Proverbs 30:24-33

24 Four things are small on the earth, But they are exceedingly wise:
25 The 1ants are not a strong people, But they prepare their food in the summer;
26 The 2shephanim are not mighty people, Yet they make their houses in the rocks;
27 The locusts have no king, Yet all of them go out in 3ranks;
28 The lizard you may grasp with the hands, Yet it is in kings' palaces.
29 There are three things which are stately in their march, Even four which are stately when they walk:
30 The lion which is 4mighty among beasts And does not 5retreat before * any,
31 The strutting * rooster, the male goat also, And a king when his army is with him.
32 If you have been foolish in exalting yourself Or if you have plotted evil, 6put your hand on your mouth.
33 For the churning of milk produces butter, And pressing the nose brings forth blood; So the churning of 7anger produces strife.

Proverbs 30:24-33 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.

Cross References 7

  • 1. Proverbs 6:6
  • 2. Leviticus 11:5; Psalms 104:18
  • 3. Joel 2:7
  • 4. Judges 14:18; 2 Samuel 1:23
  • 5. Micah 5:8
  • 6. Job 21:5; Job 40:4; Micah 7:16
  • 7. Proverbs 10:12; Proverbs 29:22

Footnotes 5

  • [a]. 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"
  • [b]. Lit "turn back"
  • [c]. Lit "girt in the loins"
  • [d]. Lit "pressing"
  • [e]. Lit "pressing"
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