Commentary on Harmony of the Law Volume 1 Complete John Calvin
HARMONY OF THE LAW · VOLUME 1
Exodus 22:31
31. And ye shall be holy men unto me: neither shall ye eat any flesh that is torn of beasts in the field; ye
31. Viri sancti eritis mihi: carnem in agro raptam non comedetis, cani projicietis eam.
shall cast it to the dogs.
Leviticus 17
Leviticus 17:15, 16
15. And every soul that eateth that which died of itself, or that which was torn with beasts, whether it be one of your own country, or
15. Onmis anima quae comederit cadaver, aut raptum, tam de indigenis quam de peregrinis, lavabit vestimenta sua, ubi laverit se aqua: eritque immundus usque ad vesperam, deinde mundus erit. a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even: then shall he be clean.
16. But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh; then he shall bear his iniquity.
16. Quod si non laverit vestes, et carnem non laverit, portabit iniquitatem suam.
Deuteronomy 14:21. Ye shall not eat of any thing that dieth of itself. The eating of any carcase, or of flesh torn by wild beasts, is reckoned among the causes of defilement; but we must understand it to be the carcase of an animal which has died of hunger or disease, for, from the nature of its death, it contracted impurity, although in itself it were otherwise pure. The end of the precept is gathered from the reason which is immediately subjoined, "for thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God," and from the ablution which is prescribed in the passage from Leviticus. The same thing is, secondly, enjoined respecting flesh that has been torn, as before with regard to the carcase, for the deformity of its laceration is counted as uncleanness. The holiness of the people is again referred to, that they may more diligently beware of defilements. Hence it follows that those were contaminated who should eat of torn flesh. Therefore, in the third