Leviticus 11:14-29

11:14 the kite, the buzzard of any kind, ¹  11:15 every kind of crow, ²  11:16 the eagle owl, ³  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 ⁴  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 ⁵  to hop with on the land. 11:22 These you may eat from them: ⁶  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.

Carcass Uncleanness

11:24 “‘By these ⁷  you defile yourselves; anyone who touches their carcass will be unclean until the evening, 11:25 and anyone who carries their carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until the evening.

Inedible Land Quadrupeds

11:26 “‘All ⁸  animals that divide the hoof but it is not completely split in two ⁹  and do not chew the cud ¹⁰  are unclean to you; anyone who touches them becomes unclean. ¹¹  11:27 All that walk on their paws among all the creatures that walk on all fours ¹²  are unclean to you. Anyone who touches their carcass will be unclean until the evening, 11:28 and the one who carries their carcass must wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; they are unclean to you.

Creatures that Swarm on the Land

11:29 “‘Now this is what is unclean to you among the swarming things that swarm on the land: ¹³  the rat, the mouse, the large lizard of any kind,

[11:14]  ¹ tn Heb “and the buzzard to its kind” (see also vv. 16 and 19 for the same expression “of any kind”).

[11:15]  ² tn Heb “every crow to its kind.” Many English versions (e.g., KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) render this as “raven.”

[11:16]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “the one walking on four” (cf. vv. 21-23 and 27-28).

[11:21]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.

[11:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “and to these.”

[11:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “to all” (cf. the note on v. 24). This and the following verses develop more fully the categories of uncleanness set forth in principle in vv. 24-25.

[11:26]  ⁹ tn Heb “divides hoof and cleft it does not cleave”; KJV “divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted”; NLT “divided but unsplit hooves.”

[11:26]  ¹⁰ tn See the note on Lev 11:3.

[11:26]  ¹¹ sn Compare the regulations in Lev 11:2-8.

[11:27]  ¹² tn Heb “the one walking on four.” Compare Lev 11:20-23.

[11:29]  ¹³ tn For zoological analyses of the list of creatures in vv. 29-30, see J. Milgrom, Leviticus (AB), 1:671-72; and J. E. Hartley, Leviticus (WBC), 161-62.