Leviticus 11:20

_ALL FOWLS THAT CREEP, GOING UPON ALL FOUR, SHALL BE AN ABOMINATION UNTO YOU._ All fowls that creep ... By "fowls" here are to be understood all creatures with wings; and by "going upon all four," not a restriction to animals which have exactly four feet, because many "creeping things" have more than that number. The prohibition is regarded generally as extending to insects, reptiles, and worms....

Verse Leviticus 11:20. _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_....

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 Genesis 1:21; Genesis 8:17; Exodus 8:3; Psalms 105:30, and so easily came to denote creatures which are apt to abound, to the annoyance of mankind....

PART III UNCLEANNESS, CEREMONIAL AND MORAL: ITS REMOVAL OR ITS PUNISHMENT SECTION I EXPOSITION THE two preceding parts having made manifest the way of approach to God by means of sacrifice and the appointed priesthood of mediation, there follows a part having for its subject that which keeps man apart from God, namely, uncleanness, whether ceremonial uncleanness, which may be removed by ceremonial observances, or moral uncleanness, that is, unrighteousness, which, so far as it is a ceremonial offense, may be also dealt with ceremonially, but in respect to its moral character demands punishment. This part consists of four sections. The _first _section, comprising chapters 11-15, treats of ceremonial uncleanness, caused...

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....

III. HOLINESS DEMANDED 1. The Clean and the Unclean CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Concerning the beasts on the earth (Leviticus 11:1)_ 2. Concerning things in the water (Leviticus 11:9) 3. Concerning flying and creeping things (Leviticus 11:13) 4. Concerning defilement with dead bodies (Leviticus 11:24) The Chapter s which form the third section of Leviticus are by some taken to give evidence that not Moses, but another person arranged the material of the book. Even men who do not deny the inspiration of the book claim that the hand of a redactor is here discovered. In their opi

FIRST PROHIBITION. Animals, etc., not allowed for food. The test is, Is it cloven-footed, and does it chew the cud? For fishes, Has it fins and scales? No test of this nature can be given for birds; leaping insects are clean, insects which only fly, unclean. The tests, especially the first, are clearly artificial and not original; _e.g._ in the case of swine. Undoubtedly, in primitive thought, each species, allowed or banned, is classed on its merits; but later legislators would naturally be puzzled by the apparent caprice, and desire to find some principle. Leviticus 11:5. Coney, as RVm (Proverbs 30:26 *). Leviticus 11:13. Eagle denotes the majestic and abundant carrion vulture, t

Leviticus 11:1-23 [51]. The Distinction between Clean and Unclean Food [51] For the sources from which this ch. comes, and its relation from a critical point of view to Deuteronomy 14:3 ff. see App. I (_c_), pp. 162 f. One principle underlying this distinction appears to have been that animals which were recognised as in any way objects of worship by heathen neighbours, or even supposed by them to be connected with unseen supernatural beings, were to be considered unclean. See Bertholet in _KHC._, introd. note to this ch. But in other cases the prohibition probably rested on the animal's repulsive appearance or uncleanly habits, or on sanitary or totemistic grounds. See Driver, _Deut._p. 164, and Rob.-Sm. _OTJC_. 2 p. 366. A list of animals which may and ma

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 " ףּהעו שׁרצ _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, לנתר לרגליו ממעל כרעים לו אשׁר, (_asher lo keraaim memmaal leragelav lenattar,_ &c.) ma...

(4) INSECTS 11:20-23 TEXT 11:20-23 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 11:20-23 210. What insects could be eaten? 211. How could one recognize a clean insect? PARAPHRASE 11:20-23 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