Leviticus 11:12

12 Anything in the water that does not have fins or scales is detestable to you.

Leviticus 11:12 Meaning and Commentary

Leviticus 11:12

Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters
Which is repeated that they might take particular notice of this law, and be careful to observe it, this being the only sign given:

that [shall be] an abomination unto you;
the Targum of Jonathan says, that not only the flesh of such fish, but the broth, and pickles made of them, were to be an abomination; which contradicts what Pliny

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 relates, that the Jews made a pickle of fishes that lacked scales; so Grotius understands him: this law of the Jews is taken notice of by Porphyry ^F21, who says, it is forbidden all the Jews to eat horse flesh, or fishes that lack scales, or any animal that has but one hoof: and Pliny ^F23, from an ancient author, Cassius Hemina, makes mention of a law of Numa, forbidding the use of fish that had not scales, in feasts made for the gods.

F20 Nat. Hist. l. 31. c. 8.
F21 De Abstinentia, l. 4. c. 14.
F23 Nat. Hist. l. 32. c. 2.

Leviticus 11:12 In-Context

10 But anything in the seas or streams that does not have fins and scales—whether it be any of the swarming creatures in the water or any of the other living creatures in the water—is detestable to you

11 and must remain so. You must not eat their flesh, and you must detest their dead bodies.

12 Anything in the water that does not have fins or scales is detestable to you.

13 Of the birds, the following are the ones you must detest—they must not be eaten; they are detestable: the eagle, the black vulture, the bearded vulture,

14 the kite, any kind of falcon,