What Does Leviticus 11:7 Mean in the King James?
And the swine, though he divide the hoof, and be clovenfooted, yet he cheweth not the cud; he is unclean to you.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The hoof’s split is emphatic, but it cannot stand in for the missing cud-chewing: the verse requires the whole pair of signs.
THE MEANING
The verse holds two facts together: the swine divides the hoof, yet does not chew the cud, so it is unclean to you. A visible sign is real without being sufficient; the classification rests on the whole pattern named here.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The split hoof alone does not make the swine clean; one true sign cannot substitute for the missing one.
THE ROOT
מַפְרִיס פַּרְסָה
mafris parsah
GROWS FROM
פרס
p-r-s
to split or divide
“divideth the hoof” in this verse is mafris parsah. The Hebrew uses this root in both the verb for dividing and the word for hoof. The split is prominent in the wording, yet the verse still adds a second required sign.
ALSO GROWS
mafris: dividing, splitting
מַפְרִיס
This participle names the visible action the hoof performs.
parsah: hoof
פַּרְסָה
This noun shares the split-root, echoing the division in the body part itself.
paras: to divide
פָּרַס
The root’s basic verb meaning makes the link between the action and the hoof clear.
שֹׁסֵעַ שֶׁסַע
shosea shesa
GROWS FROM
שסע
sh-s-ʿ
to split or cleave apart
“clovenfooted” in this verse is shosea shesa. The text names the split again with a second root: it first says the hoof is divided, then describes it as cleft. This doubled attention to the visible feature sits beside the absent cud-chewing, which still determines the classification.
ALSO GROWS
shosea: splitting, cleaving
שֹׁסֵעַ
This form describes the hoof’s split as an action or condition.
shesa: a split or cleft
שֶׁסַע
The related noun names the cleft itself, repeating the same root idea.
טָמֵא
tame
GROWS FROM
טמא
t-m-ʾ
to be unclean or ritually impure
“unclean” in this verse is tame. This root names the animal’s status after both signs are considered. The verse does not let the conspicuous split erase the missing cud-chewing.
ALSO GROWS
tame: unclean
טָמֵא
This is the status assigned to the swine in the verse.
tumah: uncleanness, impurity
טֻמְאָה
The related noun names the state carried by the same root.
THE PATTERN
A visible sign can be real without completing a judgment when the text names another condition alongside it.
Whatsoever parteth the hoof, and is clovenfooted, and cheweth the cud, among the beasts, that shall ye eat.And every beast that parteth the hoof, and cleaveth the cleft into two claws, and cheweth the cud among the beasts, that ye shall eat.But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.THE THREAD
And the swine, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.The same roots for dividing, hoof, and cud-chewing recur in this parallel verse. Its added boundary about eating or touching makes the result concrete: the split remains true, but it does not cancel the absent second sign.
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