Verses 9-12 deal with creatures of the sea, and so a new paragraph should begin here. The structure of the first sentence is awkward and may be reformulated in a way that is natural in the receptor language. The structure may be parallel to verse 2b, where the land animals are first introduced. For example, “These are the sea creatures that you are allowed to eat….” It may also be necessary to eliminate some of the redundant material such as the second occurrence of in the waters or of you may eat. The phrase whether in the seas or in the rivers is left implicit in this verse in Good News Translation, and its second occurrence (in the following verse) is summarized as “living in the water,” perhaps in order not to exclude oceans and lakes.

Fins and scales: these two characteristics were essential for a sea creature to be considered acceptable by the Jews. In cultures where such terminology is lacking, fins may be rendered by “flapping things” or “things which cause to move,” or in some cases “wings,” “arms,” or “hands.” Scales may be “things which cover the skin” in some languages.

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 .