Leviticus 11:12
in Leviticus 11Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales shall be detestable to you.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that is an abomination unto you.
KJV
Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you.
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This verse in Leviticus 11
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Of all the creatures that live in the water
on Leviticus 11:9-12
Water creatures get the shortest rule in the chapter, only fins and scales. Land beasts were called unclean, while the creatures of the water are called an abomination, four times in three verses. The chapter makes that difference in grade and gives no ground for it.
This site's exposition
Everything in the water that does not have fins and scales
The verse restates the rule of verse 10 in one line. Both marks are required, fins and scales together. Matthew Henry reads the restraint forward to Christians, who are called by the gospel to self-denial and bearing the cross.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters,....
Thus God's spiritual Israel, as they are dignified above others by the gospel-covenant of adoption and friendship, so they must be mortified more than others by the gospel-commands of self-denial and bearing the cross.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“This includes [in the category of forbidden food] yavchushin which have been filtered [through water]. Yavchushin are insects called mousclions. In our Rashi: moucherons. — A native of France, Rashi explained many Scriptural and Talmudic terms in the French language of his times.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֹּ֣ל | kol | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | that | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֵֽין־ | ʾein- | not | H369 → | 789 times |
| ל֛וֹ | lo | [belong] to <the> it | ||
| סְנַפִּ֥יר | senapir | fin | H5579 → | 5 times |
| וְקַשְׂקֶ֖שֶׂת | vekaskeset | and scale | H7193 → | 8 times |
| בַּמָּ֑יִם | bamayim | in the waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| שֶׁ֥קֶץ | sheketz | [is] a detestable thing | H8263 → | 11 times |
| ה֖וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לָכֶֽם׃ | lakhem | to <the> you |
כֹּ֣לall
kolH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רthat
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֵֽין־not
ʾein-H369 →789 times
ל֛וֹ[belong] to <the> it
lo
סְנַפִּ֥ירfin
senapirH5579 →5 times
וְקַשְׂקֶ֖שֶׂתand scale
vekaskesetH7193 →8 times
בַּמָּ֑יִםin the waters
bamayimH4325 →581 times
שֶׁ֥קֶץ[is] a detestable thing
sheketzH8263 →11 times
ה֖וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
לָכֶֽם׃to <the> you
lakhem
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 John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.