Passage

Proverbs 30.19

Book: Proverbs · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"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:" (Proverbs 30:17-21, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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:" (Proverbs 30:17-21, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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:" (Proverbs 30:17-21, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"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:" (Proverbs 30:17-21, 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; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

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 (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
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 for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.