John Gill Commentary Leviticus 11:9

"These may ye eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever hath fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, that may ye eat." — Leviticus 11:9 (ASV)

These shall you eat of all that [are] in the waters
In the waters of the sea, or in rivers, pools, and ponds; meaning fishes; for though some persons abstain from eating them entirely, as the Egyptian priests, as Herodotus ^F13 relates; and it was a part of religion and holiness, not with the Egyptians only, but with the Syrians and Greeks, to forbear eating them ^F14 ; and Julian ^F15 gives two reasons why men should abstain from fishes; the one because what is not sacrificed to the gods ought not to be used for food; and the other is, because these being immersed in the deep waters, do not look up to heaven; but God gave the people of Israel liberty of eating them, under certain limitations:

whatever has fins and scales, in the waters, in the seas, and in
the rivers, them shall you eat ;
some render it disjunctively, "fins or scales" ^F16 ; but as Maimonides ^F17 observes, whatever has scales has fins; and who also says, if a fish has but one fin and one scale, it was lawful to eat. Fins to fishes are like wings to birds, and oars to boats, with which they swim and move swiftly from place to place; and scales are a covering and protection for them. Such fishes, being much in motion and well covered, are less humid, more solid and substantial, and more wholesome. In a spiritual sense, fins may denote the exercise of grace, in which there is a motion of the soul, Godward, Christward, and heavenward; and scales may signify good works, which adorn believers, and protect them from the reproaches and calumnies of men.

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FOOTNOTES:

• F13: Euterpe, sive, l. 2. c. 37.
• F14: Plutarch. Sympos. p. 730.
• F15: Orat. 5. p. 330.
• F16: So Bootius.
• F17: Hilchot Maacolot Asurot, l. 1. sect. 24.