Reference

Leviticus 22:6

The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.
4

What man soever of the seed of Aaron is a leper, or hath a running issue; he shall not eat of the holy things, until he be clean. And whoso toucheth any thing that is unclean by the dead, or a man whose seed goeth from him;

5

Or whosoever toucheth any creeping thing, whereby he may be made unclean, or a man of whom he may take uncleanness, whatsoever uncleanness he hath;

6

The soul which hath touched any such shall be unclean until even, and shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water.

7

And when the sun is down, he shall be clean, and shall afterward eat of the holy things; because it is his food.

8

That which dieth of itself, or is torn with beasts, he shall not eat to defile himself therewith: I am the Lord.

Counter-Arguments

The strongest case that this verse does not belong in this theme.

Levitical Dietary Law

The verse does not codify a dietary system based on specific animals. Instead, it addresses ritual impurity incurred by touching certain things (not specified in this verse, but implied by "any such") and the subsequent prohibition from eating "holy things" until purification. The "holy things" here refer to offerings or tithes, not general food. The verse is about ritual purity and access to sacred food, not about which animals are clean or unclean to eat.

Symbolic / Spiritual Interpretation

The verse explicitly deals with ritual purity related to physical contact and eating holy things, not an abstract spiritual state. The prescribed action ("wash his flesh with water") is a physical cleansing, not a symbolic act of spiritual purification. The consequence ("shall not eat of the holy things") is a practical restriction based on ritual status, not a metaphor for moral unworthiness. The context of Leviticus 22 is overwhelmingly concerned with practical, ritualistic regulations for pri