Proverbs 30:26
in Proverbs 30the rock badgers are creatures of little power, yet they make their homes in the rocks;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks;
KJV
The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;
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This verse in Proverbs 30
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Hippolytus of RomeFragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture - On Proverbs · Written before 235.
"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.
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 Fathers2 voices
I do not quote these words, however, as taking them in their literal signification, but, agreeably to the title of the book (for it is entitled "Proverbs"), I investigate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.
A commentator
Didymus the BlindCOMMENTARY ON THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON, FRAGMENT 30:25 · Written before 398.
proposed
The rock, in fact, is the refuge of badgers in which they live. You too, he says, even though you are weak, run to the rock of true faith, and with it restore life. The one who is supported by deeds enters the kingdom. Therefore, …
The Medieval Church1 voice
The coney, a weak people, etc. And this too denotes the people of the Church, who are called weak; either because, as we said earlier, they do not seek to avenge their own injuries; or because they have learned not to trust in their own …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The coneys are but a feeble folk,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
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.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Conies - See the marginal reference note.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| שְׁ֭פַנִּים | shefanim | rock badgers | H8227 → | |
| עַ֣ם | ʾam | [are] a people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| עָצ֑וּם | ʾatzum | mighty | H6099 → | 31 times |
| וַיָּשִׂ֖ימוּ | vaiyasimu | and they made | H7760 → | 584 times |
| בַסֶּ֣לַע | vasela' | in the rock[s] | H5553 → | |
| בֵּיתָֽם׃ | beitam | home their | H1004 → | 2046 times |
שְׁ֭פַנִּיםrock badgers
shefanimH8227 →
עַ֣ם[are] a people
ʾamH5971 →1873 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
עָצ֑וּםmighty
ʾatzumH6099 →31 times
וַיָּשִׂ֖ימוּand they made
vaiyasimuH7760 →584 times
בַסֶּ֣לַעin the rock[s]
vasela'H5553 →
בֵּיתָֽם׃home their
beitamH1004 →2046 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
Psalms 104:18The high mountains are for the wild goats, the cliffs a refuge for the rock badgers.
it leads to
- Job 39:1
“Do you know when mountain goats give birth? Have you watched the doe bear her fawn?
- 1 Samuel 24:2
So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to look for David and his men in the region of the Rocks of the Wild Goats.
- Leviticus 11:5
The rock badger, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.
- Deuteronomy 14:7
But of those that chew the cud or have a completely divided hoof, you are not to eat the following: the camel, the rabbit, or the rock badger.
- Job 39:1
Through
Leviticus 11:5The rock badger, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.
it leads to
- Psalms 104:18
The high mountains are for the wild goats, the cliffs a refuge for the rock badgers.
- 2 Timothy 3:5
having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!
- Job 36:14
They die in their youth, among the male shrine prostitutes.
- Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.
- Psalms 104:18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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.