Proverbs 30:16
in Proverbs 30Sheol, the barren womb, land never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, ‘Enough!’
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Sheol; and the barren womb; The earth that is not satisfied with water; And the fire that saith not, Enough.
KJV
The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
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This verse in Proverbs 30
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWho 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."
This site's exposition
The leech has two daughters
on Proverbs 30:15-17
"The leech has two daughters: Give and Give" opens the chapter's numerical sayings, three things never satisfied and four that never say enough. The form counts to a number and lands one past it. Verse 17 closes on the eye that mocks a father and scorns a mother.
This site's exposition
the barren womb
Albert Barnes notes the numbers mounting to a climax, two, three, four, and gives the grave its Hebrew name, Sheol. Each of the four never says enough: the grave, the womb, the dry land and the fire. Jerome read the leech as the devil.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
As to the horse-leech. There were three daughters fondly loved by sin-fornication, murder, and idolatry. These three did not satisfy her, for she is not to be satisfied. In destroying man by these actions, sin never varies, but only grows continually. For the fourth, he continues, is never content to say "enough," meaning that it is universal lust. In naming the "fourth," he intends lust in the universal. For as the body is one, and yet has many members; so also sin, being one, contains within it many various lusts by which it lays its snares for men. Wherefore, in order to teach us this, he uses the examples of Sheol (Hades), and the love of women, and hell (Tartarus), and the earth that is not filled with water. And water and fire, indeed, will never say, "It is enough." And the grave (Hades) in no wise ceases to receive the souls of unrighteous men; nor does the love of sin, in the instance of the love of women, cease to be given to fornication, and it becomes the betrayer of the soul. And as Tartarus, which is situated in a doleful and dark locality, is not touched by a ray of light, so is every one who is the slave of sin in all the passions of the flesh Like the earth not filled with water he is never able to come to confession, and to the laver of regeneration, and like water and fire, never says, "It is enough."
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The grave,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The leech has Menachem (Machbereth p. 134) interprets עלוקה according to its apparent meaning. We learn that it is Arabic, but the commentators say that it is an expression of the grave and the descent.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁאוֹל֮ | sheol | Sheol | H7585 → | 66 times |
| וְעֹ֪צֶ֫ר | veotzer | and barrenness of | H6115 → | |
| רָ֥חַם | racham | a womb | H7356 → | |
| אֶ֭רֶץ | ʾeretz | land | H776 → | 2504 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׂ֣בְעָה | saveah | it is satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
| מַּ֑יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| וְ֝אֵ֗שׁ | veesh | and fire | H784 → | 378 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | [which] not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אָ֥מְרָה | ʾamerah | it says | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הֽוֹן׃ | hon | enough | H1952 → | 26 times |
שְׁאוֹל֮Sheol
sheolH7585 →66 times
וְעֹ֪צֶ֫רand barrenness of
veotzerH6115 →
רָ֥חַםa womb
rachamH7356 →
אֶ֭רֶץland
ʾeretzH776 →2504 times
לֹא־[which] not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׂ֣בְעָהit is satisfied
saveahH7646 →97 times
מַּ֑יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
וְ֝אֵ֗שׁand fire
veeshH784 →378 times
לֹא־[which] not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
אָ֥מְרָהit says
ʾamerahH559 →5305 times
הֽוֹן׃enough
honH1952 →26 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
Proverbs 27:20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 1:8
All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
- 1 John 2:16
For 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.
- Proverbs 30:15–16
The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
- Ecclesiastes 6:7
All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
- Habakkuk 2:5
and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and…
- Ecclesiastes 1:8
Through
Genesis 30:1When Rachel saw that she was not bearing any children for Jacob, she envied her sister. “Give me children, or I will die!” she said to Jacob.
it leads to
- Job 5:2
For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
- Genesis 29:31
When the LORD saw that Leah was unloved, He opened her womb; but Rachel was barren.
- Genesis 37:11
And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept in mind what he had said.
- Job 5:2
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Hippolytus of Rome, Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments; Jerome, Against Jovinianus 1.28 and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).