Proverbs 30:11-30

11 [There is] a generation [that] will curse its father, and its mother it will not bless.
12 [There is] a generation [that is] pure in its own eyes, but from its filthiness it will not be cleansed.
13 [There is] a generation--how lofty [are] their eyes! And their eyelids they will lift.
14 [There is] a generation whose teeth [are] swords, and its jawbones, knives, [in order] to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from humankind.
15 For the leech, [there are] two daughters; "Give, give!" [they cry]. As for three of these, they are not satisfied; as for four, they do not say enough.
16 Sheol and barrenness of womb, the land is not satisfied [with] water, and fire does not say "enough!"
17 The eye [that] mocks a father and scorns the obedience of a mother-- the ravens of the valley will peck it out, and the offspring of vultures will eat it.
18 Three of these are [too] wonderful for me, and four, I do not understand them:
19 the way of the eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.
20 This is the way of a woman committing adultery: she eats and wipes her mouth, and says "I have not done wrong."
21 Under three [things] the earth trembles, and under four, it is not able to bear up:
22 under a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is satisfied [with] food;
23 under an unloved woman when she gets married, and a maid when she succeeds her mistress.
24 There [are] four small things on the earth, and they [are] {exceedingly wise}:
25 The ants [are] a people [who are] not strong, yet they prepare their food in the summer;
26 the badgers [are] a people [who are] not mighty, yet they set their house on the rock;
27 there is no king for the locust, yet it marches in rank;
28 a lizard you [can] seize with hands, yet it is in palaces of kings.
29 There [are] three [things] that are magnificent of stride, and four that are magnificent [when] moving:
30 a mighty lion among the beasts, but he will not turn back from {any face};

Proverbs 30:11-30 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.

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. Or "land"
  • [b]. A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld
  • [c]. Or "land"
  • [d]. Literally "wise [ones] from wise [ones]"
  • [e]. Hebrew "beasts"
  • [f]. Literally "faces of all"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.