Charles Ellicott Commentary Leviticus 11:46

"This is the law of the beast, and of the bird, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and of every creature that creepeth upon the earth;" — Leviticus 11:46 (ASV)

This is the law of the beasts. —This is a recapitulation of the different classes of animals proscribed in the dietary laws. It will, however, be seen that in this summary they are not enumerated in the same order in which they are discussed in the chapter before us.

In the dietary law, the order of the four classes is as follows:

1. the land animals,
2. the water animals,
3. the birds of the air, and
4. the swarming animals;

while the order of the summary is:

1. the land animals,
2. the birds of the air,
3. the water animals, and
4. the swarming animals.

Exactly the same is the case in the summary of the sacrificial law .