Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Leviticus 11:20
All fowls that creep, going upon [all] four, [shall be] an abomination unto you.
20. All winged swarming things ] The same words as in Deu 14:19; swarming creatures which also fly, i.e. flying insects. A.V. obscures for the English reader the identity of expression by rendering here ‘all fowls that creep,’ and in Deu 14:19 ‘every creeping thing that flieth.’ In Deut. these things are all classed as unclean and not to be eaten. They are here further described as those ‘that go upon all four.’ All these swarming things have six feet, but the text describes their action as it appears to an ordinary observer, and, as in Lev 11:5-6, the language is popular, rather than scientific.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
20 23. The connexion between these vv. and Lev 11:41 is very close, and Lev 11:24-30 are generally regarded as supplementary. See pp. 162 f.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Rather, All creeping things which have wings, etc. The word rendered creeping things may be regarded as coextensive with our word vermin. It is derived from a verb which signifies not only to creep, but to teem, or bring forth abundantly Gen 1:21; Gen 8:17; Exo 8:3; Psa 105:30, and so easily came to denote creatures which are apt to abound, to the annoyance of mankind.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 20. All fowls that creep] Such as the bat, already mentioned, which has claws attached to its leathern wings, and which serve in place of feet to crawl by, the feet and legs not being distinct; but this may also include all the different kinds of insects, with the exceptions in the following verse.
Going upon all four] May signify no more than walking regularly or progressively, foot after foot as quadrupeds do; for it cannot be applied to insects literally, as they have in general six feet, many of them more, some reputed to have a hundred, hence called centipedes; and some a thousand, hence called millipedes; words which often signify no more than that such insects have a great number of feet.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
All fowls that crawl or creep upon the earth, and so degenerate from their proper nature, which is to fly, and are of a mongrel kind; which may intimate that apostates and mongrels in religion are abominable in the sight of God, and in conversation with men.
Going upon all four, upon four legs, or upon more than four, as bees, flies, &c, which is all one to the present purpose, these pluralists for legs being here opposed to those that have but two.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. All fowls that creep, &c.By”fowls” here are to be understood all creatures with wingsand “going upon all fours,” not a restriction to animalswhich have exactly four feet, because many “creeping things”have more than that number. The prohibition is regarded generally asextending to insects, reptiles, and worms.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
All fowls that creep,…. Or rather “every creeping thing that flies”; for what are designed are not properly fowls, but, as the Jewish writers interpret them, flies, fleas, bees, wasps, hornets, locusts, c. so the Targum of Jonathan, Jarchi, Ben Gersom, and Maimonides y:
going upon [all] four that is, upon their four feet, when they walk or creep:
[these shall be] an abomination to you; not used as food, but detested as such.
y Maacolot Asurot, c. 2. l. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(cf. Deu 14:19). To the birds there are appended flying animals of other kinds: “ all swarms of fowl that go upon fours, ” i.e., the smaller winged animals with four feet, which are called sherez , “swarms,” on account of their multitude. These were not to be eaten, as they were all abominations, with the exception of those “ which have two shank-feet above their feet (i.e., springing feet) to leap with ” ( for as in Exo 21:8). Locusts are the animals referred to, four varieties being mentioned with their different species (“ after his kind ”); but these cannot be identified with exactness, as there is still a dearth of information as to the natural history of the oriental locust. It is well known that locusts were eaten by many of the nations of antiquity both in Asia and Africa, and even the ancient Greeks thought the Cicades very agreeable in flavour ( Arist. h. an. 5, 30). In Arabia they are sold in the market, sometimes strung upon cords, sometimes by measure; and they are also dried, and kept in bags for winter use. For the most part, however, it is only by the poorer classes that they are eaten, and many of the tribes of Arabia abhor them (Robinson, ii. p. 628); and those who use them as food do not eat all the species indiscriminately. They are generally cooked over hot coals, or on a plate, or in an oven, or stewed in butter, and eaten either with salt or with spice and vinegar, the head, wings, and feet being thrown away. They are also boiled in salt and water, and eaten with salt or butter. Another process is to dry them thoroughly, and then grind them into meal and make cakes of them. The Israelites were allowed to eat the arbeh , i.e., according to Exo 10:13, Exo 10:19; Nah 3:17, etc., the flying migratory locust, gryllus migratorius , which still bears this name, according to Niebuhr, in Maskat and Bagdad, and is poetically designated in Psa 78:46; Psa 105:34, as , the devourer, and , the eater-up; but Knobel is mistaken in supposing that these names are applied to certain species of the arbeh . , according to the Chaldee, deglutivit, absorpsit, is unquestionably a larger and peculiarly voracious species of locust. This is all that can be inferred from the rashon of the Targums and Talmud, whilst the and attacus of the lxx and Vulg. are altogether unexplained. : according to the Arabic, a galloping, i.e., a hopping, not a flying species of locust. This is supported by the Samaritan, also by the lxx and Vulg., , ophiomachus . According to Hesychius and Suidas, it was a species of locust without wings, probably a very large kind; as it is stated in Mishnah , Shabb. vi. 10, that an egg of the chargol was sometimes suspended in the ear, as a remedy for earache. Among the different species of locusts in Mesopotamia, Niebuhr (Arab. p. 170) saw two of a very large size with springing feet, but without wings. , a word of uncertain etymology, occurs in Num 13:33, where the spies are described as being like chagabim by the side of the inhabitants of the country, and in 2Ch 7:13, where the chagab devours the land. From these passages we may infer that it was a species of locust without wings, small but very numerous, probably the , which is often mentioned along with the , but as a distinct species, locustarum minima sine pennis ( Plin. h. n. 29, c. 4, s. 29), or parva locusta modicis pennis reptans potius quam volitans semperque subsiliens ( Jerome (on Nah 3:17).
(Note: In Deu 14:19 the edible kinds of locusts are passed over, because it was not the intention of Moses to repeat every particular of the earlier laws in these addresses. But when Knobel (on Lev. pp. 455 and 461) gives this explanation of the omission, that the eating of locusts is prohibited in Deuteronomy, and the Deuteronomist passes them over because in his more advanced age there was apparently no longer any necessity for the prohibition, this arbitrary interpretation is proved to be at variance with historical truth by the fact that locusts were eaten by John the Baptist, inasmuch as this proves at all events that a more advanced age had not given up the custom of eating locusts.)
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
20 All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you. 21 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; 22 Even these of them ye may eat; the locust after his kind, and the bald locust after his kind, and the beetle after his kind, and the grasshopper after his kind. 23 But all other flying creeping things, which have four feet, shall be an abomination unto you. 24 And for these ye shall be unclean: whosoever toucheth the carcase of them shall be unclean until the even. 25 And whosoever beareth ought of the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. 26 The carcases of every beast which divideth the hoof, and is not clovenfooted, nor cheweth the cud, are unclean unto you: every one that toucheth them shall be unclean. 27 And whatsoever goeth upon his paws, among all manner of beasts that go on all four, those are unclean unto you: whoso toucheth their carcase shall be unclean until the even. 28 And he that beareth the carcase of them shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: they are unclean unto you. 29 These also shall be unclean unto you among the creeping things that creep upon the earth; the weasel, and the mouse, and the tortoise after his kind, 30 And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole. 31 These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even. 32 And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed. 33 And every earthen vessel, whereinto any of them falleth, whatsoever is in it shall be unclean; and ye shall break it. 34 Of all meat which may be eaten, that on which such water cometh shall be unclean: and all drink that may be drunk in every such vessel shall be unclean. 35 And every thing whereupon any part of their carcase falleth shall be unclean; whether it be oven, or ranges for pots, they shall be broken down: for they are unclean, and shall be unclean unto you. 36 Nevertheless a fountain or pit, wherein there is plenty of water, shall be clean: but that which toucheth their carcase shall be unclean. 37 And if any part of their carcase fall upon any sowing seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean. 38 But if any water be put upon the seed, and any part of their carcase fall thereon, it shall be unclean unto you. 39 And if any beast, of which ye may eat, die; he that toucheth the carcase thereof shall be unclean until the even. 40 And he that eateth of the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: he also that beareth the carcase of it shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even. 41 And every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination; it shall not be eaten. 42 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.
Here is the law, 1. Concerning flying insects, as flies, wasps, bees, c. these they might not eat (v. 20), nor indeed are they fit to be eaten; but there were several sorts of locusts which in those countries were very good meat, and much used: John Baptist lived upon them in the desert, and they are here allowed them, Lev 11:21; Lev 11:22. 2. Concerning the creeping things on the earth; these were all forbidden (Lev 11:29; Lev 11:30, and again, Lev 11:41; Lev 11:42); 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. Dust is the meat of the creeping things, and therefore they are not fit to be man’s meat. 3. Concerning the dead carcasses of all these unclean animals. (1.) Every one that touched them was to be unclean until the evening, v. 24-28. This law is often repeated, to possess them with a dread of every thing that was prohibited, though no particular reason for the prohibition did appear, but only the will of the Law-maker. Not that they were to be looked upon as defiling to the conscience, or that it was a sin against God to touch them, unless done in contempt of the law: in many cases, somebody must of necessity touch them, to remove them; but it was a ceremonial uncleanness they contracted, which for the time forbade them to come into the tabernacle, or to eat of any of the holy things, or so much as to converse familiarly with their neighbours. But the uncleanness continued only till the evening, to signify that all ceremonial pollutions were to come to an end by the death of Christ in the evening of the world. And we must learn, by daily renewing our repentance every night for the sins of the day, to cleanse ourselves from the pollution we contract by them, that we may not lie down in our uncleanness. Even unclean animals they might touch while they were alive without contracting any ceremonial uncleanness by it, as horses and dogs, because they were allowed to use them for service; but they might not touch them when they were dead, because they might not eat their flesh; and what must not be eaten must not be touched, Gen. iii. 3. (2.) Even the vessels, or other things they fell upon, were thereby made unclean until the evening (v. 32), and if they were earthen vessels they must be broken, v. 33. This taught them carefully to avoid every thing that was polluting, even in their common actions. Not only the vessels of the sanctuary, but every pot in Jerusalem and Judah, must be holiness to the Lord,Zec 14:20; Zec 14:21. The laws in these cases are very critical, and the observance of them would be difficult, we should think, if every thing that a dead mouse or rat, for instance, falls upon must be unclean; and if it were an oven, or ranges for pots, they must all be broken down, v. 35. The exceptions also are very nice, v. 36, &c. All this was designed to exercise them to a constant care and exactness in their obedience, and to teach us, who by Christ are delivered from these burdensome observances, not to be less circumspect in the more weighty matters of the law. We ought as industriously to preserve our precious souls from the pollutions of sin, and as speedily to cleanse them when they are polluted, as they were to preserve and cleanse their bodies and household goods from those ceremonial pollutions.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 20-23:
“All fowl that creep” can also be translated “all winged insects.” All flying insects are forbidden for food, as unclean, except those of the Salatoria or locust family.
“Goeth upon all four” means groveling, or going in a horizontal position, in contrast to the birds just mentioned.
Four varieties of the locust family were considered clean:
I. Locust, arbeh, a winged leaping insect, see Ex 10:4, 12-14.
2. Bald locust, solam, a winged leaper, and a voracious eater.
3. Beetle, chargol, or cricket.
4. Grasshopper, chagab, “coverer,” listed also in Nu 13:33; Ec 12:5; Isa 40:22.
These insects were a common food in the East, and are eaten today by the poor. The heads, wings and legs are removed, and the insects are boiled, stewed, or roasted. Sometimes they are dressed in butter. Other times they are dried, and then ground into a powder and used in cooking. Locusts were a part of the diet of John the Baptist, Mr 1:6.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(4) INSECTS 11:2023
TEXT 11:2023
20
All winged creeping things that go upon all fours are an abomination unto you.
21
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;
22
even these of them ye may eat: the locust after its kind, and the bald locust after its kind, and the cricket after its kind, and the grasshopper after its kind.
23
But all winged creeping things, which have four feet, are an abomination unto you.
THOUGHT QUESTIONS 11:2023
210.
What insects could be eaten?
211.
How could one recognize a clean insect?
PARAPHRASE 11:2023
Flying insects with four legs must not be eaten, with the exception of those that jump; locusts of all varietiesordinary locusts, bald locusts, crickets, and grasshoppersmay be eaten. All other things that fly and have four feet are forbidden to you.
COMMENT 11:2023
Lev. 11:20-23 Here are instructions concerning winged insects: there are some of them which are edible: two kinds of locust; the cricket and the grasshopper. If the insect does not have legs by which it can leap it is unclean. A good number of authorities agree that locusts were eaten by many of the nations of antiquity, both in Asia and Africa, and even the ancient Greeks thought them very agreeable in flour. In Arabia (even today) they are sold in the market, sometimes strung upon cords, sometimes by measure, and they are also dried and kept in bags for winter use. . . . They are generally cooked over hot coals, or on a plate, or in an oven, or stewed in butter, and eaten either with salt or with spice and vinegar, the head and wings, and feet being thrown away. (Keil) Cf. Mat. 3:4.
FACT QUESTIONS 11:2023
264.
Name three clean insects.
265.
Comment on the quote from Keil.
b. CLEAN AND UNCLEAN FOOD AS RELATED TO
PHYSICAL CONTACT 11:2443
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(20) All the fowls that creep.Better, all creeping things which have wings. The swarming animals or insects, which, as we have seen, constitute the fourth class of the Hebrew division of the animal kingdom, are now discussed in Lev. 11:20-23. From the fact that in the following verse several kinds of locusts are exempted, it is evident that the phrase creeping things which have wings denotes insects.
Going upon all four.That is, the insects in question not only fly but also creep. The phrase, however, upon all four does not refer to the exact number of feet, but, as in some modern languages, denotes walking with its body in a horizontal position, or near the ground, in contradistinction to the two-legged birds discussed in the foregoing verses. This is the sense which the administrators of the law in the time of Christ attached to the phrase. Hence the Chaldee paraphrase of Jonathan translates it, And all creeping-things which have wings going upon all four, the flyspecies and the wasp or hornet species and the bee species.
Shall be an abomination unto you.As the bee species is included among the creeping things which have wings, some have supposed that bee-honey comes within the unclean things which are here said shall be an abomination unto you. Hence it is thought that the honey (dabesh) which is so frequently mentioned in the Bible as a special feature of the promised land (Exo. 3:8; Exo. 3:17; Exo. 13:5; Exo. 16:14; Exo. 33:3; Lev. 20:24, etc.), and which formed an important article of food among the Hebrews, was not the natural product of the bee, but is either the grape-honey, the dibs, which is still prepared in many parts of Syria and Palestine, and is exported in great quantities into Egypt; or the vegetable honey, the exudation of certain trees and shrubs found in the peninsula of Sinai. Hence, too, it is supposed that the wild honey which Jonathan ate in the wood (1Sa. 14:25), and which was the meat of John the Baptist (Mat. 3:4), must refer to this vegetable-honey. But though it is true that the canon which obtained during the second Temple was Whatsoever cometh from unclean creatures is unclean, and that in accordance with this law the milk of unclean quadrupeds and the eggs of unclean birds and fishes were forbidden, yet the honey of bees was expressly permitted. The administrators of the law in the time of Christ accounted for this exemption that it is not the direct produce of the insect itself, but is a preparation from gathered juices of clean herbs. The Chaldee paraphrase of Jonathan therefore adds, after shall be an abomination unto you, the words, nevertheless the honey of the bee ye may eat. John the Baptist therefore acted in perfect obedience to the Law when he ate the honey which the bees deposited in the crevices of the rocks and in the hollow of trees. The prohibition to use honey in meatofferings is not owing to its being unclean, but to its producing fermentation. (See Lev. 2:11.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 11:20-22. All fowls that creep, going upon all four Or, All flying things that creep, &c. Houbigant renders it, every winged reptile. Dr. Shaw observes, that ” sheretz ha-oph, which we render fowls that creep, may be more properly translated breeding fowls, or fowls that multiply, from the infinitely greater number of eggs that are produced by insects, than by volatiles of any other kind. It may be farther observed, says he, that insects do not properly walk upon four, but six feet. Neither is there any adequate description, peculiar to this tribe, conveyed to us, by their being said to have legs above their feet, to leap withal upon the earth: (ver.
21.) because they have this only in common with birds, frogs, and several other creatures. The original expression, therefore, , (asher lo keraaim memmaal leragelav lenattar, &c.) may probably bear this construction; viz. which have knees upon or above their hinder legs, to leap withal upon the earth. For, to apply this description to the locust or , (arbeh, the only one we know of the four, which are mentioned in Lev 11:22.) this insect has the two hinder-most of its legs or feet much stronger, larger, and longer, than any of the foremost. In them the knee, or the articulation of the leg and thigh, is distinguished by a remarkable bending or curvature; whereby it is able, whenever prepared to jump, to raise itself and spring with great activity and force. As the principal distinction therefore between the clean and unclean insects, seems to have depended on this particular shape and structure of the hinder feet; the action which is ascribed to the clean insects, of going upon four, (viz. the foremost feet,) and leaping upon the (two) hindermost, is a characteristic as expressive of the original text, as it is of the animals to whom it appertains.” Travels, p. 420. As it is not easy to determine the species of locusts, Lev 11:22 it might be most proper to retain the original names; and, as beetles were never eaten, nor are four-footed, with legs to leap withal, the verse should be read thus, the arbeh locust, the solan locust, the chargol locust, and the chagab locust. Some writers have attempted to distinguish these locusts; but with little success. The curious, however, are referred to Derham’s notes on Albin’s history of English insects. John the Baptist fed upon locusts; and Bochart has undeniably proved, that they were a common food both in the Eastern and Southern parts of the world. Dr. Shaw tells us, that he ate of them in Barbary fried and salted, and that they came very near to cray-fish in taste. See his Travels, p. 188.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Lev 11:20 All fowls that creep, going upon [all] four, [shall be] an abomination unto you.
Ver. 20. All fowls that creep. ] So all mongrels in religion, that, like the planet Mercury, can he good in conjunction with good, and bad with bad; that have religionem ephemeram, fidem menstruam. a
a Hilar.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 11:23, Lev 11:27, Deu 14:19, 2Ki 17:28-41, Psa 17:14, Mat 6:24, Phi 3:18, Phi 3:19, 2Ti 4:10, 1Jo 2:15-17, Jud 1:10, Jud 1:19
Reciprocal: Lev 7:21 – abominable Lev 11:29 – creeping things that creep Lev 11:41 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Lev 11:20-21. All fowls that creep The original word signifies any animal or moving creature, especially of the reptile or insect kind, (Gen 1:20; Gen 7:21,) and ought to be rendered every winged reptile, or, every flying, creeping thing that goeth upon four, as in Lev 11:21, upon four legs, or upon more than four, which is all one as to the present purpose. Which have legs above their feet to leap withal This is a description of the locusts, which, besides four smaller feet, have two larger ones, by means whereof they leap about.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
These verses deal with insects. Perhaps the fact that certain insects swarmed rather than flew in a more direct and "natural" way made them unclean. Locusts that hopped may have been clean since this is the normal form of locomotion for birds, which they resembled. The varieties of locusts that crawled were unclean, perhaps because that appeared to be abnormal movement for this insect. [Note: Douglas, p. 56.]