Leviticus 11:15

Summary

This verse continues the list of unclean birds in Leviticus 11, naming 'orev ("raven", H6158) and specifying that the prohibition covers every bird of that kind, not a single species.

Key words

• 'et (H0853) — the direct object marker, untranslated in English/Spanish, signals that kol-'orev is the grammatical object of the verb governing this list (found earlier in the passage, "these you shall not eat" or similar).
• kol ("every", H3605) — construct form meaning "all of" or "every kind of"; it governs the following noun 'orev, broadening the prohibition beyond one bird to the whole category.
• 'orev ("raven", H6158) — masculine singular noun naming the specific bird; in construct relation with kol, forming "every raven."
• min ("kind", H4327) — construct noun meaning "kind" or "species"; combined with the preposition le ("to", H9005) it forms the phrase "according to its kind."
• o ("its", H9023) — pronominal suffix attached to min, producing minô ("its kind"), pointing back to 'orev.

What the text says

The Hebrew clause is built as a single noun phrase functioning as a direct object: 'et kol-'orev le-minô, "every raven according to its kind." The construct chain kol-'orev ("all of raven" / "every raven") treats 'orev as a representative term for a category rather than a single bird species. The phrase le-minô ("to its kind") is a recurring formula in this chapter that extends the prohibition to all birds classified under the same min ("kind", H4327) as the named bird, without requiring a precise biological definition of that category from the text itself.

The verse lacks a finite verb; it depends syntactically on the verb of the surrounding list (introduced earlier in the chapter), which the direct object marker 'et signals grammatically. The construction le-min- + suffix appears repeatedly throughout Leviticus 11 as a formulaic device for grouping related creatures.

Differences between versions

The Septuagint (LXXSWETE) expands the single Hebrew term 'orev ("raven") into a small list: στρουθόν ("sparrow"), γλαῦκα ("owl"), λάρον ("gull"), and "the things like it" (τὰ ὅμοια αὐτῷ). This LXX phrase corresponds functionally to the Hebrew le-minô ("according to its kind") but does so by naming additional bird types rather than using an abstract "kind" formula. The Vulgate (VULCLEM), with "omne corvini generis" ("every one of the raven's kind"), follows the Hebrew structure more closely, preserving the kol + min pattern as "every kind of raven."