Not joined or plagued

Not joined or plagued

Le 11:8 Of their flesh shall ye not eat, and their carcase shall ye not touch; they [are] unclean to you.

The self-righteousness of the swine is so contagious that we are warned not to be joined to, or plagued by their folly. If you join with a self-righteous person you will be tempted to compete with them in your claims of righteousness. You can almost hear the debate:  : "I didn't steal anything today" "Well, I haven't stolen, nor have I murdered". "I didn't drink anything blue."

But neither should you be plagued by their folly. Sometimes they use their own self-righteousness to be an accuser of you. Implied in their claims of righteousness is the insinuation that you are not righteous.

carcasse nᵉbelah נבלה - folly

touch naga‘ נגע - joined, plagued

Have nothing to do with the swine or you may get caught up in their folly. Perhaps this is a source for Paul's teaching: 2Co 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

This first section of the dietary law was not about eating, but about those we should choose to be our mentors and teachers of scripture. We have used the tools taught by the New Testament authors to interpret the meaning of the Hebrew letters and words, which gave us an insight into why Adam named the animals the way he did, and how God used those names to hide a teaching about Christ within. He is the ultimate clean animal from whom we should learn.