Leviticus 11:29 (LSB)

Passage

‘Now these are to you the unclean among the swarming things which swarm on the earth: the mole and the mouse and the great lizard in its kinds,

Nearby Context

Leviticus 11:27 Also whatever walks on its paws, among all the creatures that walk on all fours, are unclean to you; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening,

Leviticus 11:28 and the one who picks up their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; they are unclean to you.

Leviticus 11:29 ‘Now these are to you the unclean among the swarming things which swarm on the earth: the mole and the mouse and the great lizard in its kinds,

Leviticus 11:30 and the gecko and the crocodile and the lizard and the sand reptile and the chameleon.

Leviticus 11:31 These are to you the unclean among all the swarming things; whoever touches them when they are dead becomes unclean until evening.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "unclean", "swarming", "things", "earth", "mole", "mouse", and "great". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "unclean" and "swarming", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 28's "and the one who picks up their..." into verse 30's "and the gecko and the crocodile and...", so "unclean" and "swarming" 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 "unclean" and "swarming" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.