Many times people have commented that the Bible laws concerning health and the environment were ahead of their time. I contend that they are not.
I would like to discuss two specific laws that are usually brought up as
evidence of foreknowledge or divine inspiration.
Detueronomy 23:12-13
Designate a place outside the camp where you can go to relieve yourself. As part of your equipment have something to dig with, and when you relieve yourself, dig a hole and cover up your excrement.
If we look at the entire section concerning waste control we read that this ruling deals with soldiers encamped against their enemies.
Deuteronomy 23:9
When you are encamped against your enemies, keep away from everything impure, .
At the end of the section we see that the reasons are geared towards keeping the camp holy so they can win, not sanitary.
Deuteronomy 23:14
For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.
Since Deuteronomy was probably written during the divided kingdom, civilization was already established. Most people weren’t living in camps. Also if we look at the
613 Laws of the Jews, we see this rule listed with the bottom grouping concerning war.
I have not seen any evidence that any ancient tribe left waste within the tribal compound. I don’t believe the Native Americans or African tribes did such a thing either and I haven't heard of tribes being discovered that have such a practice. IMO, it seems to be a natural practice in tribal communities to keep waste outside the living area.
Leviticus 11:35-36
Anything that one of their carcasses falls on becomes unclean; an oven or cooking pot must be broken up. They are unclean, and you are to regard them as unclean. A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean.
This is another one that when we read the entire passage we find that it is dealing with ritual impurity, not health. It is also listed under
Ritual Purity and Impurity in the 613 Laws (5th from the bottom).
Leviticus 11:29-31
Of the animals that move about on the ground, these are unclean for you: The weasel, the rat, any kind of great lizard, the gecko, the monitor lizard, the wall lizard, the skink and the chameleon.
Of all those that move along the ground, these are unclean for you. Whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean till evening.
It is concerned with ritual purity and not health.
Leviticus 11:36-38
A spring, however, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but anyone who touches one of these carcasses is unclean. If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, it is unclean for you.
Notice none of these deals with the need to wash one’s hands after touching a dead animal or the article touched by the dead animal. It does mention putting the item in water, but it is still unclean until evening. The magic hour.
Conclusion: These verses do not support that the Bible was “ahead of its time.” Instead it was pretty much par for the course.
NOTE: This discussion is concerning these two situations only.
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