Leviticus 11:42

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the eretz, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
You must not eat anything that moves upon its belly or that walks on all fours, even any with numerous feet belonging to any swarmer that swarms on the land, because they are detestable.

New Century Version
You must not eat any of the animals that crawl on the ground, including those that crawl on their stomachs, that walk on all four feet, or on many feet. They are to be hated.

New English Translation
You must not eat anything that crawls on its belly or anything that walks on all fours or on any number of legs of all the swarming things that swarm on the land, because they are detestable.

Amplified Bible
'Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, and whatever has many feet among all things that swarm on the ground, you shall not eat; for they are detestable.

New American Standard Bible
'Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, whatever has many feet, in regard to every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat them, because they are detestable.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Whatsoeuer goeth vpon the breast, and whatsoeuer goeth vpon al foure, or that hath many feete among all creeping thinges that creepe vpon the earth, ye shal not eate of them, for they shalbe abomination.

Legacy Standard Bible
Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, whatever has many feet, in respect to every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat them, for they are detestable.

Complete Jewish Bible
whatever moves on its stomach, goes on all fours, or has many legs — all creatures that swarm on the ground; you are not to eat them, because they are a detestable thing.

Darby Translation
Whatever goeth on the belly, and whatever goeth on all four, and all that have a great many feet, of every manner of crawling thing which crawleth on the earth—these ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

Easy-to-Read Version
You must not eat any of the reptiles that crawl on their bellies or that walk on all four feet or that have many feet. Don't eat these animals!

English Standard Version
Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable.

George Lamsa Translation
Whatever goes upon its belly and whatever goes upon all fours or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, you shall not eat of them; for they are unclean.

Good News Translation
whether they crawl, or walk on four legs, or have many legs.

Christian Standard Bible®
Do not eat any of the creatures that swarm on the earth, anything that moves on its belly or walks on all fours or on many feet, for they are abhorrent.

Literal Translation
Anything going on its belly, and any going on all four, and all having many feet, even every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat them, for they are unclean.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And what so euer crepeth vpon ye bely, or all that goeth vpon foure or mo fete, amoge all that crepeth vpon earth, shall ye not eate, for it shalbe an abhominacion vnto you.

American Standard Version
Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all fours, or whatsoever hath many feet, even all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

Bible in Basic English
Whatever goes on its stomach or on four feet or has a great number of feet, even all those going flat on the earth, may not be used for food, for they are disgusting.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Whatsoeuer goeth vpon the brest, and whatsoeuer goeth vpon foure, or that hath mo feete among all creepyng thynges that creepe vpon the earth: of that see ye eate not, for they are abhominable.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all fours, or whatsoever hath many feet, even all swarming things that swarm upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are a detestable thing.

King James Version (1611)
Whatsoeuer goeth vpon the bellie, and whatsoeuer goeth vpon all foure, or whatsoeuer hath more feet among all creeping things that creepe vpon the earth, them ye shall not eate, for they are an abomination.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And every animal that creeps on its belly, and every one that goes on four feet continually, which abounds with feet among all the reptiles creeping upon the earth—ye shall not eat it, for it is an abomination to you.

English Revised Version
Whatsoever goeth upon the belly, and whatsoever goeth upon all four, or whatsoever hath many feet, even all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

Berean Standard Bible
Do not eat any creature that moves along the ground, whether it crawls on its belly or walks on four or more feet; for such creatures are detestable.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
`What euer thing goith on the brest and foure feet, and hath many feet, ethir drawun bi the erthe, ye schulen not ete, for it is abhomynable.

Young's Literal Translation
any thing going on the belly, and any going on four, unto every multiplier of feet, to every teeming thing which is teeming on the earth -- ye do not eat them, for they [are] an abomination;

Update Bible Version
Whatever goes on the belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, you shall not eat them; for they are detestable.

Webster's Bible Translation
Whatever goeth upon the belly, and whatever goeth upon [all] four, or whatever hath more feet among all creeping animals that creep upon the earth, them ye shall not eat; for they [are] an abomination.

World English Bible
Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, even all creeping things that creep on the earth, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

New King James Version
Whatever crawls on its belly, whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet among all creeping things that creep on the earth--these you shall not eat, for they are an abomination.

New Living Translation
This includes all animals that slither along on their bellies, as well as those with four legs and those with many feet. All such animals that scurry along the ground are detestable, and you must never eat them.

New Life Bible
You should not eat whatever moves on its stomach, or goes on four feet, or has many feet, among all the things that move around on the ground in large numbers. For they are hated.

New Revised Standard
Whatever moves on its belly, and whatever moves on all fours, or whatever has many feet, all the creatures that swarm upon the earth, you shall not eat; for they are detestable.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Everything that goeth upon the belly, and everything that goeth upon all-fours, even to everything having many feet, as regardeth any creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, ye shall not eat them for, an abomination, they are.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Whatsoever goeth upon the breast on four feet, or hath many feet, or traileth on the earth, you shall not eat, because it is abominable.

Revised Standard Version
Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, all the swarming things that swarm upon the earth, you shall not eat; for they are an abomination.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Whatever crawls on its belly, and whatever walks on all fours, whatever has many feet, in respect to every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, you shall not eat them, for they are detestable.

Contextual Overview

²⁰"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. ²⁴"You will make yourselves ritually unclean until evening if you touch their carcasses. If you pick up one of their carcasses you must wash your clothes and you'll be unclean until evening. ²⁶ "Every animal that has a split hoof that's not completely divided, or that doesn't chew the cud is unclean for you; if you touch the carcass of any of them you become unclean. ²⁷"Every four-footed animal that goes on its paws is unclean for you; if you touch its carcass you are unclean until evening. If you pick up its carcass you must wash your clothes and are unclean until evening. They are unclean for you. ²⁹"Among the creatures that crawl on the ground, the following are unclean for you: weasel, rat, all lizards, gecko, monitor lizard, wall lizard, skink, chameleon. Among the crawling creatures, these are unclean for you. If you touch them when they are dead, you are ritually unclean until evening. When one of them dies and falls on something, that becomes unclean no matter what it's used for, whether it's made of wood, cloth, hide, or sackcloth. Put it in the water—it's unclean until evening, and then it's clean. If one of these dead creatures falls into a clay pot, everything in the pot is unclean and you must break the pot. Any food that could be eaten but has water on it from such a pot is unclean, and any liquid that could be drunk from it is unclean. Anything that one of these carcasses falls on is unclean—an oven or cooking pot must be broken up; they're unclean and must be treated as unclean. A spring, though, or a cistern for collecting water remains clean, but if you touch one of these carcasses you're ritually unclean. If a carcass falls on any seeds that are to be planted, they remain clean. But if water has been put on the seed and a carcass falls on it, you must treat it as unclean. ³⁹"If an animal that you are permitted to eat dies, anyone who touches the carcass is ritually unclean until evening. If you eat some of the carcass you must wash your clothes and you are unclean until evening. If you pick up the carcass you must wash your clothes and are unclean until evening. ⁴¹"Creatures that crawl on the ground are detestable and not to be eaten. Don't eat creatures that crawl on the ground, whether on their belly or on all fours or on many feet—they are detestable. Don't make yourselves unclean or be defiled by them, because I am your God .

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

goeth upon the belly: Genesis 3:14, Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 65:25, Micah 7:17, Matthew 3:7, Matthew 23:23, John 8:44, 2 Corinthians 11:3, 2 Corinthians 11:13, Titus 1:12

hath more feet: Heb. doth multiply feet

Reciprocal: Leviticus 7:21 - abominable Leviticus 11:29 - creeping things that creep Leviticus 11:43 - Ye shall Ezekiel 8:10 - every Mark 7:15 - nothing

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Whatsoever goeth upon the belly,.... Jarchi's paraphrase is, "whatsoever goeth", as worms and beetles, and the like to them, "upon the belly", this is the serpent; and to go upon the belly is the curse denounced upon it, Genesis 3:14 this and every such creature are forbidden to be eaten; as there are others who either have no feet, or what they have so short, that they seem to go upon their belly; and yet, as horrible and detestable as the serpent is, it has been the food of some, and accounted very delicious, as by a people mentioned by the Arabic geographer e. Mela f speaks of a people, who, from their eating serpents, were called Ophiophagi, serpent eaters; and Pliny g says of the Troglodytes, that the flesh of serpents was their food. The Spaniards, when they first found out the West Indies, going ashore on the isle of Cuba, found certain spits of wood lying at the fire, having fish on them, about one hundred pound weight, and two serpents of eight feet long, differing nothing from the crocodiles in Egypt, but not so big; there is nothing, says my author h, among the delicate dishes (of the natives of that place), they esteem so much as these serpents, insomuch that it is no more lawful for the common people to eat of them, than of peacocks and pheasants among us; the Spaniards at first durst not venture to taste of them, because of their horrible deformity and loathsomeness; but the brother of Columbus being allured by a sister of one of the kings of the country to taste of them, found them very delicious, on which he and his men fell to, and ate freely of them, affirming them to be of more pleasant taste than either our pheasants or partridges; and that there is no meat to be compared with the eggs of these serpents i. Diodorus Siculus k speaks of serpents in the island of Taprobane of great size, harmless to men, and whose flesh is eaten, and of a sweet savour:

and whatsoever goeth upon [all] four; that is, whatsoever creeping thing; for otherwise there are beasts that go upon all four that are clean and fit to eat; but this is observed to distinguish this sort of creeping things from those that go upon their belly, and from those that have more feet, as in the next clause; Jarchi particularly instances in the scorpion:

or whatsoever hath mere feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth; such as caterpillars, and particularly the Scolopendra, which the eastern people call Nedal; so Jarchi says, this is Nedal, a reptile which hath feet from its head to its tail, called Centipeda; and the Targum of Jonathan is,

"from the serpent, to the Nedal or Scolopendra, which has many feet.''

Some of then, have seventy two, thirty six on a side, and others eighty four; some fewer, but all have many:

them ye shall not eat, for they [are] an abomination; abominable for food, and to be had in the utmost aversion.

e Clim. 1. par. 6. f De Situ Orbis, l. 3. c. 8. g Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 8. h Peter Martyr de Angleria, Decad. 1. l. 3. i Ib. l. 5. k Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 141.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Whatsoever goeth upon the belly - i. e. all footless reptiles, and mollusks, snakes of all kinds, snails, slugs, and worms. “Whatsoever goeth upon all four;” i. e. “creeping things,” or vermin; such as the weasel, the mouse or the lizard. Whatsoever hath more feet; i. e. all insects, except the locust family (Leviticus 11:22 note), myriapods, spiders, and caterpillars.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Leviticus 11:42. Whatsoever goeth upon the belly — In the word גהון gahon, the vau holem, in most Hebrew Bibles, is much larger than the other letters; and a Masoretic note is added in the margin, which states that this is the middle letter of the law; and consequently this verse is the middle verse of the Pentateuch.

Whatsoever hath more feet — Than four; that is, all many-footed reptiles, as well as those which go upon the belly having no feet, such as serpents; besides the four-footed smaller animals mentioned above.