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LXX Leviticus

Septuagint

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Chapter 11

1 And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 2 Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, These are the beasts which you shall eat of all beasts that are upon the earth. 3 Every beast parting the hoof and making divisions of two claws, and chewing the cud among beasts, these you shall eat. 4 But of these you shall not eat, of those that chew the cud, and of those that part the hoofs, and divide claws; the camel, because it chews the cud, but does not divide the hoof, this is unclean to you. 5 And the rabbit, because it chews the cud, but does not divide the hoof, this is unclean to you. 6 And the hare, because it chews the cud, and does not divide the hoof, this is unclean to you. 7 And the swine, because this animal divides the hoof, and makes claws of the hoof, and it does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. 8 You shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; these are unclean to you. 9 And these are what you shall eat of all that are in the waters: all things that have fins and scales in the waters, and in the seas, and in the brooks, these you shall eat. 10 And all things which have not fins or scales in the water, or in the seas, and in the brooks, of all which the waters produce, and of every soul living in the water, are an abomination. 11 And they shall be abominations to you; you shall not eat of their flesh, and you shall abhor their carcasses. 12 And all things that have not fins or scales of those that are in the waters, these are an abomination to you. 13 And these are the things which you shall abhor of birds, and they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle. 14 And the vulture, and the kite, and the like to it;⁠ 15 [and the raven, and the birds like it,] 16 and the sparrow, and the owl, and the gull, and the like to it, and the hawk and his like, 17 and the night-raven and the cormorant and the ibis,⁠ 18 and the red-bill, and the pelican, and swan, 19 and the owl, and the heron, and the lapwing, and the like to it,⁠ and the hoopoe and the bat. 20 And all winged creatures that creep, which go upon four feet, are abominations to you. 21 But these you shall eat of the creeping winged animals, which go upon four feet, which have legs above their feet, to leap with on the earth. 22 And these of them you shall eat: the caterpillar and his like, and the attacus and his like, and the locust and his like, and the cantharus and his like. 23 Every creeping thing from among the birds, which has four feet, is an abomination to you. 24 And by these you shall be defiled; every one that touches their carcasses shall be unclean till the evening. 25 And every one that takes of their dead bodies shall wash his garments, and shall be unclean till the evening. 26 And whichever among the beasts divides the hoof and makes claws, and does not chew the cud, shall be unclean to you; every one that touches their dead bodies shall be unclean till evening. 27 And every one among all the wild beasts that moves upon its fore feet, which goes on all four, is unclean to you; every one that touches their dead bodies shall be unclean till evening. 28 And he that takes of their dead bodies shall wash his garments, and shall be unclean till evening: these are unclean to you. 29 And these are unclean to you of reptiles upon the earth, the weasel, and the mouse, and the lizard, 30 the ferret, and the chameleon, and the evet, and the newt, and the mole. 31 These are unclean to you of all the reptiles which are on the earth; every one who touches their carcasses shall be unclean till evening. 32 And on whatever one of their dead bodies shall fall it shall be unclean; whatever wooden vessel, or garment, or skin, or sack it may be, every vessel in which work should be done, shall be dipped in water, and shall be unclean till evening; and then it shall be clean. 33 And every earthen vessel into which one of these things shall fall, whatever is inside it, shall be unclean, and it shall be broken. 34 And all food that is eaten, on which water shall come from such a vessel, shall be unclean; and every beverage which is drunk in any such vessel, shall be unclean. 35 And every thing on which there shall fall of their dead bodies shall be unclean; ovens and stands for jars shall be broken down: these are unclean, and they shall be unclean to you. 36 Only if the water be of fountains of water, or a pool, or confluence of water, it shall be clean; but he that touches their carcasses shall be unclean. 37 And if one of their carcasses should fall upon any sowing seed which shall be sown, it shall be clean. 38 But if water be poured on any seed, and one of their dead bodies fall upon it, it is unclean to you. 39 And if one of the cattle die, which it is lawful for you to eat, he that touches their carcasses shall be unclean till evening. 40 And he that eats of their carcasses shall wash his garments, and be unclean till evening; and he that carries any of their carcasses shall wash his garments,⁠ and bathe himself in water, and be unclean till evening. 41 And every reptile that creeps on the earth, this shall be an abomination to you; it shall not be eaten. 42 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, you shall not eat it, for it is an abomination to you. 43 And you shall not defile your souls with any of the reptiles that creep upon the earth, and you shall not be polluted with them, and you shall not be unclean by them. 44 For I am the Lord your God; and you shall be sanctified, and you shall be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy; and you shall not defile your souls with any of the reptiles creeping upon the earth. 45 For I am the Lord who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God; and you shall be holy, for I the Lord am holy. 46 This is the law concerning beasts and birds and every living creature moving in the water, and every living creature creeping on the earth; 47 to distinguish between the unclean and the clean; and between those that bring forth alive, such as should be eaten, and those that bring forth alive, such as should not be eaten.

Texts in conversation

Compare Leviticus 11:17 and LXX Leviticus 11:17

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

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Summary

Leviticus 11 names many unclean birds, some of which became obscure over time. The Greek Septuagint translates these with more familiar aquatic or Egyptian birds, such as the ibis and the griffon, even though they are not the same birds.

Passages

Leviticus 11:17

Hebrew Bible
13 “‘These you are to detest from among the birds—they must not be eaten, because they are detestable: the griffon vulture, the bearded vulture, the black vulture, 14 the kite, the buzzard of any kind, 15 every kind of crow, 16 the eagle owl, the short-eared owl, the long-eared owl, the hawk of any kind, 17 the little owl, the cormorant, the screech owl, 18 the white owl, the scops owl, the osprey, 19 the stork, the heron of any kind, the hoopoe, and the bat.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Leviticus

LXX Leviticus 11:17

Septuagint
13 And these are the things which you shall abhor of birds, and they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle and the ossifrage, and the sea-eagle. 14 And the vulture, and the kite, and the like to it; 15 [and the raven, and the birds like it,] 16 and the sparrow, and the owl, and the gull, and the like to it, and the hawk and his like, 17 and the night-raven and the cormorant and the ibis, 18 and the red-bill, and the pelican, and swan, 19 and the owl, and the heron, and the lapwing, and the like to it, and the hoopoe and the bat.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Leviticus

References

"... When able to identify the zoological referent denoted by the Hebrew term, the translators generally used the most faithful correspondent in Greek, as can be seen especially from the first series of five birds. When they were no longer able to identify this zoological referent, the translators resorted to etymology primarily, which can be regarded as the closest equivalent to literalism when literalism was not possible. At the same time, however, the fact that the Greek translators were unable to identify several of the birds listed left them with a significant margin of freedom. As a result, the etymological technique led them to partly substitute the series of small raptors with aquatic birds, such as the seagull, the swan or the cormorant. Undoubtedly, the introduction of such aquatic birds fit more adequately into the ornithological panorama surrounding the translators, who were working in Egypt. For the same reason, the Greek translators introduced a few exotic birds that were consistent with the Egyptian context, such as the ibis and the griffon, both of which translate Hebrew terms (ינשוף and פרס respectively) whose meaning was presumably lost to them ..."
Anna Angelini and Christophe Nihan, “Unclean Birds in the Hebrew and Greek Versions of Leviticus and Deuteronomy,” in The Text of Leviticus: Proceedings of the Third International Colloquium of the Dominique Barthélemy Institute, ed. Innocent Himbaza (Leuven: Peeters, 2020), 39–68.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Leviticus 11:17 and LXX Leviticus 11:17

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