And whatsoever hath not fins and scales ye may not eat; it is unclean unto you.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall not eat whatever doesn’t have fins and scales. It is unclean to you.
- BSB but you may not eat anything that does not have fins and scales; it is unclean for you.
- NKJV And whatever does not have fins and scales you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
- NASB but anything that does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.
- NLT You may not, however, eat marine animals that do not have both fins and scales. They are ceremonially unclean for you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Water creatures lacking fins and scales are unclean and must not be eaten. The standard excludes shellfish and similar creatures.
Overview
Anything in the water without both fins and scales is declared unclean for Israel's table. The clear rule reinforced the boundary between clean and unclean in everyday life. These distinctions, marking Israel's separateness, found their fulfillment in Christ, who removed the dividing wall of ceremonial law.
Cross-references & the web
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Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 14:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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