discerned as his people from the Gentiles.

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

(8) Of their flesh ye shall not eat.—During the second Temple the prohibition was defined to extend to the smallest quantity. If any one ate a piece of flesh less even than the size of an olive he was chastised with stripes.

And their carcase shall ye not touch.—As contact with a human dead body, which was regarded as the most defiling of all, was only forbidden to the priests (see Lev_21:1-3), hence the prohibition here addressed to the whole nation was interpreted during the second Temple to apply simply to the occasions when the Israelites came to Jerusalem on the pilgrimage festivals. Contact with a carcase of an unclean animal on these visits precluded the worshipper from entering the sanctuary, from touching sacred things, and from partaking of the sacrificial meats.

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

8. their carcases ye shall not touch] The word carcase is the same as that translated ‘that which dieth of itself’ (Lev_17:15; Deu_14:21). Here and in Deu_14:8 contact with the dead bodies of these unclean animals is prohibited.

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.

Of their flesh shall ye not eat,.... Meaning, not of swine only, but of the camel, coney, and hare:

and their carcass shall ye not touch; which must not be understood of touching them in any sense; for then it would have been unlawful for a Jew to have rode upon a camel, or to take out and make use of hog's lard in medicine; but of touching them in order to kill them, and prepare them for food, and eat them; and indeed all unnecessary touching of them is forbidden, lest it should bring them to the eating of them; though perhaps it may chiefly respect the touching of them dead:

they are unclean to you: one and all of them; for as this was said of each of them in particular, so now of all of them together; and which holds good of all wild creatures not named, to whom the description above belongs, and which used to be eaten by other nations; some of which were called Pamphagi, from eating all sorts, and others Agriophagi, from eating wild creatures, as lions, panthers, elephants (l), &c.

(l) Plin. l. 6. c. 30. Solinus, c. 43.

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

Carcasses. They might be touched while alive, ver. 24.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Ye shall not touch, to wit, in order to eating, as may be gathered by comparing this with Gen 3:3; Col 2:21. For since the fat and the skins of some of the forbidden creatures were useful for medicinal and other good uses, and were used by good men; see Mat 3:4; it is not probable that God would have them cast away. Thus God forbad the making of images, Exo 20, not absolutely and universally, but in order to the worshipping of them, as Christian interpreters agree. Or, they were here forbidden to touch them, to wit, unnecessarily; and if he that touched them for some necessary use were polluted by it, it was but a slight and transient pollution, ending at evening, as appears from Lev 11:24,25, &c.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Of their carcass shall ye not touch. This prohibition is founded upon the same feeling of disgust as the prohibition of eating their flesh. Whatever is foal must be avoided.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ye shall not touch - Not in order to eating, as may be gathered by comparing this with Gen. iii, 3. But since the fat and skins of some of the forbidden creatures were useful, for medicinal and other good purposes, and were used by good men, it is not probable that God would have them cast away. Thus God forbad the making of images, Exod. xx, 4, not universally, but in order to the worshipping them, as Christian interpreters agree.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

מבשרם לא תאכלו OF THEIR FLESH SHALL YE NOT EAT — I have here only a law about these animals mentioned here! Whence can I derive that the same applies to other unclean animals which have no sign of cleanness at all? You must admit that it is a conclusion a fortiori: How is it with these that have some signs of cleanness? They are forbidden! how much the more must this be so in the case of cattle which do not possess even one sign of cleanness! (Sifra, Shemini, Chapter 3 2).

מבשרם OF THEIR FLESH [SHALL YE NOT EAT] — with respect to their flesh one is placed under a prohibition to eat, but not in respect to the bones, sinews, horns and claws (Sifra, Shemini, Chapter 4 8).

ובנבלתם לא תגעו AND THEIR CARRION SHALL YE NOT TOUCH — One might think that Israelites (i. e. non-priests) are prohibited from touching a carcass at any time! It, however, states, (Leviticus 21:1) in reference to uncleanness in touching a corpse: “Speak unto the priests etc.” — priests are prohibited (from touching it) and Israelites in general are not prohibited. Well, you can draw a conclusion a fortiori from now (i. e. consequent upon what you have now stated): How is it in the case of uncleanness caused by a corpse, which is a stringent kind of uncleanness? The Torah prohibits it only to priests, but ordinary Israelites may touch a corpse. Surely in the case of uncleanness caused by a carcass which is less stringent this is all the more so! Then why does it state here: “[and their carrion] shall ye not touch”? — It means on a festival when every male Israelite was obliged to appear in the Sanctuary and should therefore be in a state of cleanness (Sifra, Shemini, Chapter 4 8-9; Rosh Hashanah 16b).

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 THEIR CARCASSES YE SHALL NOT TOUCH. This is not a prohibition [saying that] we are not to touch these carcasses [of the animals that we are forbidden to eat]. Rather, Scripture states, and their carcasses ye shall not touch, for they are unclean to you, meaning to say, “you cannot touch them without becoming unclean.” The meaning thereof is to state that all those who touch them should be aware that they have become unclean and should therefore be careful not to enter the Sanctuary nor [to eat] of the hallowed offerings. Perhaps the meaning of the interpretation which our Rabbis have said: “And their carcasses ye shall not touch — on a festival” is to say that “you should not touch them at a time when you want to be clean, for they are unclean [and by touching them you will also become unclean] and you will not be able to go up to the Sanctuary on the festival.” But the [mere] act of touching them is not forbidden by means of a negative commandment, for he who touches carrion [even] on a festival does not incur whipping [by law of the Torah]. Thus that which the Rabbis have said: “One is dutybound to purify oneself on a festival,” is a commandment of Rabbinic authority, there being according to Scriptural law neither a positive nor a negative commandment, concerning the touching of carrion, except that of going up to the Sanctuary. Or it may be that the interpretation, “And their carcasses ye shall not touch — on a festival,” is a Scriptural text used as a support for the Rabbinical enactment, p. 314, Note 449. like many other laws of the Sages taught there in the Torath Kohanim, which use Biblical texts as a “support.” It is also taught there: 2:6. “Other Rabbis (others). See Horayoth 13 b, for the reason of this name. say: One might think that if a person touches a carcass [he violates a negative commandment and] is liable to whipping? Scripture therefore says, By these ye shall become unclean. From this one might think that if a person sees a carcass he must go and render himself unclean by [touching] it? Scripture therefore says, and their carcasses ye shall not touch. How are we to reconcile these two verses? We must conclude that [touching a carcass] is optional” [i.e., neither obligatory, nor forbidden]. This is the main principle of the Scriptural law.

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.