Leviticus 11:20
in Leviticus 11All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
All winged creeping things that go upon all fours are an abomination unto you.
KJV
All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.
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This verse in Leviticus 11
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAll fowls that creep,.... Or rather "every creeping thing that flies"; for what are designed are not properly fowls, but, as the Jewish writers interpret them, flies, fleas, bees, wasps, hornets, locusts, &c. so the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and Maimonides (y): going upon all four; that is, upon their four feet, when they walk or creep: these shall be an abomination to you; not used as food, but detested as such. (y) Maacolot Asurot, c. 2. l. 5.
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
), nor indeed are they fit to be eaten; but there were several sorts of locusts which in those countries were very good meat, and much used: John Baptist lived upon them in the desert, and they are here allowed them,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
All fowls - Flying things that crawl or creep upon the earth, and so degenerate from their proper nature, and are of a mongrel kind, which may intimate that apostates and mongrels in religion are abominable in the sight of God. Upon all four - Upon four legs, or upon more than four, which is all one to the present purpose.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
All fowls that creep, &c.--By "fowls" here are to be understood all creatures with wings and "going upon all fours," not a restriction to animals which have exactly four feet, because many "creeping things" have more than that number. The prohibition is regarded generally as extending to insects, reptiles, and worms.
All fowls that creep - Such as the bat, already mentioned, which has claws attached to its leathern wings, and which serve in place of feet to crawl by, the feet and legs not being distinct; but this may also include all the different kinds of insects, with the exceptions in the following verse.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Rather, “All creeping things which have wings,” etc. The word rendered creeping things may be regarded as coextensive with our word vermin. It is derived from a verb which signifies not only to creep, but to teem, or bring forth abundantly Gen 1:21; Gen 8:17; Exo 8:3; Psa 105:30, and so easily came to denote creatures which are apt to abound, to the annoyance of mankind.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֚ל | kol | every | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| שֶׁ֣רֶץ | sheretz | <the> swarming thing of | H8318 → | 15 times |
| הָע֔וֹף | haof | <the> wing | H5775 → | 71 times |
| הַהֹלֵ֖ךְ | haholekh | which walks | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַרְבַּ֑ע | ʾarba' | four [legs] | H702 → | 318 times |
| שֶׁ֥קֶץ | sheketz | [is] a detestable thing | H8263 → | 11 times |
| ה֖וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ ס | lakhem | to <the> you |
כֹּ֚לevery
kolH3605 →5413 times
שֶׁ֣רֶץ<the> swarming thing of
sheretzH8318 →15 times
הָע֔וֹף<the> wing
haofH5775 →71 times
הַהֹלֵ֖ךְwhich walks
haholekhH1980 →1546 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אַרְבַּ֑עfour [legs]
ʾarba'H702 →318 times
שֶׁ֥קֶץ[is] a detestable thing
sheketzH8263 →11 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.
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
2 Timothy 4:10because Demas, in his love of this world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.
it leads to
- 1 John 2:15–16
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 2 Timothy 1:15
You know that everyone in the Province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
- Colossians 4:14–15
Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas send you greetings.
- 1 John 5:4–5
because everyone born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.
- Acts 16:6
After the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia, they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.
- 1 John 2:15–16
Through
Jude 1:10These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively.
it leads to
- 2 Peter 2:12
These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed.
- Romans 1:21–22
For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- 2 Peter 2:12
Through
Deuteronomy 14:19All flying insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten.
it leads to
- Leviticus 11:20–23
All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.
- Leviticus 11:20–23
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); 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; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.