Leviticus 11:21
in Leviticus 11However, you may eat the following kinds of flying insects that walk on all fours: those having jointed legs above their feet for hopping on the ground.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet these may ye eat of all winged creeping things that go upon all fours, which have legs above their feet, wherewith to leap upon the earth;
KJV
Yet these may ye eat of every flying creeping thing that goeth upon all four, which have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth;
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This verse in Leviticus 11
Commentary
4 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth - The families of the Saltatoria, of which the common cricket, the common grasshopper, and the migratory locust, may be taken as types.
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
Yet these may ye eat,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Which have legs above their feet - This appears to refer to the different kinds of locusts and grasshoppers, which have very remarkable hind legs, long, and with high joints, projecting above their backs, by which they are enabled to spring up from the ground, and leap high and far.
The words behind it
19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֤ךְ | ʾakh | nevertheless | H389 → | 161 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| זֶה֙ | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| תֹּֽאכְל֔וּ | tokhelu | you will eat | H398 → | 810 times |
| מִכֹּל֙ | mikol | from 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 |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| ל֤וֹ | lo | [belong] to <the> it | ||
| כְרָעַ֙יִם֙ | kheraayim | legs | H3767 → | 9 times |
| מִמַּ֣עַל | mimaal | from above | H4605 → | |
| לְרַגְלָ֔יו | leraglav | <to> feet its | H7272 → | 247 times |
| לְנַתֵּ֥ר | lenater | to hop | H5425 → | |
| בָּהֵ֖ן | bahen | with <the> them | ||
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| הָאָֽרֶץ׃ | haaretz | the ground | H776 → | 2504 times |
אַ֤ךְnevertheless
ʾakhH389 →161 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
זֶה֙this
zehH2088 →1180 times
תֹּֽאכְל֔וּyou will eat
tokheluH398 →810 times
מִכֹּל֙from every
mikolH3605 →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
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
ל֤וֹ[belong] to <the> it
lo
כְרָעַ֙יִם֙legs
kheraayimH3767 →9 times
מִמַּ֣עַלfrom above
mimaalH4605 →
לְרַגְלָ֔יו<to> feet its
leraglavH7272 →247 times
לְנַתֵּ֥רto hop
lenaterH5425 →
בָּהֵ֖ןwith <the> them
bahen
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
הָאָֽרֶץ׃the ground
haaretzH776 →2504 times
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; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.