Bible Strands
Leviticus 11:13
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,
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — YHWH addresses Moses and Aaron, who relay the command to the Israelite assembly during the wilderness journey. This instruction immediately follows the regulation for water creatures and introduces a list of prohibited flying animals.
The words — The text commands תְּשַׁקְּצוּ (teshaqetsu) "you will consider detestable" and labels these birds as שֶׁקֶץ (sheqetz), a "detestable thing." This vocabulary establishes a ritual boundary of exclusion rather than a moral judgment on the creatures themselves.
The thread — The identical list of eagles and vultures recurs in Deuteronomy 14:12 as a covenant restatement. Other texts like Job 28:7 and Job 38:41 reference birds of prey but shift focus to divine sovereignty and natural provision.
Why it lands — The passage requires strict dietary compliance by marking specific scavengers as ritually unclean. It demands the reader maintain a visible distinction between clean and unclean food sources as part of the covenant community's identity.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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,
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 14:12 but these you may not eat: the eagle, the bearded vulture, the black vulture,
- Job 28:7 No bird of prey knows that path; no falcon’s eye has seen it.
- Job 38:41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
- Job 39:27 Does the eagle soar at your command and make his nest on high?
- Jeremiah 4:13 Behold, he advances like the clouds, his chariots like the whirlwind. His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!
- Jeremiah 4:22 “For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
- Jeremiah 48:40 For this is what the LORD says: “Behold, an eagle swoops down and spreads his wings against Moab.
- Lamentations 4:19 Those who chased us were swifter than the eagles in the sky; they pursued us over the mountains and ambushed us in the wilderness.
- Hosea 8:1 Put the ram’s horn to your lips! An eagle looms over the house of the LORD, because the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law.
- Habakkuk 1:8 Their horses are swifter than leopards, fiercer than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead, and their cavalry comes from afar. They fly like a vulture, swooping down to devour.