Leviticus 11:13
in Leviticus 11Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And these ye shall have in abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the gier-eagle, and the ospray,
KJV
And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
⋯
This verse in Leviticus 11
Commentary
7 notes on this verseHe adds too that they are not to eat "kite or mastophage or eagle," meaning "You shall not go near those who make their livelihood by plundering others." He says other similar things under some sort of allegory.
This site's exposition
which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls
on Leviticus 11:13-23
For the fowls the chapter drops the test and gives a bare list, twenty names and no criterion, so a reader learns which birds are excluded without learning what excludes them. Several of the names are argued over in translation, and the older English renderings of cuckow, swan and lapwing are read now as the gull, the water hen and the hoopoe. The Hebrew word covers winged creatures rather than a modern class, which is why the bat closes the list at verse 19. Verses 21 and 22 hold the one permission in the chapter granted out of an abominable class, four kinds of locust with legs above their feet to leap withal, and Mark 1:6 has John the Baptist living on them.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Among the fowls - The true signification of the following Hebrew words is now lost, as the Jews at this day confess; which not falling out without God's singular providence may intimate the cessation of this law, the exact observation whereof since Christ came is become impossible.
And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
As far as they can be identified, the birds here mentioned are such as live upon animal food. They were those which the Israelites might have been tempted to eat, either from their being easy to obtain, or from the example of other nations, and which served as types of the entire range of prohibited kinds. Lev 11:13 The eagle - Rather, the great vulture, which the Egyptians are known to have ranked as the first among birds.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
No less than twenty species of birds, all probably then known, are mentioned under this category, and the inference follows that all which are not mentioned were allowed; that is, fowls which subsist on vegetable substances.
And these - among the fowls - the eagle - נשר nesher, from nashar, to lacerate, cut, or tear to pieces; hence the eagle, a most rapacious bird of prey, from its tearing the flesh of the animals it feeds on; and for this purpose birds of prey have, in general, strong, crooked talons and a hooked beak. The eagle is a cruel bird, exceedingly ravenous, and almost insatiable. The ossifrage - Or bone-breaker, from os, a bone, and frango, I break, because it not only strips off the flesh, but breaks the bone in order to extract the marrow. In Hebrew it is called פרס peres, from paras, to break or divide in two, and probably signifies that species of the eagle anciently known by the name of ossifraga, and which we render ossifrage. Ospray - עזניה ozniyah, from עזן azan, to be strong, vigorous; generally supposed to mean the black eagle, such as that described by Homer, Iliad. lib. xxi., ver. 252. Αιετου οιματ’ εχων μελανος, του θηρητηρος, Ὁς θ’ αμα καρτιστος τε και ωκιστος πετεηνων. “Having the rapidity of the black eagle, that bird of prey, at once the swiftest and the strongest of the feathered race.” Among the Greeks and Romans the eagle was held sacred, and is represented as carrying the thunderbolts of Jupiter. This occurs so frequently, and is so well known, that references are almost needless. See Scheuchzer.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Of all fowls [existent], only those mentioned expressly in this section and their species — such as those concerning which it says, after his kind, 208 Verse. or after her kind. Verse.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֵ֙לֶּה֙ | ʾeleh | these | H428 → | 746 times |
| תְּשַׁקְּצ֣וּ | teshaketzu | you will consider detestable | H8262 → | 7 times |
| מִן־ | min- | from | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הָע֔וֹף | haof | the bird[s] | H5775 → | 71 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יֵאָכְל֖וּ | yeakhelu | they will be eaten | H398 → | 810 times |
| שֶׁ֣קֶץ | sheketz | [are] detestable thing[s] | H8263 → | 11 times |
| הֵ֑ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַנֶּ֙שֶׁר֙ | hanesher | the eagle | H5404 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַפֶּ֔רֶס | haperes | the bearded vulture | H6538 → | |
| וְאֵ֖ת | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָעָזְנִיָּֽה׃ | haazeniyah | the osprey | H5822 → |
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
אֵ֙לֶּה֙these
ʾelehH428 →746 times
תְּשַׁקְּצ֣וּyou will consider detestable
teshaketzuH8262 →7 times
מִן־from
min-H4480 →1188 times
הָע֔וֹףthe bird[s]
haofH5775 →71 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יֵאָכְל֖וּthey will be eaten
yeakheluH398 →810 times
שֶׁ֣קֶץ[are] detestable thing[s]
sheketzH8263 →11 times
הֵ֑םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַנֶּ֙שֶׁר֙the eagle
hanesherH5404 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַפֶּ֔רֶסthe bearded vulture
haperesH6538 →
וְאֵ֖תand <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָעָזְנִיָּֽה׃the osprey
haazeniyahH5822 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 4:13Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!
it leads to
- Habakkuk 1:8
Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 19:1
This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will…
- Habakkuk 1:8
Through
Job 38:41Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
it leads to
- Luke 12:24
Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storehouse or barn; yet God feeds them. How much more valuable you are than the birds!
- Psalms 147:9
He provides food for the animals, and for the young ravens when they call.
- Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
- Luke 12:24
Through
Hosea 8:1Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
it leads to
- Hosea 6:7
But they, like Adam, have transgressed the covenant; there they were unfaithful to Me.
- Deuteronomy 28:49
The LORD will bring a nation from afar, from the ends of the earth, to swoop down upon you like an eagle—a nation whose language you will not understand,
- Hosea 6:7
Through
Job 28:7No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.
it leads to
- Job 11:6
and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know then that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves.
- Job 11:6
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.