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Leviticus 11:42

in Leviticus 11

Do not eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it crawls on its belly or walks on four or more feet; for such creatures are detestable.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all fours, or whatsoever hath many feet, even all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

KJV

Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

This verse in Leviticus 11

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Whatsoever goeth upon the belly - In the word גהון gahon, the vau holem, in most Hebrew Bibles, is much larger than the other letters; and a Masoretic note is added in the margin, which states that this is the middle letter of the law; and consequently this verse is the middle verse of the Pentateuch. Whatsoever hath more feet - Than four; that is, all many-footed reptiles, as well as those which go upon the belly having no feet, such as serpents; besides the four-footed smaller animals mentioned above.

This site's exposition

If an animal that you may eat dies

on Leviticus 11:39-43

An animal a man may eat still defiles the one who touches its carcass when it dies. Cleanness belongs to the living beast.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

); for it was the curse of the serpent that upon his belly he should go, and therefore between him and man there was an enmity put ( Gen. iii. 15 ), which was preserved by this law.

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens

Whatsoever goeth upon the belly,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

Whatsoever goeth upon the belly - i. e. all footless reptiles, and mollusks, snakes of all kinds, snails, slugs, and worms. “Whatsoever goeth upon all four;” i. e. “creeping things,” or vermin; such as the weasel, the mouse or the lizard. Whatsoever hath more feet; i. e. all insects, except the locust family (Lev 11:22 note), myriapods, spiders, and caterpillars.

The words behind it

22 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • כֹּל֩any

    kolH3605 →5413 times

  • הוֹלֵ֨ךְ[one which] walks

    holekhH1980 →1546 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • גָּח֜וֹןbelly

    gachonH1512 →

  • וְכֹ֣ל׀and any

    vekholH3605 →5413 times

  • הוֹלֵ֣ךְ[one which] walks

    holekhH1980 →1546 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • אַרְבַּ֗עfour [feet]

    ʾarba'H702 →318 times

  • עַ֚דto

    ʾadH5704 →1261 times

  • כָּל־any

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • מַרְבֵּ֣ה[one which] multiplies

    marbehH7235 →227 times

  • רַגְלַ֔יִם<of> feet

    raglayimH7272 →247 times

  • לְכָל־to every

    lekholH3605 →5413 times

  • הַשֶּׁ֖רֶץ<the> swarming thing

    hasheretzH8318 →15 times

  • הַשֹּׁרֵ֣ץwhich swarms

    hashoretzH8317 →14 times

  • עַל־on

    ʾal-H5921 →5755 times

  • הָאָ֑רֶץthe earth

    haaretzH776 →2504 times

  • לֹ֥אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • תֹאכְל֖וּםyou must eat them

    tokhlumH398 →810 times

  • כִּי־for

    ki-H3588 →4482 times

  • שֶׁ֥קֶץ[are] a detestable thing

    sheketzH8263 →11 times

  • הֵֽם׃they

    hemH1992 →553 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each 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 Corinthians 11:3

    I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.

    it leads to

    • 1 John 4:1

      Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Colossians 2:8

      See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.

    • Galatians 1:6

      I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—

    • Ephesians 4:14

      Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

    • Colossians 2:4

      I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.

  • Through

    2 Corinthians 11:13

    For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

    it leads to

    • Galatians 1:7

      which is not even a gospel. Evidently some people are troubling you and trying to distort the gospel of Christ.

    • Revelation 2:2

      I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles.

    • Philippians 3:2

      Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!

Where this verse is studied

About Leviticus

The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.
The Scapegoat, William Holman Hunt, 1854. Public domain.

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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.