And these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
Parallel translations
- WEB “‘These you shall detest among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the vulture, and the black vulture,
- BSB Additionally, you are to detest the following birds, and they must not be eaten because they are detestable: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
- NKJV ‘And these you shall regard as an abomination among the birds; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, the vulture, the buzzard,
- NASB ‘Moreover, these you shall detest among the birds; they are detestable, not to be eaten: the eagle, the vulture, and the buzzard,
- NLT “These are the birds that are detestable to you. You must never eat them: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
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
Certain birds, beginning with the eagle and vultures, are to be detested and not eaten. Birds of prey and carrion-eaters are excluded.
Overview
Rather than positive criteria, the law lists forbidden birds, many of them predators or scavengers associated with death and blood. Avoiding them reinforced Israel's separation from defilement. The detail that these are 'an abomination' echoes the consistent concern for holiness, pointing toward the inward purity God ultimately works in his people through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Job 28:7There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture’s eye hath not seen:
- Rom 1:28–32And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
- Jer 48:40For thus saith the LORD; Behold, he shall fly as an eagle, and shall spread his wings over Moab.
- Deut 14:12–20But these are they of which ye shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,
- Rom 3:13–17Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
- Job 39:27–30Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
- Matt 24:28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
- Titus 3:3For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
- Hos 8:1Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law.
- Lam 4:19Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness.
- Job 38:41Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
- Jer 4:13Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled.
- Hab 1:8Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.
- Jer 4:22For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Every sacrifice, every priest, and every day of atonement points beyond itself to the one perfect offering and the great High Priest who, by his own blood, makes the unclean holy once for all.
How Leviticus 11:13 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.