Carcase

A carcase (or carcass) in the Mosaic law designated the body of a dead animal and was a primary source of ritual impurity. Contact with the carcase of any unclean animal, or with the dead body of a clean animal that had not been properly slaughtered, rendered a person unclean until evening and required washing of clothes (Leviticus 11:39–40; Numbers 19:16). The strict regulations surrounding carcases served both hygienic and theological purposes, reinforcing the separation of the holy from the impure. The word is also used figuratively in Scripture to describe the slain bodies of the enemies of God's people (Isaiah 66:24) and as a sign of divine curse on those who violated the covenant (Haggai 2:13).