Amsal 30:16

30:16 the grave, ¹  the barren womb, ² 

land that is not satisfied with water,

and fire that never says, “Enough!” ³ 

Amsal 30:15

30:15 The leech ⁴  has two daughters: ⁵ 

“Give! Give!” ⁶ 

There are three things that are never satisfied,

four ⁷  that never say, “Enough” ⁸  –

Amsal 27:27

27:27 And there will be enough goat’s milk for your food, ⁹ 

for the food of your household,

and for the sustenance ¹⁰  of your servant girls.

Amsal 28:19

28:19 The one who works his land will be satisfied with food, ¹¹ 

but whoever chases daydreams ¹²  will have his fill ¹³  of poverty.

Amsal 30:8

30:8 Remove falsehood and lies ¹⁴  far from me;

do not give me poverty or riches,

feed me with my allotted portion ¹⁵  of bread, ¹⁶ 

Amsal 25:16

25:16 When you find ¹⁷  honey, eat only what is sufficient for you,

lest you become stuffed ¹⁸  with it and vomit it up. ¹⁹ 

Amsal 27:25

27:25 When the hay is removed and new grass appears,

and the grass from the hills is gathered in,

Amsal 7:18

7:18 Come, let’s drink deeply ²⁰  of lovemaking ²¹  until morning,

let’s delight ourselves ²²  with sexual intercourse. ²³ 

Amsal 3:10

3:10 then your barns will be filled completely, ²⁴ 

and your vats ²⁵  will overflow ²⁶  with new wine.

Amsal 13:25

13:25 The righteous has enough food to satisfy his appetite, ²⁷ 

but the belly of the wicked lacks food. ²⁸ 

Amsal 12:11

12:11 The one who works ²⁹  his field will have plenty ³⁰  of food,

but whoever chases daydreams ³¹  lacks wisdom. ³² 

Amsal 24:15

24:15 Do not lie in wait like the wicked ³³  against the place where the righteous live;

do not assault ³⁴  his home.

Amsal 26:24

26:24 The one who hates others disguises ³⁵  it with his lips,

but he stores up ³⁶  deceit within him. ³⁷ 

Amsal 28:27

28:27 The one who gives to the poor will not lack, ³⁸ 

but whoever shuts his eyes to them ³⁹  will receive ⁴⁰  many curses. ⁴¹ 

[30:16]  ¹ tn The term שְׁאוֹל (she’ol, “Sheol”) refers here to the realm of the dead: “the grave” (so KJV, NIV, NLT); cf. TEV, CEV “the world of the dead”; NAB “the nether world.”

[30:16]  ² tn Heb “the closing of the womb,” a situation especially troubling for one who is consumed with a desire for children (e.g., Gen 16:2; 30:1).

[30:16]  ³ sn There is no clear lesson made from these observations. But one point that could be made is that greed, symbolized by the leech, is as insatiable as all these other things. If that is the case, the proverb would constitute a warning against the insatiable nature of greed.

[30:15]  ⁴ sn The next two verses describe insatiable things, things that are problematic to normal life. The meaning of v. 15a and its relationship to 15b is debated. But the “leech” seems to have been selected to begin the section because it was symbolic of greed – it sucks blood through its two suckers. This may be what the reference to two daughters calling “Give! Give!” might signify (if so, this is an implied comparison, a figure known as hypocatastasis).

[30:15]  ⁵ sn As one might expect, there have been various attempts to identify the “two daughters.” In the Rabbinic literature some identified Alukah (the “leech”) with Sheol, and the two daughters with paradise and hell, one claiming the righteous and the other the unrighteous; others identified Alukah with Gehenna, and the two daughters with heresy and government, neither of which is ever satisfied (Midrash Tehillim quoted by Rashi, a Jewish scholar who lived a.d. 1040-1105, and in the Talmud, b. Avodah Zarah 17a). J. J. Glueck suggests that what is in view is erotic passion (and not a leech) with its two maidens of burning desire crying for more (“Proverbs 30:15a,” VT 14 [1964]: 367-70). F. S. North rightly criticizes this view as gratuitous; he argues for the view of a leech with two suckers (“The Four Insatiables,” VT 15 [1965]: 281-82).

[30:15]  ⁶ tn The two imperatives הַב הַב (hav hav, “give, give,” from יָהַב, yahav) correspond to the two daughters, and form their appeal. This would then be a personification – it is as if the leech is crying out, “Give! Give!”

[30:15]  ⁷ sn There is a noticeable rhetorical sequence here: two daughters, three things, four (see W. M. Roth, “The Numerical Sequence x / x +1 in the Old Testament,” VT 12 [1962]: 300-311, and “Numerical Sayings in the Old Testament,” VT 13 [1965]: 86). W. McKane thinks the series builds to a climax with the four, and in the four the barren woman is the focal point, the other three being metaphors for her sexual desire (Proverbs [OTL], 656). This interpretation is a minority view, however, and has not won widespread support.

[30:15]  ⁸ tn Throughout the book of Proverbs הוֹן (hon) means “wealth”; but here it has the nuance of “sufficiency” (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT “satisfied”) or “enough” (BDB 223 s.v.).

[27:27]  ⁹ sn This part of the proverb shows the proper interplay between human labor and divine provision. It teaches people to take care of what they have because it will not last forever.

[27:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “life”; KJV, NAB “maintenance”; NRSV “nourishment.”

[28:19]  ¹¹ tn Or “will have plenty of food” (Heb “bread”); so NAB, NASB, NCV.

[28:19]  ¹² tn Heb “empty things” or “vain things”; NRSV “follows worthless pursuits.”

[28:19]  sn Prosperity depends on diligent work and not on chasing empty dreams. The proverb is essentially the same as Prov 12:11 except for the last expression.

[28:19]  ¹³ tn The repetition of the verb strengthens the contrast. Both halves of the verse use the verb יִשְׂבַּע (yisba’, “will be satisfied; will be filled with; will have enough”). It is positive in the first colon, but negative in the second – with an ironic twist to say one is “satisfied” with poverty.

[30:8]  ¹⁴ tn The two words might form a hendiadys: “falsehood and lies” being equivalent to “complete deception.” The word שָׁוְא means “false; empty; vain; to a false purpose.” The second word means “word of lying,” thus “a lying word.” Taken separately they might refer to false intentions and false words.

[30:8]  ¹⁵ tn The word חֹק (khoq) means “statute”; it is also used of a definite assignment in labor (Exod 5:14; Prov 31:15), or of a set portion of food (Gen 47:22). Here it refers to food that is the proper proportion for the speaker.

[30:8]  ¹⁶ sn Agur requested an honest life (not deceitful) and a balanced life (not self-sufficient). The second request about his provision is clarified in v. 9.

[25:16]  ¹⁷ tn The verse simply begins “you have found honey.” Some turn this into an interrogative clause for the condition laid down (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NLT); most make the form in some way subordinate to the following instruction: “when you find…eat.”

[25:16]  ¹⁸ tn The verb means “to be satisfied; to be sated; to be filled.” Here it means more than satisfied, since it describes one who overindulges and becomes sick. The English verb “stuffed” conveys this idea well.

[25:16]  ¹⁹ sn The proverb warns that anything overindulged in can become sickening. The verse uses formal parallelism to express first the condition and then its consequences. It teaches that moderation is wise in the pleasures of life.

[7:18]  ²⁰ tn The form נִרְוֶה (nirveh) is the plural cohortative; following the imperative “come” the form expresses the hortatory “let’s.” The verb means “to be saturated; to drink one’s fill,” and can at times mean “to be intoxicated with.”

[7:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “loves.” The word דּוֹד (dod) means physical love or lovemaking. It is found frequently in the Song of Solomon for the loved one, the beloved. Here the form (literally, “loves”) is used in reference to multiple acts of sexual intercourse, as the phrase “until morning” suggests.

[7:18]  ²² tn The form is the Hitpael cohortative of עָלַס (’alas), which means “to rejoice.” Cf. NIV “let’s enjoy ourselves.”

[7:18]  ²³ tn Heb “with love.”

[3:10]  ²⁴ tn Heb “with plenty” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “to overflowing.” The noun שָׂבָע (sava’, “plenty; satiety”) functions as an adverbial accusative of manner or contents: “completely.”

[3:10]  ²⁵ sn This pictures the process of pressing grapes in which the upper receptacle is filled with grapes and the lower one catches the juice. The harvest of grapes will be so plentiful that the lower vat will overflow with grape juice. The pictures in v. 10 are metonymies of effect for cause (= the great harvest that God will provide when they honor him).

[3:10]  ²⁶ tn Heb “burst open.” The verb פָּרַץ (parats, “to burst open”) functions as hyperbole here to emphasize the fullness of the wine vats (BDB 829 s.v. 9).

[13:25]  ²⁷ tn The noun נֶפֶשׁ (traditionally “soul”; cf. KJV, ASV) here means “appetite” (BDB 660 s.v. 5.a).

[13:25]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he will lack.” The term “food” is supplied in the translation as a clarification. The wicked may go hungry, or lack all they desire, just as the first colon may mean that what the righteous acquire proves satisfying to them.

[12:11]  ²⁹ sn In the biblical period agriculture was the most common occupation for the people; so “working a field” describes a substantial occupation, but also represents working in general. Diligent work, not get-rich-quick schemes, is the key to ensuring income.

[12:11]  ³⁰ tn Heb “will have his fill of” or “will be satisfied with.”

[12:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “empty things” or “vain things.” The term רֵיקִים (reqim) refers to worthless pursuits in an effort to make money. The fact that the participle used is “chase after” shows how elusive these are. Cf. NIV “fantasies”; NCV “empty dreams”; TEV “useless projects.”

[12:11]  ³² tn Heb “heart.” The term לֵב (lev, “heart”) functions as a metonymy of association for wisdom (BDB 524 s.v. 3).

[24:15]  ³³ tn The word “wicked” could be taken as a vocative (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, “O wicked man”); but since the next line refers to the wicked this is unlikely. It serves better as an adverbial accusative (“like the wicked”).

[24:15]  ³⁴ sn The saying warns that it is futile and self-defeating to mistreat God’s people, for they survive – the wicked do not. The warning is against a deliberate, planned assault on their places of dwelling.

[26:24]  ³⁵ tn The Niphal imperfect from נָכַר (nakhar) means “to act [or, treat] as a foreigner [or, stranger]; to misconstrue; to disguise.” The direct object (“it”) is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied. In this passage it means that the hater speaks what is “foreign” to his thought; in other words, he dissembles.

[26:24]  ³⁶ tn Or “places; puts; lays up” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).

[26:24]  ³⁷ tn Heb “within him” (so KJV, ASV) or “in his midst”; NAB “in his inmost being.”

[26:24]  sn Hypocritical words may hide a wicked heart. The proverb makes an observation: One who in reality despises other people will often disguise that with what he says.

[28:27]  ³⁸ sn The generous individual will be rewarded. He will not lack nor miss what he has given away to the poor.

[28:27]  ³⁹ tn Heb “hides his eyes”; “to them” is supplied in the translation to indicate the link with the poor in the preceding line. Hiding or closing the eyes is a metonymy of cause or of adjunct, indicating a decision not to look on and thereby help the poor. It could also be taken as an implied comparison, i.e., not helping the poor is like closing the eyes to them.

[28:27]  ⁴⁰ tn The term “receives” is not in the Hebrew text but is implied, and is supplied in the translation.

[28:27]  ⁴¹ sn The text does not specify the nature or the source of the curses. It is natural to think that they would be given by the poor who are being mistreated and ignored. Far from being praised for their contributions to society, selfish, stingy people will be reviled for their heartless indifference.