Leviticus 11:31 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even. These are unclean to you among all that creep. The interdict against using the reptiles included in the preceding list implies that they were generally eaten by the adjoining tribes; and it is known that various species of lizards are made use of by the Arabs in the present day as common articles of food. But they were strictly forbidden to the Israelites; and the very touch of their carcass caused a defilement that had to be washed off.