Proverbs30chapter 30

Proverbs 30:1

“See the introduction to Proverbs. According to the different reading, there noted, the inscription ends with: “the man spake,” and the words that follow, are the beginning of the confession, “I have wearied myself after God and have fainted.” Spake - The Hebrew word is that commonly used of the utterance of a divine oracle.”

Proverbs 30:1

“This is the title of this chapter (see Introduction). the prophecy--literally, "the burden" (compare Isa 13:1; Zec 9:1), used for any divine instruction; not necessarily a prediction, which was only a kind of prophecy (1Ch 15:27, "a song").”

Proverbs 30:1

“The word calls him God with us; faith appropriates this, and calls him " God with me, who loved me, and gave himself for me, and into union and communion with whom I am admitted." Ucal signifies the Mighty One, for it is upon one that is mighty that help is laid for us. Many good interpreters therefore apply this to the Messiah, for to him all the prophecies bear witness, and why not this then?”

Proverbs 30:2-3

“Solomon in Proverbs says: "I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not with me. I have not learned wisdom, and I have not known the wisdom of the Saints." Christ was foolish in outward appearance, when he departed from …”

Proverbs 30:2

“Surely I am more brutish - These words can in no sense, nor by any mode of speech, be true of Solomon: for while he was the wisest of men, he could not have said that he was more brutish than any man, and had not the understanding of a man. It is saying nothing to the purpose, to say he was so independently of the Divine teaching. Had he put this in, even by innuendo, it might be legitimate: but he does not; nor is it by fair implication to be understood.”

Proverbs 30:2

“SOMETIMES it is necessary for a speaker to refer to himself and he may feel it necessary to do so in a way peculiar to the occasion. When Elihu addressed himself to Job and the three wise men, he commended himself to them saying, "I am full of matter, the spirit within me constrains me." But when Agur instructed his two disciples, Ithiel and Ucal, he spoke in the lowliest terms of himself and declared that he was "more stupid than any man." Wisdom is justified of her children.”

Proverbs 30:3

“He found, when he looked within, that all his learning was as nothing. He had heard of God only “by the hearing of the ear” Job 42:5, and now he discovered how little that availed. The holy - The Holy One. Compare Pro 9:10.”

Proverbs 30:4

“Who ascended into heaven, and descended? This is the knowledge of the saints, which is considered foolishness by the wise of this world, because evidently the Son of God, in assumed flesh, after His death and resurrection, ascended into heaven, and at the time of …”

Proverbs 30:4

“Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? - Calmet paraphrases this passage thus: “Who hath descended, etc. In order to show the truth of what he was about to say, he observes: I have not the science of the saints; for how could I have acquired it? Who is he who could attain to that? Who has ascended to heaven to learn that science, and who has descended in order to publish it? Is the science of salvation one of those things that can be apprehended only by study?”

Proverbs 30:5

“Every word of God is pure,.... The whole word of God. "All Scripture", given by inspiration of God, to which Agur directs, as giving the best account of God, of his name, nature, and perfections; of his Son, person, offices, and grace; being pure, very pure, "purified" (z) like silver, purified in a furnace of earth.”

Proverbs 30:5

Out of this consciousness of the impotence of all man’s efforts after the knowledge of God rises the sense of the preciousness of every living word that God has Himself revealed, whether through “the Law and the prophets” or through “wise men and scribes.”

Proverbs 30:5-6

“It is sure, and therefore we must trust to it and venture our souls upon it. God in his word, God in his promise, is a shield, a sure protection, to all those that put themselves under his protection and put their trust in him. The word of God, applied by faith, will make us easy in the midst of the greatest dangers, Ps. xlvi.”

Proverbs 30:6

You shall hate all hypocrisy; and whatever is pleasing to the Lord, that shall you do. By no means forsake the commands of the Lord. But you shall observe what things you have received from him, neither adding to them nor taking away from them. "For you shall not add unto his words, lest he convict you and you become a liar."

Proverbs 30:6

“Add not thou unto his words - You can no more increase their value by any addition, than you can that of gold by adding any other metal to it. Take care that you do not any thing that this word forbids, nor leave undone any thing that it commands: for this is adding and diminishing in Scripture phrase.”

Proverbs 30:6

“Add . . . words--implying that his sole reliance was on God's all-sufficient teaching. reprove thee--or, "convict thee"--and so the falsehood will appear.”

Proverbs 30:7

“Two things have I required of thee,.... Or, "have asked of thee (a), O God"; as may be supplied, for the words are addressed to him.”

Proverbs 30:8-9

“Therefore, pay attention to yourself, poor man, pay attention, wealthy man; because there are trials in both poverty and riches. And therefore the Wise Man says: Do not give me riches or poverty, give me only what is sufficient for me. Because riches, like feasts, stretch the stomach and the mind with worries and anxieties. And therefore he asks to be established with what is necessary and sufficient: Lest, he says, being filled, I become a liar and say: Who sees me? But if I become poor, I will commit theft and swear in the name of the Lord (Ibid.).”

Proverbs 30:8

“Remove far from me vanity and lies - 1. שוא shav, all false shows, all false appearances of happiness, every vain expectation. Let me not set my heart on any thing that is not solid, true, durable, and eternal. 2. Lies, דבר כזב debar cazab, all words of deception, empty pretensions, false promises, uncertain dependences, and words that Fail; promises which, when they become due, are like bad bills; they are dishonored because they are found to be forged, or the drawer insolvent.”

Proverbs 30:9

“The special dangers of the two extremes. Wealth tempts to pride, unbelief, and a scorn like that of Pharaoh Exo 5:2; poverty to, dishonesty, and then to perjury, or to the hypocritical profession of religion which is practically identical with it.”

Proverbs 30:10

“Accuse not a servant - Do not bring a false accusation against a servant, lest thou be found guilty of the falsehood, and he curse thee for having traduced his character, and in his turn traduce thine. In general, do not meddle with other people’s servants.”

Proverbs 30:11

“As the teacher had uttered what he most desired, so now he tells what he most abhorred; and in true-harmony with the teaching of the Ten Commandments places in the foremost rank those who rise against the Fifth.”

Proverbs 30:11-14

“Four kinds of hateful persons--(1) graceless children, (2) hypocrites, (3) the proud, (4) cruel oppressors (compare on Pr 30:14; 52:2) --are now illustrated;”

Proverbs 30:12

“A generation that seems pure to itself, etc. Because God scatters the bones of men pleasing to themselves.”

Proverbs 30:13

“A generation whose eyes are lofty, etc. As the Psalmist says: Lord, my heart is not exalted, etc. (Psalm CXXX (Psalm 131 in this reader's Bible)).”

Proverbs 30:14

“A generation that has swords for teeth, etc. Concerning this the Psalmist, Sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and other things (Psalm LVI (Psalm 57 in this reader's Bible)). These are the persecutors of the Church of Christ. But if you consider more diligently, you will find these …”

Proverbs 30:14

“The temper that puts them upon it is made up of cruelty and covetousness. Now those are two daughters of the horse-leech, its genuine offspring, that still cry, " Give, give, give more blood, give more money;" for the bloody are still blood-thirsty; being drunk with blood, they add thirst to their drunkenness, and will seek it yet again.”

Proverbs 30:15-16

Who can hide from himself what is thus enigmatically expressed? "The horseleech had three daughters, dearly loved, but they satisfied her not, and a fourth is not satisfied when you say Enough: the grave, and woman's love, and the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that does not say Enough." The horseleech is the devil, the daughters of the devil are dearly loved, and they cannot be satisfied with the blood of the slain: "the grave, and woman's love, and the earth dry and scorched with heat."

Proverbs 30:15

“Note the numeration mounting to a climax, the two, the three, the four (Amo 1:3 etc.). The word rendered “horseleach” is found nowhere else, and its etymology is doubtful; but there are good grounds for taking the word in its literal sense, as giving an example, in the natural world, of the insatiable greed of which the next verse gives other instances. Its voracious appetite is here represented, to express its intensity, as two daughters, uttering the same ceaseless cry for more. Pro 30:16 The grave - Hebrew שׁאול she'ôl.”

Proverbs 30:17

“The eye that mocketh at his father,.... At his advice, admonitions, and instructions; looks upon him with scorn and disdain, and treats him as a weak, silly, old man: here Agur returns to the first generation he had observed; and despiseth to obey his mother; her orders and commands: or, "the obedience of his mother" (s); her discipline and instruction, having no regard to it.”

Proverbs 30:17

“The eye that mocketh at his father - This seems to be spoken against those who curse their father, and do not bless their mother, Pro 30:11. The ravens of the valley - Those which frequent the places where dead carcasses and offal are most likely to be found. The raven, the crow, the rook, the daw, the carrion crow, and the Cornish chough, appear to be all of the same genus. Some of them live on pulse and insects; others, the raven in particular, live on carrion.”

Proverbs 30:17

“The eye--for the person, with reference to the use of the organ to express mockery and contempt, and also as that by which punishment is received. the ravens . . . eagles . . . eat--either as dying unnaturally, or being left unburied, or both.”

Proverbs 30:18

“Another enigma. The four things of Pro 30:16 agreed in the common point of insatiableness; the four now mentioned agree in this, that they leave no trace behind them. Pro 30:19 The way of a man with a maid - The act of sin leaves no outward mark upon the sinners.”

Proverbs 30:18-20

“Hypocrisy is illustrated by four examples of the concealment of all methods or traces of action, and a pertinent example of double dealing in actual vice is added, that is, the adulterous woman.”

Proverbs 30:19

“Neither against the rock on which Christ builds the church nor against the church will the gates of hades prevail; just as the way of a serpent upon a rock, according to what is written in the Proverbs, cannot be found. Now, if the gates of hades prevail against any one, such cannot be a rock upon which Christ builds the church.”

Proverbs 30:19

“An eagle and a ship and a serpent are not of one family and nature but of a distinguishable and different substance, and yet they are three. On the testimony of Scripture, therefore, [the Arians] learn that their arguments are against themselves.Therefore, in saying that the substance of the Father and of the Son is diverse and their Godhead distinguishable, [the Arians] themselves assert there are two gods. But we, when we confess the Father and the Son, in declaring them still to be of one Godhead, say that there are not two gods but one God.”

Proverbs 30:19

“The way of an eagle - I borrow, with thanks, the very sensible note of the Rev. Mr. Holden on this passage. “The particle כן ken plainly shows that Pro 30:19 and Pro 30:20 are to be taken in connection; consequently, it is a comparison between the way of an adulterous woman, and the way of the things here described. “The adulterous woman goes about in search of her deluded victim, like as the eagle takes its flight into the air to spy out its prey.”

Proverbs 30:20

“I will describe two persons who have sinned the same abominable sin of fornication, yet between these two who have fornicated, the one is not aggrieved nor feels pain nor is vexed but experiences what was said in Proverbs concerning the adulterous woman "who having washed herself, if she does something, says she has done nothing wrong." See with me the other who after the mistake is unable to contain himself but punishes the conscience, tortures the heart, is unable to eat and drink, who fasts not because of a judgment but because of grief of repentance.”

Proverbs 30:21

“The shaking (of the earth) signifies the change of things upon earth.-Sin, then, which in its own nature is a slave, has reigned in the mortal body of men: once, indeed, at the time of the flood; and again in the time of the Sodomites, who, not satisfied with what the land yielded, offered violence to strangers; and a third time in the case of hateful Egypt, which, though it obtained in Joseph a man who distributed food to all, that they might not perish of famine, yet did not take well with his prosperity, but persecuted the children of Israel.”

Proverbs 30:21

“For four which it cannot bear - Better: four it cannot bear. Here the common element is that of being intolerable, and the four examples are divided equally between the two sexes. Each has its examples of power and prosperity misused because they fall to the lot of those who have no training for them, and are therefore in the wrong place.”

Proverbs 30:22

"When a servant reigneth: "Israel was a slave in Egypt, and in the land of promise became a ruler. "And a fool when he is filled with meat: "i.e., getting the land in possession readily, and eating its fruit, and being filled, it (the people) kicked.

Proverbs 30:22

“For a servant, when he reigneth,.... Being unfit for it through his education, not having been trained up in and learned the arts of government and maxims of it; and through the disposition of his mind, which is mean, abject, and servile; and as he has been used himself when a servant, so he will use others (c) and through his circumstances, being poor, he will take oppressive methods to become rich; and being raised from a low estate, he is the more imperious, proud, and haughty (d); all which and more make his reign intolerable; see Pro 19:”

Proverbs 30:23

“Odious woman - One in whom there is nothing loveable. Marriage, which to most women is the state in which they find scope for their highest qualities, becomes to her only a sphere in which to make herself and others miserable.”

Proverbs 30:24-28

“I do not quote these words, however, as taking them in their literal signification, but, agreeably to the title of the book (for it is entitled "Proverbs"), I investigate them as containing a secret meaning.”

Proverbs 30:24

“There be four things which are little upon the earth,.... Small in bulk, that have little bodies, are the lesser sort of animals; but they are exceeding wise; show a great deal of art and wisdom in what they do; or "but they are wise, made wise" (e) by the instinct of nature, by the direction of Providence, by which they do things that are surprising.”

Proverbs 30:24

“There be four things - Of which it is said, they are very little but very wise. 1. The ants. 2. The rabbits. 3. The locusts. 4. The spider. 1. The ants show their wisdom by preparing their meat in the summer, seeking for it and storing it when it may be had; not for winter consumption, for they sleep all that time; but for autumn and spring. See the note on Pro 6:6 (note).”

Proverbs 30:24-31

“By the first (Pr 30:25-28), diligence and providence are commended; the success of these insignificant animals being due to their instinctive sagacity and activity, rather than strength. The other class (Pr 30:30, 31) provides similes for whatever is majestic or comely, uniting efficiency with gracefulness.”

Proverbs 30:25

"The ants have no strength, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." And in like manner, the Gentiles by faith in Christ prepare for themselves eternal life through good works.

Proverbs 30:25

“See the marginal reference note. Note the word “people” applied here to ants, as to locusts in Joe 1:6. The marvel lies in their collective, and, as it were, organized action.”

Proverbs 30:26

"And the conies, a feeble folk, have made their houses in the rocks." The Gentiles, that is to say, are built upon Christ, the spiritual rock, which is become the head of the corner.

Proverbs 30:27

“Although the locusts do not have a king, as Scripture says, "He marches the well-ordered army in one line," but people, although they have been made rational by God, have been able neither to rule themselves orderly nor to endure patiently the control of God as king.”

Proverbs 30:27

“Compare Joe 2:7-8; the most striking fact in the flight of the locust-swarms was their apparent order and discipline, sweeping over the land like the invasion of a great army.”

Proverbs 30:28

“Spider - Rather, the Gecko (or Stellio), a genus of the lizard tribe, many species of which haunt houses, make their way through crevices in the walls, and with feet that secrete a venomous exudation catch the spiders or the flies they find there.”

Proverbs 30:29-30

"There be three things which go well, and the fourth which is comely in going; "that is, the angels in heaven, the saints upon earth, and the souls of the righteous under the earth. And the fourth, viz. God, the Word Incarnate, passed in honour through the Virgin's womb; and creating our Adam anew, he passed through the gates of heaven, and became the first-fruits of the resurrection and of the ascension for all. "The whelp of the lion is stronger than the beasts: "i.e., Christ as prophesied of by Jacob in the person of Judah.

Proverbs 30:29

“There be three things which go well - Here is another set of emblems; four things which walk beautifully and with majesty. 1. The lion. 2. The greyhound. 3. The he-goat. And, 4. A king. 1. Nothing can be more majestic than the walk of the lion. It is deliberate, equal, firm, and in every respect becoming the king of the forest. 2. The greyhound. זרזיר מתנים zarzir mothnayim, the girt in the loins; but what this beast is we do not distinctly know.”

Proverbs 30:30

“Christ is the lion: indeed all rational things are cattle in comparison with him. Moses, in fact, said, "I am a child." Because of its natural alacrity, the lion is said to walk unhindered.”

Proverbs 30:31

“A greyhound,.... So Gersom interprets the word; but Jarchi owns he does not know what is meant; and Aben Ezra only says, it is the name of a living creature, but does not say what; but observes, that some interpret it of the "bee", and others of the "eagle".”

Proverbs 30:31

“A greyhound - The Hebrew word occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament. The literal meaning is: “one with loins girded;” and some have referred this to the stripes of the zebra, others to the “war-horse” (compare Job 39:19, Job 39:25), as he is represented in the sculptures of Persepolis, with rich and stately trappings. A king, against whom there is no rising up - i. e., A king irresistible. Others prefer, “a king in the midst of his people,” and the sense, as giving a more vivid picture, is certainly more satisfactory.”

Proverbs 30:32

“If thou hast done foolishly - And who has not, at one time or other of his life? Lay thine hand upon thy mouth - Like the leper; and cry to God, Unclean! unclean! and keep silence to all besides. God will blot out thy offense, and neither the world nor the Church ever know it, for he is merciful; and man is rarely able to pass by a sin committed by his fellows, especially if it be one to which himself is by nature not liable or inclined.”

Proverbs 30:33

“But he who presses the breasts strongly to extract milk, etc. We press the breasts strongly when we ponder the words of sacred speech with subtle understanding, by which pressure while we seek milk, we find butter, because while we seek to be nourished even …”

Proverbs 30:33

Churning ... wringing ... forcing - In the Hebrew text it is one and the same word. “The pressure of milk produces curds, the pressure of the nose produces blood, the pressure of wrath (i. e., brooding over and, as it were, condensing it) produces strife.”