“Of all the marine animals, you may eat whatever has both fins and scales.
Parallel translations
- WEB These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales may you eat.
- KJV These ye shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall ye eat:
- BSB Of all the creatures that live in the water, you may eat anything with fins and scales,
- NKJV “These you may eat of all that are in the waters: you may eat all that have fins and scales.
- NASB “These you may eat of everything that is in the water: anything that has fins and scales you may eat,
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 with both fins and scales may be eaten. Two marks define clean seafood.
Overview
Moses turns to aquatic life, permitting anything that has both fins and scales. This simple test governed what Israel could take from rivers and seas. Like the other dietary distinctions, it trained God's people in the discipline of holiness, a ceremonial pattern fulfilled in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Lev 11:9–12“‘These you may eat of all that are in the waters: whatever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, that you may eat.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 14:9 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.