This constitutes an exception to the rule set down in the previous verse. While it is a complete sentence repeating many of the elements of verse 20, the full meaning is captured in the four words found in Good News Translation. If a completely new sentence is used in the receptor language, it will be very important to introduce it with a transition word that clearly indicates that this is an exception. For example, Yet as in Revised Standard Version, “But” (New Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible), “However” (Moffatt, An American Translation, and New International Version), or “Nevertheless.”

Which have legs above their feet: the word translated legs is a special term which comes from the root “to bow down” and means “jointed legs” or “bending legs.” The idea is that they have the kind of legs that permit them to jump or hop. This is made quite clear by the words that follow. Some languages may say “except those insects that have the kind of legs that enable them to hop” or “those that are able to bounce because of their legs.”

The traditional written Hebrew text actually reads “which have no legs,” but the ancient Jewish experts in sacred literature (the Masoretes) recommended in the margin of their copies that what should actually be read is “which have legs.” And virtually all modern scholars agree that this is the correct meaning to be translated.

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .