Proverbs 30:14
in Proverbs 30there is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives, devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from among men.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
KJV
There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
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This verse in Proverbs 30
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA generation that has swords for teeth, etc. Concerning this the Psalmist, Sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and other things (Psalm LVI). These are the persecutors of the Church of Christ. But if you consider more diligently, you will find these …
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
whose teeth are swords
Henry names the temper behind these teeth and jaws as cruelty and covetousness. He calls them the two daughters of the leech, crying give for more blood and more money. Bede reads those devouring the needy as persecutors of the Church.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
The temper that puts them upon it is made up of cruelty and covetousness. Now those are two daughters of the horse-leech, its genuine offspring, that still cry, " Give, give, give more blood, give more money;" for the bloody are still blood-thirsty; being drunk with blood, they add thirst to their drunkenness, and will seek it yet again.
Four Things Unsearchable. 15 The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: 16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:94%@v15-16
There is a generation whose teeth are as swords,....
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 fourth, The greedy, cruel, and oppressive, and, especially, oppressive to the poor.
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
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דּ֤וֹר׀ | dor | a generation | H1755 → | 167 times |
| חֲרָב֣וֹת | charavot | [are] swords | H2719 → | 413 times |
| שִׁנָּיו֮ | shinav | teeth its | H8127 → | 55 times |
| וּֽמַאֲכָל֪וֹת | umaakhalot | and [are] knives | H3979 → | |
| מְֽתַלְּעֹ֫תָ֥יו | metaleotav | jaw bones its | H4973 → | |
| לֶאֱכֹ֣ל | leekhol | to devour | H398 → | 810 times |
| עֲנִיִּ֣ים | ʾaniyim | afflicted [people] | H6041 → | 73 times |
| מֵאֶ֑רֶץ | meeretz | from [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| וְ֝אֶבְיוֹנִ֗ים | veevyonim | and needy [people] | H34 → | 61 times |
| מֵאָדָֽם׃ פ | meadam | from humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
דּ֤וֹר׀a generation
dorH1755 →167 times
חֲרָב֣וֹת[are] swords
charavotH2719 →413 times
שִׁנָּיו֮teeth its
shinavH8127 →55 times
וּֽמַאֲכָל֪וֹתand [are] knives
umaakhalotH3979 →
מְֽתַלְּעֹ֫תָ֥יוjaw bones its
metaleotavH4973 →
לֶאֱכֹ֣לto devour
leekholH398 →810 times
עֲנִיִּ֣יםafflicted [people]
ʾaniyimH6041 →73 times
מֵאֶ֑רֶץfrom [the] earth
meeretzH776 →2504 times
וְ֝אֶבְיוֹנִ֗יםand needy [people]
veevyonimH34 →61 times
מֵאָדָֽם׃ פfrom humankind
meadamH120 →551 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 3:7Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
it leads to
- Psalms 58:6
O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Job 29:17
I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
- Job 16:10
They open their mouths against me and strike my cheeks with contempt; they join together against me.
- Psalms 10:12
Arise, O LORD! Lift up Your hand, O God! Do not forget the helpless.
- Psalms 59:5
O LORD God of Hosts, the God of Israel, rouse Yourself to punish all the nations; show no mercy to the wicked traitors. Selah
- Psalms 58:6
Through
Psalms 14:4Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon the LORD.
it leads to
- Psalms 79:6
Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, on the kingdoms that refuse to call on Your name,
- Jeremiah 10:25
Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not acknowledge You, and on the families that do not call on Your name. For they have devoured Jacob; they have consumed him and finished…
- Psalms 82:5
They do not know or understand; they wander in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.
- Psalms 79:6
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.