Proverbs 30:15-25

15 A leech has two daughters, and both are named "Give me!" There are four things that are never satisfied:

16 the world of the dead, a woman without children, dry ground that needs rain, and a fire burning out of control.

17 If you make fun of your father or despise your mother in her old age, you ought to be eaten by vultures or have your eyes picked out by wild ravens.

18 There are four things that are too mysterious for me to understand:

19 an eagle flying in the sky, ¹ a snake moving on a rock, a ship finding its way over the sea, and a man and a woman falling in love.

20 This is how an unfaithful wife acts: she commits adultery, takes a bath, and says, "But I haven't done anything wrong!"

21 There are four things that the earth itself cannot tolerate:

22 a slave who becomes a king, a fool who has all he wants to eat,

23 a hateful woman who gets married, and a servant woman who takes the place of her mistress.

24 There are four animals in the world that are small, but very, very clever:

25 Ants: they are weak, but they store up their food in the summer.

Proverbs 30:15-25 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

• 1. +230.19Wisdom 5.10-12.

Footnotes

• [a]. [One ancient translation] mother in her old age; [Hebrew] mother's obedience.