▼14:3 Unclean: See the annotations on Lev. 11.(Challoner)

▼14:5The exact identity of all the animals in this passage is not clear. The ancients did not categorize animals by species, as we do, but by appearance. (The same is true for birds, fish, plants, and gem stones.) The male and female deer are listed separately because they are very different in appearances. Both the domesticated goat and the wild goat are listed so that it is clear that both wild and domesticated forms of any animal are acceptable. The giraffe is a kosher animal, as are all the animals in the list of this verse. The giraffe is listed as an example of the limits of the range of animals which could be eaten. So the list is a partial list of examples, not an exhaustive list. But in such partial lists, it is helpful to have examples from the full range, i.e. some common examples of kosher animals (sheep) and also much less common examples. At the far end of this set of examples is the giraffe, listed not so as to encourage the Israelites to hunt and eat giraffe, but so as to show how broad the range is of kosher animals.(Conte)

▼14:18Bats are categorized with birds because they all fly. This is not an error; it is merely a different, and very practical, way of categorizing animals.(Conte)