Proverbs 30:25
in Proverbs 30The ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The ants are a people not strong, Yet they provide their food in the summer;
KJV
The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
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This verse in Proverbs 30
Commentary
9 notes on this verseI do not quote these words, however, as taking them in their literal signification, but, agreeably to the title of the book (for it is entitled "Proverbs"), I investigate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.
This site's exposition
There be four things which are little upon the earth
on Proverbs 30:24-28
The fourth numerical saying turns from disorder to a gallery of small creatures exceeding wise: ants preparing their food without strength, conies making houses in the rocks without power, locusts marching in ranks without a king, and the spider that takes hold with her hands in king's palaces. Each creature compensates for one lack, strength, safety, leadership, or standing, with a single skill used well, and the bench reads the list as instruction by observation rather than allegory forced onto nature. The spider's presence in a king's palace closes the list on the same reversal theme running through the chapter, the small and unregarded reaching the great house by its own diligence.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Hippolytus of RomeFragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture - On Proverbs · Written before 235.
"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.
A commentator
Augustine of HippoEXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 49:12 · Written in the 5th century.
proposed
Be prudent, and provide for yourself against the future in heaven. Be therefore prudent, copy the ant, as Scripture says, "Store in summer, lest you be hungry in winter." The winter is the last day, the day of tribulation; the winter is the day of offenses and bitterness. Gather what may be there for you in the future. If you do not, you will perish, being both imprudent and unwise.
A commentator
Didymus the BlindCOMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 30:25 · Written before 398.
proposed
[Solomon] indicates here those people who have no strength but nonetheless store up treasures for eternal life on account of their good works.…
The Medieval Church1 voice
The ants, a people not strong, etc. And the people of the Church show themselves weak temporally amidst raging adversaries in order to maintain mental fortitude; with the Lord saying through the Gospel, "But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The ants are a people not strong,.... Far from it; what is weaker than an ant? a multitude of them may be destroyed at once, with the crush of a foot.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| הַ֭נְּמָלִים | hanemalim | the ants | H5244 → | |
| עַ֣ם | ʾam | [are] a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָ֑ז | ʾaz | strong | H5794 → | 24 times |
| וַיָּכִ֖ינוּ | vaiyakhinu | and they prepared | H3559 → | 217 times |
| בַקַּ֣יִץ | vakayitz | in the summer | H7019 → | 20 times |
| לַחְמָֽם׃ | lachmam | food their | H3899 → | 298 times |
הַ֭נְּמָלִיםthe ants
hanemalimH5244 →
עַ֣ם[are] a people
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
עָ֑זstrong
ʾazH5794 →24 times
וַיָּכִ֖ינוּand they prepared
vaiyakhinuH3559 →217 times
בַקַּ֣יִץin the summer
vakayitzH7019 →20 times
לַחְמָֽם׃food their
lachmamH3899 →298 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, EXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 49:12; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 30:25; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Hippolytus of Rome, Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture - On Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Origen of Alexandria, AGAINST CELSUS 4:87.