Proverbs 30:16-26

16 ¹Sheol, and the ²barren womb, Earth that is never satisfied with water, And fire that never says, "Enough."

17 The eye that ³mocks a father And ⁴scorns * a mother, The ⁵ravens of the valley will pick it out, And the young ⁶eagles will eat it.

18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand:

19 The way of an ⁷eagle in the sky, 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 maid.

20 This is the way of an ⁸adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, "I have done no wrong."

21 Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot * bear up:

22 Under a ⁹slave when he becomes king, And a fool when he is satisfied with food,

23 Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband, And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress.

24 Four things are small on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise:

25 The ¹⁰ants are not a strong people, But they prepare their food in the summer;

26 The ¹¹shephanim are not mighty people, Yet they make their houses in the rocks;

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Proverbs 30:16-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 17

This chapter begins with a prophecy of Elijah, that there should be want of rain for some years to come, and he is directed to go first to the brook Cherith, where he should be fed by ravens, 1Ki 17:1-7, and afterwards he is sent to a widow at Zarephath, where he, she, and her son, were supported for a considerable time with a handful of meal, and a little oil in a cruse miraculously increased, 1Ki 17:8-16, whose son falling sick and dying, he restored to life, 1Ki 17:17-24.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 11

1. Proverbs 27:20
2. Genesis 30:1
3. Genesis 9:22
4. Proverbs 15:20
5. Deuteronomy 28:26
6. Deuteronomy 28:26
7. Deuteronomy 28:49; Jeremiah 48:40; Jeremiah 49:22
8. Proverbs 5:6
9. Proverbs 19:10; Ecclesiastes 10:7
10. Proverbs 6:6
11. Leviticus 11:5; Psalms 104:18

Footnotes 3

[a]. I.e. The nether world
[b]. Lit "despises to obey"
[c]. Small, shy, furry animals "(Hyrax syriacus)" found in the peninsula of the Sinai, northern Israel, and the region round the Dead Sea; KJV "coney," orig NASB "badgers"

Proverbs 30:16-26

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Proverbs 30:16-26 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 17

Cross References 11

Footnotes 3