Some commentators and translations consider verses 24-25 a part of the preceding paragraph (New English Bible, for example). But this is not satisfactory, since verses 1-23 deal with the permission to eat and prohibition against eating certain animals, while beginning with verse 24 the text is concerned with the question of impurity which comes as a result of physical contact with dead bodies. The words their carcass in verses 24 and 25 therefore do not refer back to the insects mentioned in the preceding verses; rather they look forward to the mention of the animals in verses 26-28.

Whoever: the word may also mean “whatever” (compare 6.18 and 27), but it is generally agreed that in this context it refers to any person in the community. It may therefore be translated “anyone” or “everyone,” depending on the receptor-language habits when forming a general prohibition such as this.

Unclean: see 5.2.

Touches … carries: in this context the two verbs used seem to refer to involuntary and voluntary contact with the dead bodies. In some cases a person may have to remove a dead animal from the camp for the protection of the group as a whole, even if it made him unclean.

Unclean until the evening: that is, in a state preventing him from participating in the ritual activities of the community. This condition continues until the setting of the sun. In some languages “until the sun goes down (or, disappears)” or “until the end of the day” is the most natural translation of the phrase until the evening. But translators must remember that for the Jews the day ended with the setting of the sun. The translation should not give the impression that the state of impurity continues until midnight or until the following morning.

Wash his clothes: this is a literal washing of the clothing in water, but the reason behind it was based more on ritual than on physical cleanliness. However, a literal washing does not exclude the possibility that ritual cleansing was also involved.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .