Proverbs 30:13
in Proverbs 30There is a generation—how haughty are their eyes and pretentious are their glances—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up.
KJV
There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
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This verse in Proverbs 30
Commentary
7 notes on this verseA generation whose eyes are lofty, etc. As the Psalmist says: Lord, my heart is not exalted, etc. (Psalm CXXX).
This site's exposition
There is a generation of those who curse their fathers
on Proverbs 30:11-14
Four times "There is a generation" opens a verse, describing one corruption from the inside out: cursing parents, haughty eyes, and teeth that are swords. Verse 14 gives the portrait its edge, as pride and contempt end in "devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from among men."
This site's exposition
how haughty are their eyes
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown name this third generation the proud. Their haughty eyes and pretentious glances turn outward the pride of the generation pure in its own eyes. Bede sets the verse beside a psalm against a haughty heart.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
What a distance do they expect every body should keep; and, when they look upon themselves, how do they strut and vaunt like the peacock, thinking they make themselves illustrious when really they make themselves ridiculous!" There is a generation of such, on whom he that resists the proud will pour contempt. Such as are cruel to the poor and barbarous to all that lie at their mercy (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. Above others, on whom they look with scorn and contempt; as those do who have more riches than others, and boast of them; they despise their poor neighbours, and disdain to look upon them: and such also who have more knowledge and wisdom than others, or at least think so; they are puffed up in their fleshly minds, and say of the illiterate or less knowing, as the proud Pharisees did, "this people, who knoweth not the law, are cursed": and likewise those who fancy themselves more holy and righteous than others; these, in a scornful manner, say, "stand by thyself, I am holier than thou"; and thank God they are not as other men are, as publicans and sinners; see Pro 19:
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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;
The third, Those who were full of vanity, pride, and insolence.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דּ֭וֹר | dor | a generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| מָה־ | mah- | how! | H4100 → | 752 times |
| רָמ֣וּ | ramu | they are raised | H7311 → | 190 times |
| עֵינָ֑יו | ʾeinav | eyes its | H5869 → | 887 times |
| וְ֝עַפְעַפָּ֗יו | veafapav | and eyelids its | H6079 → | 10 times |
| יִנָּשֵֽׂאוּ׃ | yinaseu | they are lifted up | H5375 → | 656 times |
דּ֭וֹרa generation
dorH1755 →167 times
מָה־how!
mah-H4100 →752 times
רָמ֣וּthey are raised
ramuH7311 →190 times
עֵינָ֑יוeyes its
ʾeinavH5869 →887 times
וְ֝עַפְעַפָּ֗יוand eyelids its
veafapavH6079 →10 times
יִנָּשֵֽׂאוּ׃they are lifted up
yinaseuH5375 →656 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 6:17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
it leads to
- Psalms 120:2–3
Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips and a deceitful tongue.
- Psalms 101:5
Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 12:22
Lying lips are detestable to the LORD, but those who deal faithfully are His delight.
- Isaiah 1:15
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you multiply your prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.
- Psalms 120:2–3
Through
Isaiah 2:11The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:27
For You save an afflicted people, but You humble those with haughty eyes.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Isaiah 2:17
So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 18:27
Through
Psalms 131:1My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty. I do not aspire to great things or matters too lofty for me.
it leads to
- Romans 12:16
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but enjoy the company of the lowly. Do not be conceited.
- Psalms 139:6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
- Romans 12:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.