HEBREW WORD STUDY – FINS AND SCALES – SENAPPIR & QASEQESETH קשקשת סנפיר
Leviticus 11:9: “These shall ye eat of all that [are] in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall ye eat.”
I wonder, do any Christian actually read this passage? Do any Christians even read the book of Leviticus? Leviticus is famously known as the book that those determined Christians who seek to read through the Bible in one year drop out of their quest. Who cares whether you should eat only fish that have fins and scales? I happen to like catfish, ok? We are no longer under law but grace, so such a passage has no meaning for me, how can I be blessed if this happens to be my morning devotional passage?
In my study with rabbis, I learned something very important, that every word of the Bible comes from God and for a purpose. On my desk, I have a little model of a Tardis. If you are a sci-fi fan and devotee of Dr. Who you know that the Tardis is a 4’x4’x 7’ police call box that is really a time machine and starship operated by Dr. Who a time lord. On the outside, it is just a small phone both size structure but inside it is a vast enormous starship with infinite rooms and corridors, so many rooms that even a thousand-year-old Dr. Who has not visited them all.
That is the Word of God. On the outside Leviticus 11:9 is just a small phone booth but if you dip inside you will find a vast world of knowledge of God with infinite rooms and corridors. Let me guide you to one of these rooms.
On the outside, it makes sense to eat only fish with fins and scales as seafood that does not have fins or scales like catfish or lobster are scavengers eating waste. Fish with skin and scales have a diet healthier to humans. But that is the surface the outside, let’s step inside our Tardis.
The word fins in Hebrew is senappir. I had to search this one out as your lexicons were of little help. No one knows for sure what the root word is or the derivation is but it seems to be related to sanar, a Phoenician word which was applied to the fins of fish. The Phoenicians were seafaring people. They observed that the fish use their fins for navigation, without them they were literally blind. The word sanar has the idea of blindness and sight as it relates to your sense of direction. It is idiomatic for study and knowledge. The word for scales is qaseqaseth which is also of Phoenician origin used for the shingle-like covering of ships. It is also used for armor like mail, small metal shingles that allow for movement yet will still protect like a metal plate.
The Talmud in Niddah 51b tells us that all fish that have scales also have fins (and are thus kosher) But there are fish that have fins but no scales like catfish and are impure. If this is so why did not Scripture just simply says scales why include fins? The Talmud teaches that “Fins and scales are necessary to increase and make Torah complete.” This is so because fins are what allow a fish to move through water and navigate. This is like the intellectual study of the Word of God. As one advance in his wisdom and knowledge of the Word of God, he becomes great in the eyes of many people like good old Chaim Bentorah. However, it is the scales that protect the heart of the fish. One may think the scales form only a secondary function to the fins as it is the fins that move the fish forward but it is the scales that preserve what it is.
I saw this as a Bible College teacher, for many of my students learning was just an intellectual exercise. They would swim and frolic with their talent and genius but without the scales, the love of God, the relationship with God which protects the purity of the knowledge that learning, an intellect that knowledge can soon becomes corrupt and replaced with egotistic arrogance. Thus only fish with fins and scales are kosher or clean for only learning and intellect of the Word of God covered with one’s love and relationship with God to protect their heart can keep that learning pure. Without that protection of the scales once heart can become arrogant and filled with pride. Which is why Chaim Bentorah must spend more time working on his relationship with God than on his studies.
So you see the laws of God in Leviticus were not arbitrary or random. They are not just a test to see if you can keep them to impress God with your discipline. The purpose of keeping the laws was to study these laws as the sages did in the Talmud. In keeping the law they naturally asked why and when they asked why they stepped into their Tardis and entered its many rooms and corridors of knowledge of God. Just because we live under grace does not mean we need to ignore the law. There are many powerful spiritual lessons to learn from God’s laws. Grace just means we can have our knowledge of God and eat our catfish too.
How as any study group, the rabbit trail appears before our eyes….The Living God shares as much as we are willing to wait and wade in. Surprising us with every step into the “Tardis” Heart of the Living God…Thank you
This is again (Thank You Chaim, you are a true Watchman on the Wall) the pure word of God that is missing from the end of the age.
Amos 8:11 (KJV)
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD
Well done Chaim. You are FINISHING WELL!!! Well done GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.
Reminds me of Will Rodgers line: “When Congress makes a joke it becomes law. When they make a law it becomes a joke.” That last line was a joke. An old book None of these Diseases laid it out well. What people did not know 3,000 years ago we know today, things like microbes and sanitation. If you read the study carefully you will see that I am not saying we should follow the dietary laws or not follow them. That is not my role to determine, I am not a theologian and I will never reveal my position on that. Paul said the law is a teacher which means it has value. I will leave it to you to decided the value, there are many opinions out there, especially those who love catfish. I for one do not like catfish. My father was a fisherman who did catch catfish. I once had to clean a catfish that was still alive. I fear I could not do it and my dad did what I think God would do, pat my head and said: “It’s ok, I’ll do it.” (My gosh, somebody is going to read something into that last line that I did not intend.) (My goodness, somebody is going to call me to task for saying gosh.)
Tardis analogy is great! Reading the Bible in the morning, searching for the ‘real’ meaning as applied to a post religion mindset, i sometimes find myself feeling like Phillip, who was reading but needed someone to explain to him what it meant. thank you for the light.
Shalom Chaim,
Are you saying that kosher laws from Torah have been revoked by Yah and no longer apply to believers today?
I am surprised …but not shocked! There is much confusion over Torah observancy in mainline Christianity and the teachings of Shaul. Do you have any sound scriptural basis for your conclusion. ..that catfish are on the menu under grace. Can I lovingly challenge you on that?
I believe that Yah in His infinite wisdom….defined what “food ” would be and not be for His people under the Mosaic Covenant …?Even though we are still in the nations, we are saved under grace but still keeping Torah not to earn salvation, but to please Him and obey His instructions.
Amen. Your teaching is a blessing.
Yes I read Leviticus.
With respect I respond. Why would we consume anything considered unclean? In these days of increasing knowledge we have found the old adage proven, you are what you eat. DNA mingling with DNA. God’s word,from everlasting to everlasting…..
Yes, this is true, especially with all the chemically sprayed, GMO, processed foods and terrible farm factory practices where animals are tortured for financial gain…love of money, the root of all evil. Chaim was just making a point, but actually eats a clean and whole food diet.