Leviticus 11:18
in Leviticus 11the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and the horned owl, and the pelican, and the vulture,
KJV
And the swan, and the pelican, and the gier eagle,
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This verse in Leviticus 11
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe swan - תנשמת tinshemeth. The Septuagint translate the word by πορφυριωνα, the porphyrion, purple or scarlet bird. Could we depend on this translation, we might suppose the flamingo or some such bird to be intended. Some suppose the goose to be meant, but this is by no means likely, as it cannot be classed either among ravenous or unclean fowls. Bochart thinks the owl is meant. The pelican - קאת kaath.
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 Awakening1 voice
And the swan,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
It is solitary in its habits and, like other large aquatic birds, often flies to a great distance from its favorite haunts. the gier eagle--Being here associated with waterfowl, it has been questioned whether any species of eagle is referred to. Some think, as the original name racham denotes "tenderness," "affection," the halcyon or kingfisher is intended [CALMET].
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.
The words behind it
6 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 |
| הַתִּנְשֶׁ֥מֶת | hatinshemet | the barn owl | H8580 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַקָּאָ֖ת | hakaat | the desert owl | H6893 → | |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָרָחָֽם׃ | haracham | the Egyptian vulture | H7360 → |
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַתִּנְשֶׁ֥מֶתthe barn owl
hatinshemetH8580 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הַקָּאָ֖תthe desert owl
hakaatH6893 →
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
הָרָחָֽם׃the Egyptian vulture
harachamH7360 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Leviticus
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.