Deuteronomy 14:9
in Deuteronomy 14Of all the creatures that live in the water, you may eat anything with fins and scales,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
These ye may eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales may ye eat;
KJV
These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
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This verse in Deuteronomy 14
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters
on Deuteronomy 14:9-20
Water creatures get a test and no list, fins and scales, so the rule reaches species nobody has named. The birds are handled the other way, by naming what is forbidden and leaving all the rest clean, and this list runs to twenty one where Leviticus 11:13-19 gives twenty, the glede being the addition. The bat closes the list of fowls, since the grouping follows how a creature moves rather than how it is built. Leviticus 11:21-22 allowed four kinds of leaping insect, the locust among them, and verse 19 forbids every creeping thing that flieth without repeating that exception, which the Targum of Jonathan and Aben Ezra supply from the earlier text.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
. [3.] No general rule is given concerning fowl, but those are particularly mentioned that were to be unclean to them, and there are few or none of them which are here forbidden that are now commonly eaten; and whatsoever is not expressly forbidden is allowed,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
These ye shall eat of, all that are in the waters,.... The fishes there, even such as have fins and scales, but they that have not were not to be eaten: See Gill on Lev 11:9, Lev 11:10, Lev 11:11, Lev 11:12.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זֶה֙ | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| תֹּֽאכְל֔וּ | tokhelu | you will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| מִכֹּ֖ל | mikol | from all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בַּמָּ֑יִם | bamayim | [is] in the water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| כֹּ֧ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| ל֛וֹ | lo | [belongs] to <the> it | ||
| סְנַפִּ֥יר | senapir | fin | H5579 → | |
| וְקַשְׂקֶ֖שֶׂת | vekaskeset | and scale | H7193 → | |
| תֹּאכֵֽלוּ׃ | tokhelu | you will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זֶה֙this
zehH2088 →1180 times
תֹּֽאכְל֔וּyou will eat
tokheluH398 →810 times
מִכֹּ֖לfrom all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בַּמָּ֑יִם[is] in the water
bamayimH4325 →581 times
כֹּ֧לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁר־that
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
ל֛וֹ[belongs] to <the> it
lo
סְנַפִּ֥ירfin
senapirH5579 →
וְקַשְׂקֶ֖שֶׂתand scale
vekaskesetH7193 →
תֹּאכֵֽלוּ׃you will eat
tokheluH398 →810 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.