Proverbs 30:14

14 those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind.

Proverbs 30:14 in Other Translations

KJV
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.
ESV
14 There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind.
NLT
14 They have teeth like swords and fangs like knives. They devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among humanity.
MSG
14 Don't be greedy, merciless and cruel as wolves, Tearing into the poor and feasting on them, shredding the needy to pieces only to discard them.
CSB
14 There is a generation whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, devouring the oppressed from the land and the needy from among mankind.

Proverbs 30:14 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 30:14

[There is] a generation whose teeth [are as] swords
As sharp as swords; like such the beasts of prey have; cruel, barbarous, and inhuman creatures; see ( Psalms 57:4 ) ; and their jaw teeth as knives;
exceeding sharp and biting: to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from [among] men:
by their tyranny, oppression, and cruelty, to deprive them of the little they have; and even to take away their lives from them, and utterly destroy them; of this disposition are all tyrants and persecutors: such were Rome Pagan, compared to a red dragon in the times of the ten Heathen persecutions; and such is Rome Papal, signified by a beast, like a leopard, bear, and lion; and which has been drunk with the blood of the saints.

Proverbs 30:14 In-Context

12 those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth;
13 those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful;
14 those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind.
15 “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
16 the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’

Cross References 5

  • 1. S Job 4:11; Job 29:17; S Psalms 3:7
  • 2. Psalms 57:4
  • 3. S Job 24:9; Psalms 14:4
  • 4. Amos 8:4; Micah 2:2
  • 5. S Job 19:22
Scripture quoted by permission.  Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.  NIV®.  Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica.  All rights reserved worldwide.