Skip to content
mannafest.faith
Read

Proverbs 30:24

in Proverbs 30

Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise:

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

There are four things which are little upon the earth, But they are exceeding wise:

KJV

There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:

⋯

This verse in Proverbs 30

Commentary

7 notes on this verse

A commentator

Origen of Alexandria

AGAINST CELSUS 4:87 · Written before 253.

I do not quote these words, however, as taking them in their literal signification, but, agreeably to the title of the book (for it is entitled "Proverbs"), I investigate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.

This site's exposition

Four things on earth are small

on Proverbs 30:24-28

Four small creatures are "exceedingly wise": ants storing food without strength, rock badgers making homes without power, and locusts advancing without a king. The lizard, caught in one's hands, "is found in the palaces of kings." Each makes up for one lack with a single skill used well.

The record, by era

The Medieval Church1 voice

A commentator

Bede

Commentary on Proverbs · Written before 735.

proposed

Four things are the smallest on the earth, etc. The righteous often seem smaller on the earth than the wicked, that is, humbler and more despised by this world; but yet they are wiser than the worldly-wise, in that they savor eternal and heavenly goods, …

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

There be four things which are little upon the earth,.... Small in bulk, that have little bodies, are the lesser sort of animals; but they are exceeding wise; show a great deal of art and wisdom in what they do; or "but they are wise, made wise" (e) by the instinct of nature, by the direction of Providence, by which they do things that are surprising.

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

There be four things - Of which it is said, they are very little but very wise. 1. The ants. 2. The rabbits. 3. The locusts. 4. The spider. 1. The ants show their wisdom by preparing their meat in the summer, seeking for it and storing it when it may be had; not for winter consumption, for they sleep all that time; but for autumn and spring. See the note on Pro 6:6 (note).

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

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.
Exceeding wise - Some prefer the reading of the Septuagint and Vulgate: “wiser than the wise.” The thought, in either case, turns upon the marvels of instinct, which, in their own province, transcend the more elaborate results of human wisdom.

The words behind it

7 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • אַרְבָּ֣עָהfour [things]

    ʾarbaahH702 →318 times

  • הֵ֭םthey

    hemH1992 →553 times

  • קְטַנֵּי־[are] small [things] of

    ketanei-H6996 →

  • אָ֑רֶץ[the] earth

    ʾaretzH776 →2504 times

  • וְ֝הֵ֗מָּהand they

    vehemahH1992 →553 times

  • חֲכָמִ֥ים[are] wise [things]

    chakhamimH2450 →138 times

  • מְחֻכָּמִֽים׃made wise

    mechukamimH2449 →27 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

3 in all, six open

The walk

4 stops

Each 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

    Job 12:7

    But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you.

    it leads to

    • Isaiah 1:3

      The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s manger, but Israel does not know; My people do not understand.”

    • Jeremiah 8:7

      Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.

    • Proverbs 6:6

      Walk in the manner of the ant, O slacker; observe its ways and become wise.

    • Job 21:29–30

      Have you never asked those who travel the roads? Do you not accept their reports?

Where this verse is studied

About Proverbs

The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Judgment of Solomon, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Proverbs: the study guide →Read Proverbs 30 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); 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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Origen of Alexandria, AGAINST CELSUS 4:87.

Read on in Proverbs 30 →