Leviticus 11:36 (DRB)

Passage

But fountains and cisterns, and all gatherings together of waters shall be clean. He that toucheth their carcasses shall be defiled.

Nearby Context

Leviticus 11:34 Any meat which you eat, if water from such a vessel be poured upon it, shall be unclean; and every liquor that is drunk out of any such vessel, shall be unclean.

Leviticus 11:35 And upon whatsoever thing any of these dead beasts shall fall, it shall be unclean. Whether it be oven, or pots with feet, they shall be destroyed, and shall be unclean.

Leviticus 11:36 But fountains and cisterns, and all gatherings together of waters shall be clean. He that toucheth their carcasses shall be defiled.

Leviticus 11:37 If it fall upon seed corn, it shall not defile it.

Leviticus 11:38 But if any man pour water upon the seed, and afterwards it be touched by the carcasses, it shall be forthwith defiled.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "fountains", "cisterns", "gatherings", "together", "waters", "shall", "clean", and "toucheth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "fountains" and "cisterns", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 35's "And upon whatsoever thing any of these..." into verse 37's "If it fall upon seed corn it...", so "fountains" and "cisterns" belong inside that flow. In Leviticus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "fountains" and "cisterns" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.