Proverbs 27:20
in Proverbs 27Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; And the eyes of man are never satisfied.
KJV
Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
⋯
This verse in Proverbs 27
Commentary
5 notes on this verseHell and destruction are never full,.... The grave, as the word used often signifies; and which may be called "destruction", because bodies laid in it are soon corrupted and destroyed; and though bodies are cast into it and devoured by it, it is ready for more; it is one of the four things which never have enough.
This site's exposition
Hell and destruction are never full
on Proverbs 27:20-22
Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied, names the grave's appetite and human appetite in the same breath, one figure for both. As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold, so is a man to his praise, repeats the refining figure of 17:3 in a new application, that praise tests a man the way fire tests metal and shows what he is made of. Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him, ends the cluster on folly's stubbornness, a condition no force from outside can beat out of a man.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Hell and destruction will not be full, etc. The torments of hell will not be filled, by receiving an end; similarly, the intentions of those who are wise in human matters are insatiable in the desire to sin. And hence they pay the penalties without …
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Hell and destruction are never full - How hideous must the soul of a covetous man be, when God compares it to hell and perdition! The eyes of man are never satisfied - As the grave can never be filled up with bodies, nor perdition with souls; so the restless desire, the lust of power, riches, and splendor, is never satisfied. Out of this ever unsatisfied desire spring all the changing fashions, the varied amusements, and the endless modes of getting money, prevalent in every age, and in every country.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Hades, the world of the dead, and Destruction (Death, the destroying power, personified) have been at all times and in all countries thought of as all-devouring, insatiable (compare the marginal reference). Yet one thing is equally so, the lust of the eye, the restless craving which grows with what it feeds on Ecc 1:8.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁא֣וֹל | sheol | Sheol | H7585 → | 66 times |
| וַ֭אֲבַדּוֹ | vaavadoh | and destruction its | H10 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִשְׂבַּ֑עְנָה | tisba'nah | they are satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
| וְעֵינֵ֥י | veeinei | and [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| הָ֝אָדָ֗ם | haadam | <the> person | H120 → | 551 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִשְׂבַּֽעְנָה׃ | tisba'nah | they are satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
שְׁא֣וֹלSheol
sheolH7585 →66 times
וַ֭אֲבַדּוֹand destruction its
vaavadohH10 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִשְׂבַּ֑עְנָהthey are satisfied
tisba'nahH7646 →97 times
וְעֵינֵ֥יand [the] eyes of
veeineiH5869 →887 times
הָ֝אָדָ֗ם<the> person
haadamH120 →551 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִשְׂבַּֽעְנָה׃they are satisfied
tisba'nahH7646 →97 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 John 2:16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
it leads to
- Romans 13:14
Instead, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.
- Galatians 5:17
For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want.
- Psalms 119:36–37
Turn my heart to Your testimonies and not to covetous gain.
- Genesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave…
- Ephesians 2:3
All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.
- Romans 13:14
Through
Ecclesiastes 6:7All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
it leads to
- John 6:27
Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of…
- Proverbs 16:26
A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger drives him onward.
- 1 Timothy 6:6–8
Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.
- John 6:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.