Leviticus 11:20

Contemporary English Version

The only winged insects you may eat are locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets. All other winged insects that crawl are too disgusting for you to eat.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
"'All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination to you.

King James Version
All fowls that creep, going upon all four, shall be an abomination unto you.

Lexham English Bible
"‘Any winged insect that walks on all fours is detestable to you.

New Century Version
"‘Don't eat insects that have wings and walk on all four feet; they also are to be hated.

New English Translation
"‘Every winged swarming thing that walks on all fours is detestable to you.

Amplified Bible
'All winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you;

New American Standard Bible
'All the winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Also euery foule yt creepeth & goeth vpon all foure, such shalbe an abomination vnto you.

Legacy Standard Bible
‘All the swarming things that fly and that walk on all fours are detestable to you.

Complete Jewish Bible
"‘All winged swarming creatures that go on all fours are a detestable thing for you;

Darby Translation
Every winged crawling thing that goeth upon all four shall be an abomination unto you.

Easy-to-Read Version
"Don't eat insects that have wings and crawl. Even the thought of eating them should make you sick!

English Standard Version
"All winged insects that go on all fours are detestable to you.

George Lamsa Translation
All species that creep, going upon all fours, are unclean to you.

Good News Translation
All winged insects are unclean,

Christian Standard Bible®
“All winged insects that walk on all fours are to be abhorrent to you.

Literal Translation
Every flying swarming creature going on all four, it is an abomination to you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And whatsoeuer crepeth amonge the foules, and goeth vpon foure fete, shalbe an abhominacio vnto you.

American Standard Version
All winged creeping things that go upon all fours are an abomination unto you.

Bible in Basic English
Every winged four-footed thing which goes on the earth is disgusting to you;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Let all foules that creepe and go vpon all foure, be an abhomination vnto you.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
All winged swarming things that go upon all fours are a detestable thing unto you.

King James Version (1611)
All foules that creepe, going vpon all foure, shalbe an abomination vnto you.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And all winged creatures that creep, which go upon four feet, are abominations to you.

English Revised Version
All winged creeping things that go upon all four are an abomination unto you.

Berean Standard Bible
All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Al thing of foulis that goith on foure feet, schal be abhomynable to you;

Young's Literal Translation
`Every teeming creature which is flying, which is going on four -- an abomination it [is] to you.

Update Bible Version
All winged creeping things that go on all fours are detestable to you.

Webster's Bible Translation
All fowls that creep, going upon [all] four, [shall be] an abomination to you.

World English Bible
"'All flying insects that walk on all fours are an abomination to you.

New King James Version
"All flying insects that creep on all fours shall be an abomination to you.

New Living Translation
"You must not eat winged insects that walk along the ground; they are detestable to you.

New Life Bible
‘All bugs with wings and that walk on all fours are to be hated by you.

New Revised Standard
All winged insects that walk upon all fours are detestable to you.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Every creeping thing that flieth, that goeth on all-fours, an abomination, it is unto you.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Of things that fly, whatsoever goeth upon four feet, shall be abominable to you.

Revised Standard Version
"All winged insects that go upon all fours are an abomination to you.

THE MESSAGE
"All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you. But you can eat some of these, namely, those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground: all locusts, katydids, crickets, and grasshoppers. But all the other flying insects that have four legs you are to detest.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'All the winged insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.

Contextual Overview

²⁰The only winged insects you may eat are locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets. All other winged insects that crawl are too disgusting for you to eat. ²⁴Don't even touch the dead bodies of animals that have divided hoofs but don't chew the cud. And don't touch the dead bodies of animals that have paws. If you do, you must wash your clothes, but you are still unclean until evening. ²⁹Moles, rats, mice, and all kinds of lizards are unclean. ³¹ Anyone who touches their dead bodies or anything touched by their dead bodies becomes unclean until evening. ³² If something made of wood, cloth, or leather touches one of their dead bodies, it must be washed, but it is still unclean until evening. ³³ If any of these animals is found dead in a clay pot, the pot must be broken to pieces, and everything in it becomes unclean. ³⁴ If you pour water from this pot on any food, that food becomes unclean, and anything drinkable in the pot becomes unclean. ³⁵ If the dead body of one of these animals touches anything else, including ovens and stoves, that thing becomes unclean and must be destroyed. ³⁶ A spring or a cistern where one of these dead animals is found is still clean, but anyone who touches the animal becomes unclean. ³⁷ If the dead body of one of these animals is found lying on seeds that have been set aside for planting, the seeds remain clean.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Leviticus 11:23, Leviticus 11:27, Deuteronomy 14:19, 2 Kings 17:28-41, Psalms 17:14, Matthew 6:24, Philippians 3:18, Philippians 3:19, 2 Timothy 4:10, 1 John 2:15-17, Jude 1:10, Jude 1:19

Reciprocal: Leviticus 7:21 - abominable Leviticus 11:29 - creeping things that creep Leviticus 11:41 - General

Cross-References

Luke 3:35
Serug, Reu, Peleg, Eber, Shelah;

Gill's Notes on the 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

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.