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The first distinction between clean and unclean animals is found in Gen 7:2, a text that is assigned by historical-critical scholars to the J source.1 Almost all scholarsJews or Christiansput the laws about permitted or forbidden animals into the category of ceremonial or cultic law.2 J. Moskala, in his review of literature of the Mosaic laws regarding dietary prohibitions, classifies various interpretations thematically and evaluates them in the light of recent exegetical and theological scholarly discussion.3 In todays discussion of the topic, most Jewish and Christian scholarsboth conservative and historical-critical support the abolition of the laws regarding clean and unclean animals/food.4
1 See, for example, C. Westermann, Genesis 111: A Commentary, trans. J. J. Scullion (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1984), 42729; G. von Rad, Genesis: A Commentary (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1961), 11416. 2 See, for example, W. C. Kaiser, The Book of Leviticus: Introduction, Commentary, and Reflections, The New Interpreters Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 1994), 1:1082; J. Milgrom, Ethics and Ritual: The Foundations of the Biblical Dietary Laws, in Religion and Law: Biblical-Judaic and Islamic Perpectives, ed. E. B. Firmage, B. G. Weiss, and J. W. Welch (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990), 15991. 3 See J. Moskala, The Laws of Clean & Unclean Animals in Leviticus 11: Their Nature, Theology, and Rationale, ATSDS 4 (Berrien Springs: ATSP, 2000), 11249. This author outlines the following fourteen theories: The Arbitrary Command explanation, the Cultic explanation, the Sociological explanation, the Symbolic explanation, the Didactic explanation, the Psychological/Repulsiveness explanation, the Taboo and Totemism explanation, the Death-Life Antithesis explanation, the Anthropological explanation, the Nature/Culture Boundary explanation, the Ethical/Moral explanation, the Sacrificial Paradigm explanation, the Economic explanation, and the Hygienic/Health explanation. 4 There are a few exceptions among Jewish scholars: J. Milgrom, L. R. Kass, and L. E. Goodman; and among Christian scholars: G. F. Hasel, J. Doukhan, R. M. Davidson, A. M. Rodriguez, R. J. Rushdoony, H. B. Rand, and E. A. Josephson (Ibid., 152).
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There is a synonymous parallelism between A You shall take with you seven each of [tiqqah-lka sib{a sib{a] // A two each of [hiw snayim], especially between seven each of [sib{a sib{a] // two each of [hiw snayim].6 The antithetical, semantic, and a precise positive-negative syntactical parallelism is evident between B every clean animal [mikol habhema hathora] // B animals that are unclean [umin-habhema }ser lo thora]. In both cases, at a semantic level, the lines refer to animals [habhema]. On the syntactic level, there is a preposition+noun+adjective // preposition+noun+adjective parallelism, but with the components in the positive-negative case.7 Finally, we also observe a synonymous, grammatical, and syntactical parallelism between C a male and his female [}s w}isto] // C a male and his female [}s w}isto]. This parallelism can be observed at a grammatical level between the nouns }s and }isto, }s is a noun masculine singular in both microstructures, and }isto is also a noun feminine singular construct in both microsections. On the syntactic level, there is a noun+noun construct (+suffix) // noun+noun construct (+suffix) parallelism in both microstructures.8
NKJV. As Watson points out when referring to the parallel types of words: synonymous word-pairs comprise a large class with a broad spectrum . . . Its components are synonyms or near-synonyms and therefore almost interchangeable in character; see W. G. E. Watson, Classical Hebrew Poetry, JSOT Supplement Series 26 (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1986), 131. 7 In Watsons words: antonymic word-pairs are made up of words opposite in meaning and are normally used in antithetic parallelism (ibid.). 8 For a study of biblical grammatical, semantic, and syntactic parallelism, see A. Berlin, The Dynamics of Biblical Parallelism (Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1985), 31102.
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9 A. Erman, and H. Grapow, Wrterbuch der gyptischen Sprache (Leipzig: Quelle und Meyer, 19261931, 1963), 1:28082. 10 AHw, 1:180; CAD, 4:14; J. Black, A. George and N. Postgate (eds.), A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian (CDA), SANTAG 5 (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 1999), 64. 11 AHw, 1:204f.; CAD, 4:10206; CDA, 70. 12 G. J. Botterweck, and H. Ringgren (eds.), Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament (TDOT), trans. D. E. Green (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), 5:289. 13 AHw, 1:180f.; CAD, 4:48; CDA, 64. 14 AHw, 1:197f.; CAD, 4:8083; CDA, 69. 15 CDA, 64; see also J. Huehnergard, A Grammar of Akkadian, HSS 45 (Atlanta: Scholars, 1997), 492. 16 CDA, 69; see also Huehnergard, 493.
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wbn.bht.ksp.whrs bht.thrm.iqnim
and (so) build a mansion of silver and gold, a mansion of brilliant stones (and) lapis-lazuli.
wbn.bht.ksp 34whrs. and (so) build a mansion of silver and gold, bht.thrm.35iqnim a mansion of brilliant stones (and) lapis-lazuli.21
thora in the Old Testament The term thora appears in Gen 7:2 22 in the statement: Of every clean [thora] beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female; and of beasts that are not clean [thora] by two, the male and his female.23 The LXX usually uses katharos and katharizein to translate thr and its derivatives,24 while the Vulgate has mundis. All the major English versions translate thora with clean.25 The root thr and its derivatives occur 206 times in the OT.26 The verb tahar occurs 94 times (34 times in the Qal, 39 times in the Piel, 1 time in the Pual, and 20 times in the Hithpael), tahor appears 95 times, tohar 3 times, tohra 13 times, and thar 1 time. The adjective feminine singular thora has been defined as
17 See S. Segert, A Basic Grammar of the Ugaritic Language (Berkeley: U of California P, 1984), 162, 187 (1.4:V:19). 18 See C. H. Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook, Analecta Orientalia 38 (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1965), n 1032; Huehnergard, 58, 76, 131. Hurrian: sehali pure + adverbial ending ae [sih]a-al-e], hence purely. Ugaritic: the form here is probably /tuhuru/ < *tahuru (cf. Arabic tahur, Hebrew tahor < *tahur, Aramaic tahura) with vowel assimilation around the guttural /h/. 19 See M. Dietrich, O. Loretz, and J. Sanmartin, Die keilalphabetischen Texte aus Ugaritic, ALASP 8 (Mnster: Ugarit-Verlag, 19952), 19. 20 Ibid. 21 J. C. L. Gibson, Canaanite Myths and Legends (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 19782), 61; G. Del Olmo Lete, Mitos y Leyendas de Canan (Madrid: Cristiandad, 1981), 203. Gibson points out thr as clean, brilliant (ibid., 147), and Del Olmo Lete as pure, brilliant (ibid., 555). See also G. Del Olmo Lete & J. Sanmartin, Diccionario de la Lengua Ugaritica, Aula Orientalis Supplementa 8 (Barcelona: Ausa, 2000), 2:480, pure, brilliant. 22 See W. GeseniusE. Kautzch, Gesenius Hebrew Grammar, trans. A. E. Cowley (Oxford: Clarendon, 1910), 119w2, 138b; P. Joon and T. Muraoka, A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew, Subsidia Biblica 14 (Roma: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, 1996), 2:530, 537, 595, 602, 605; and B. K. Waltke and M. OConnor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1990), 116 n. 6, 276, 289, 333, 660. 23 KJV. 24 A. Rahlfs, Septuaginta (Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgessellschaft, 1979). 25 ASV; NIV; NKJV; RSV; NRSV. 26 A. Even-Shoshan, A New Concordance of the Old Testament (Jerusalem: Kiryat Sefer, 1990), 40910.
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BDB, 373. D. J. A. Clines (ed.), The Dictionary of Classical Hebrew (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1996), 3:34243. 29 W. L. Holladay, A Concise Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971), 122. 30 E. Jenni and C. Westermann (ed.), Diccionario Teologico del Antiguo Testamento (Madrid: Cristiandad, 1978), 1:895. 31 E. Klein, A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English (Jerusalem: U of Haifa, 1987), 240. 32 TDOT, 5:29091. 33 R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer and B. K. Waltke (ed.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody, 1980), 1:344. 34 Exod 25; 30:3. 35 Exod 37. 36 Exod 25:11; 37:2. 37 Exod 25:17; 37:6. 38 Exod 25:2324 ({asa); 37:1011 (sph [Piel] overlaid). 39 Exod 25:29; 37:16. 40 Exod 25:31, 39; 37:17, 22, 24. 41 Exod 25:38; 37:23. 42 Exod 30:3; 37:26. 43 Exod 28; 39. 44 Exod 28:14. 45 Exod 28:22; 39:15, 17. 46 Exod 39:25. 47 Exod 28:36; 39:30. 48 1 Kgs 7:50 (zahab sagur); 1 Kgs 10:18 (zahab mupaz); 1 Chron 28:18 (zahab msuqqaq); 2 Chron 3:5, 8 (zahab tob). 49 Lev 24:6; 2 Chron 13:11.
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Exod 31:8; 39:37; Lev 24:4. Exod 30:35. 52 Jenni and Westermann, 1:896. 53 2 Sam 22:27 = Ps 18:26; Isa 52:11. 54 Job 11:4; Ps 19:9; 24:4; 73:1; Cant 6:910. 55 Job 33:3; Zeph 3:9. 56 2 Sam 22:21, 25 = Ps 18:20, 24; Job 22:30. 57 Job 15:14; 25:4; Ps 51:7; Mic 6:11. 58 Ps 73:13; 119:9; Prov 20:9. 59 Isa 1:16. 60 Job 15:15; 25:5; Lam 4:7. 61 Job 9:30. 62 Exod 27:20; 30:34; Lev 24:2, 7; Job 8:6; 11:4; 16:17; 33:9; Prov 16:2; 20:11; 21:8. 63 Jenni and Westermann, 1:900. 64 Lev 10:10; 20:25; Ezek 44:23. 65 Lev 11:47; Deut 14:11, 20. 66 Lev 7:19, 20. 67 Num 19:9, 18f. 68 Num 18:11; Lev 10:14 adds: in a clean place. 69 Num 18:13. 70 Lev 22:4. 71 Lev 4:12; 6:11; 10:1214; 1618; Num 19:9.
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TDOT, 5:29596; see also Jenni and Westermann, 1:901. M. Jastrow, A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (New York: Judaica, 1992), 520. 74 Genesis 111 is universally recognized to be universal in outlook and to have the whole world in view. See E. A. Speiser, Genesis, AncB (Garden City: Doubleday, 1964), liii; Westermann, 164; V. P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 117, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 10; G. J. Wenham, Genesis 115, WBC (Waco: Word, 1987), xlviliii. 75 See Wenham, 177. 76 For an analysis of the reasons, see Moskala, 24849. 77 Three species of animal (cattle, sheep, and goats: Lev 9:24; Exod 29:3839, 42; etc) and two species of birds (turtledove and pigeon: Lev 1:14; 5:7).
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78 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good (Gen 1:21, 25, NKJV; emphasis added). 79 So the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life (Gen 3:14, NKJV; emphasis added). 80 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made (Gen 2:23, NKJV; emphasis added). 81 See J. D. Levenson, Creation and the Persistence of Evil: The Jewish Drama of Divine Omnipotence (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988), 118.
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82 83
See Exod 22:31; Lev 11:4447; 20:2526; Deut 14:2, 21. See Wenham, 176.
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