# Proverbs 30.15-31 **Book:** [Proverbs](/codex/proverbs/) · NASB95 ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **ASV** ([ASV](/codex/asv/)) > 13. There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. 14. 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. > > **15. The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, Yea, four that say not, Enough: 16. Sheol; And the barren womb; The earth that is not satisfied with water; And the fire that saith not, Enough. 17. The eye that mocketh at his father, And despiseth to obey his mother, The ravens of the valley shall pick it out, And the young eagles shall eat it. 18. There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yea, four which I know not: 19. The way of an eagle in the air; The way of a serpent upon a rock; The way of a ship in the midst of the sea; And the way of a man with a maiden. 20. So is the way of an adulterous woman; She eateth, and wipeth her mouth, And saith, I have done no wickedness. 21. For three things the earth doth tremble, And for four, which it cannot bear: 22. For a servant when he is king; And a fool when he is filled with food; 23. For an odious woman when she is married; And a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. 24. There are four things which are little upon the earth, But they are exceeding wise: 25. The ants are a people not strong, Yet they provide their food in the summer; 26. The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks; 27. The locusts have no king, Yet go they forth all of them by bands; 28. The lizard taketh hold with her hands, Yet is she in kings' palaces. 29. There are three things which are stately in their march, Yea, four which are stately in going: 30. The lion, which is mightiest among beasts, And turneth not away for any; 31. The greyhound; The he-goat also; And the king against whom there is no rising up.** > > 32. If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, Or if thou hast thought evil, Lay thy hand upon thy mouth. 33. For the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, And the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood; So the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife. (Proverbs 30:13-33, ASV) **WEB** ([WEB](/codex/web/)) > 13. There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up. 14. There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and their jaws like knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and the needy from among men. > > **15. “The leach has two daughters: ‘Give, give.’ “There are three things that are never satisfied; four that don’t say, ‘Enough:’ 16. Sheol, the barren womb; the earth that is not satisfied with water; and the fire that doesn’t say, ‘Enough.’ 17. “The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother: the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it. 18. “There are three things which are too amazing for me, four which I don’t understand: 19. The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent on a rock; the way of a ship in the middle of the sea; and the way of a man with a maiden. 20. “So is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’ 21. “For three things the earth tremble, and under four, it can’t bear up: 22. For a servant when he is king; a fool when he is filled with food; 23. for an unloved woman when she is married; and a servant who is heir to her mistress. 24. “There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: 25. the ants are not a strong people, yet they provide their food in the summer. 26. The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks. 27. The locusts have no king, yet they advance in ranks. 28. You can catch a lizard with your hands, yet it is in kings’ palaces. 29. “There are three things which are stately in their march, four which are stately in going: 30. The lion, which is mightiest among animals, and doesn’t turn away for any; 31. the greyhound, the male goat also; and the king against whom there is no rising up.** > > 32. “If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself, or if you have thought evil, put your hand over your mouth. 33. For as the churning of milk produces butter, and the wringing of the nose produces blood; so the forcing of wrath produces strife.” (Proverbs 30:13-33, WEB) **KJV** ([KJV](/codex/kjv/)) > 13. There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. 14. 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. > > **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: It is: Heb. Wealth 16. The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough. 17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. the valley: or, the brook 18. There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: 19. The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. midst: Heb. heart 20. Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness. 21. For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear: 22. For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat; 23. For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress. 24. There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise: exceeding: Heb. wise, made wise 25. The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; 26. The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; 27. The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; by: Heb. gathered together 28. The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces. 29. There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going: 30. A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; 31. A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up. greyhound: or, horse: Heb. girt in the loins** > > 32. If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth. 33. Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife. (Proverbs 30:13-33, KJV) **YLT** ([YLT](/codex/ylt/)) > 13. A generation, how high are their eyes, Yea, their eyelids are lifted up. 14. A generation, swords [are] their teeth, And knives, their jaw-teeth, To consume the poor from earth, And the needy from [among] men. > > **15. To the leech [are] two daughters, 'Give, give, Lo, three things are not satisfied, Four have not said 'Sufficiency;' 16. Sheol, and a restrained womb, Earth, it [is] not satisfied [with] water, And fire, it hath not said, 'Sufficiency,' 17. An eye that mocketh at a father, And despiseth to obey a mother, Dig it out do ravens of the valley, And eat it do young eagles. 18. Three things have been too wonderful for me, Yea, four that I have not known: 19. The way of the eagle in the heavens, The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the heart of the sea, And the way of a man in youth. 20. So, the way of an adulterous woman, She hath eaten and hath wiped her mouth, And hath said, 'I have not done iniquity.' 21. For three things hath earth been troubled, And for four, it is not able to bear: 22. For a servant when he reigneth, And a fool when he is satisfied with bread, 23. For a hated one when she ruleth, And a maid-servant when she succeedeth her mistress. 24. Four [are] little ones of earth, And they are made wiser than the wise: 25. The ants [are] a people not strong, And they prepare in summer their food, 26. Conies [are] a people not strong, And they place in a rock their house, 27. A king there is not to the locust, And it goeth out, each one shouting, 28. A spider with two hands taketh hold, And is in the palaces of a king. 29. Three there are going well, Yea, four are good in going: 30. An old lion, mighty among beasts, That turneth not back from the face of any, 31. A girt one of the loins, or a he-goat, And a king, no rising up with him.** > > 32. If thou hast been foolish in lifting up thyself, And if thou hast devised evil, hand to mouth! 33. For the churning of milk bringeth out butter, And the wringing of the nose bringeth out blood, And the forcing of anger bringeth out strife! (Proverbs 30:13-33, YLT) ## Setting - **Speaker:** _TBD_ - **Audience:** _TBD_ - **Location:** _TBD_ - **Time period:** _TBD_ ## Theological reading _Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added._ ## Key words _Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word._ - [H5959 - almah](/codex/h5959-almah/), *almah*, Strong's H5959 - [H7356 - rachamim](/codex/h7356-rachamim/), *rachamim*, Strong's H7356 - [H7585 - sheol](/codex/h7585-sheol/), *sheol*, Strong's H7585 - [H3820 - lev](/codex/h3820-lev/), *lev*, Strong's H3820 - [H5650 - ebed](/codex/h5650-ebed/), *ebed*, Strong's H5650 - [H3045 - yada](/codex/h3045-yada/), *yada*, Strong's H3045 ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Deuteronomy 28-68 Slave Trade Prophecy Objection Defeater](/codex/deuteronomy-28-68-slave-trade-prophecy-objection-defeater/), via [Proverbs 30.19](/codex/proverbs-30-19/), [Proverbs 30.31](/codex/proverbs-30-31/) - [Failed Messianic Prophecy Objection Defeater](/codex/failed-messianic-prophecy-objection-defeater/), via [Proverbs 30.19](/codex/proverbs-30-19/) - [Virgin Birth Is Biologically Impossible Objection Defeater](/codex/virgin-birth-is-biologically-impossible-objection-defeater/), via [Proverbs 30.19](/codex/proverbs-30-19/) **Lexicon:** - [G5020 - tartaroo](/codex/g5020-tartaroo/), via [Proverbs 30.16](/codex/proverbs-30-16/) - [H5959 - almah](/codex/h5959-almah/), via [Proverbs 30.19](/codex/proverbs-30-19/) **Passages:** - [Amos 1](/codex/amos-1/) ## Notes _Your annotations._ ## Why these four translations ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the **most literal English translations available** (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the **public domain in the United States**, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance. The four: - **[ASV](/codex/asv/)** (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition. - **[WEB](/codex/web/)** (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English. - **[KJV](/codex/kjv/)** (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base. - **[YLT](/codex/ylt/)** (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff. See [Bibles](/codex/bibles/) for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.