Deuteronomy 14:10
in Deuteronomy 14but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye shall not eat; it is unclean unto you.
KJV
And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 14
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Of all the creatures that live in the water
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.
This site's exposition
does not have fins and scales
Leviticus 11:10-12 gives this rule three verses and calls such creatures detestable and an abomination. Deuteronomy says it in one clause with the word unclean. Clement of Alexandria named fish without scales as a class of their own among the foods the law forbade.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
. [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
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְכֹ֨ל | vekhol | and all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֧ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֵֽין־ | ʾein- | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| ל֛וֹ | lo | [belongs] to <the> it | ||
| סְנַפִּ֥יר | senapir | fin | H5579 → | |
| וְקַשְׂקֶ֖שֶׂת | vekaskeset | and scale | H7193 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֹאכֵ֑לוּ | tokhelu | you will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| טָמֵ֥א | tame' | [is] unclean | H2931 → | 88 times |
| ה֖וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ ס | lakhem | to <the> you |
וְכֹ֨לand all
vekholH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֧רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֵֽין־not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
ל֛וֹ[belongs] to <the> it
lo
סְנַפִּ֥ירfin
senapirH5579 →
וְקַשְׂקֶ֖שֶׂתand scale
vekaskesetH7193 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תֹאכֵ֑לוּyou will eat
tokheluH398 →810 times
טָמֵ֥א[is] unclean
tame'H2931 →88 times
ה֖וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
לָכֶֽם׃ סto <the> you
lakhem
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.