Leviticus 11:29

Summary

Leviticus 11:29 opens a list of unclean swarming creatures that move on the ground, introducing three specific animals: the choled, the akbbar, and the tzav, the last specified "according to its kind."

Key words

• Zeh ("this", H2088) — demonstrative particle opening the formula "this is unclean to you," a construction used elsewhere in Leviticus 11 to introduce classification lists.
• ta.Me' ("unclean", H2931) — masculine singular adjective, functioning predicatively with the article (ha-tame, "the unclean [thing]") to name the category being defined.
• sho.Retz ("swarms", H8317) — Qal participle, masculine singular, from the same root as sheretz (H8318, "swarming thing"). The participle describes ongoing action: "the [thing] that swarms/creeps," modifying sheretz as a relative clause (ha-sheretz ha-shoretz, "the swarming-thing that swarms").
• Cho.led ("weasel", H2467) — masculine singular noun, the first specific animal named in the list, definite by article.
• le.mi.Ne.hu ("to its kind", H4327 + H9023) — construct noun with pronominal suffix "its," a recurring phrase in Leviticus 11 attaching to the last-named creature (tzav) to indicate the term covers a category/kind rather than one exact species.

What the text says

The verse begins with a nominal sentence structure: ve-zeh lakhem ha-tame — "and this, for you, [is] the unclean [thing]" — followed by a prepositional phrase specifying the domain: ba-sheretz ha-shoretz al ha-aretz, "among the swarming-thing that swarms upon the earth." The doubling of the root sh-r-tz (noun sheretz + participle shoretz) is a grammatical figure common in this chapter, reinforcing the category of creatures characterized by ground-level swarming or creeping motion, as opposed to flying or larger walking animals treated in earlier verses of the chapter.

After this general classification, three creatures are listed with the definite article: ha-choled ("the weasel"), ha-akhbar ("the mouse"), and ha-tzav ("the [great lizard]"). Only the third animal, tzav, carries the closing phrase le-minehu ("according to its kind"), a formula elsewhere in Leviticus 11 signaling that the named term represents a broader taxonomic group rather than a single species.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew tzav (H6632B) is rendered divergently across versions: the LXX gives ho krokodeilos ho chersaios ("the land crocodile"), the Vulgate gives crocodilus, and BSB gives "great lizard," while RV1909 renders it "rana" ("frog"). The Hebrew choled (H2467, "weasel") appears in LXX as hē galē ("weasel/marten") and Vulgate as mustela, consistent with the Hebrew; BSB renders it "mole" instead of "weasel," a divergence in the English tradition not reflected in the Hebrew, LXX, or Vulgate terms.