Leviticus 11:13-23

Clean and Unclean Birds

11:13 “‘These you are to detest from among the birds – they must not be eaten, because they are detestable: ¹  the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 11:14 the kite, the buzzard of any kind, ²  11:15 every kind of crow, ³  11:16 the eagle owl, ⁴  the short-eared owl, the long-eared owl, the hawk of any kind, 11:17 the little owl, the cormorant, the screech owl, 11:18 the white owl, the scops owl, the osprey, 11:19 the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.

Clean and Unclean Insects

11:20 “‘Every winged swarming thing that walks on all fours ⁵  is detestable to you. 11:21 However, this you may eat from all the winged swarming things that walk on all fours, which have jointed legs ⁶  to hop with on the land. 11:22 These you may eat from them: ⁷  the locust of any kind, the bald locust of any kind, the cricket of any kind, the grasshopper of any kind. 11:23 But any other winged swarming thing that has four legs is detestable to you.

[11:13]  ¹ tn For zoological remarks on the following list of birds see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:662-64; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 159-60.

[11:14]  ² tn Heb “and the buzzard to its kind” (see also vv. 16 and 19 for the same expression “of any kind”).

[11:15]  ³ tn Heb “every crow to its kind.” Many English versions (e.g., KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) render this as “raven.”

[11:16]  ⁴ tn Literally, “the daughter of the wasteland.” Various proposals for the species of bird referred to here include “owl” (KJV), “horned owl” (NIV, NCV), and “ostrich” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

[11:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “the one walking on four” (cf. vv. 21-23 and 27-28).

[11:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “which to it are lower legs from above to its feet” (reading the Qere “to it” rather than the Kethib “not”).

[11:22]  ⁷ tn For entomological remarks on the following list of insects see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:665-66; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 160-61.