(22) For a servant when he reigneth.—The mischief done by Oriental favourites at court, who often began life as slaves, was proverbial.A fool (nâbhâl).—See above, on Proverbs 17:7. It is only when he has to work hard for his living that he will behave himself decently; if he gets a little money, it will soon be wasted in idleness and self-indulgence. read more
(23) For an odious woman when she is married.—She pays off, with interest, the slights which she had formerly to endure from her married friends.An handmaid that is heir to her mistress, and who is nervously anxious to preserve her newly-acquired dignity. read more
(26) The conies are but a feeble folk, being only about as big as a rabbit, with nails instead of claws, and weak teeth. Its Hebrew name (shâphân) signifies a “hider,” from its habit of living in clefts of the rocks; its scientific name is Hyrax Syriacus. The translation “coney,” i.e., rabbit, is a mistake. In general appearance it resembles a guinea-pig or marmot. read more
(28) The spider taketh hold with her hands.—The lizard, rather than the spider, seems to be here intended. As each first line of these four verses is an expression of weakness, it has been proposed to translate thus: “The lizard thou canst catch with the hands, and yet,” etc. (Comp. for this praise of wisdom, Ecclesiastes 9:14 sqq.) read more
(31) A greyhound.—It is very doubtful what animal is meant here as being “girt [i.e., slender] in the loins.” Several have been suggested, e.g., the horse, zebra, cock; but the rendering of the Authorised Version is as probable as any.A king, against whom there is no rising up.—Who marches with resistless force, trampling on his conquered foes. (Comp. the description of the march of the Assyrians, Isaiah 37:24 sqq.; comp. also Isaiah 63:1 sqq. and Joel 2:2 sqq.) It has been proposed to... read more
(32) Lay thine hand upon thy mouth—i.e., be silent. Agur deprecates two things which may easily lead to a quarrel, arrogance and malice. He explains this in the next verse. read more
(33) Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter. . . .—The same word is used in the Hebrew for the three which appear in the Authorised Version, “churning,” “wringing,” and “forcing.” The sense will be, “For (as) pressure on milk produces butter, and pressure on the nose produces blood, (so) pressure on wrath (violence towards a hot-tempered person) produces anger.” (Comp. Proverbs 15:1.) read more
God's Riddle Proverbs 30:4 'What is His name? and what is His Son's name? Canst thou tell?' It is God Almighty's great conundrum spoken out of eternity into time; it is the riddle propounded by the Supreme Intelligence to the heart and reason of every man born into the world. I. 'Canst thou tell?' The history of humanity is little else than one long wrestle with God's infinite conundrum. And there are noble souls and able thinkers who never guess the riddle here, though who can dare to doubt... read more
CHAPTER 31THE WORDS OF AGURTHE rendering of the first verse of this chapter is very uncertain. Without attempting to discuss the many conjectural emendations, we must briefly indicate the view which is here taken. A slight alteration in the pointing; instead of the Masoretic reading changes the proper name Ithiel into a significant verb; and another slight change gives us another verb in the place of Ucal. To remove the difficulty of the word "oracle," a difficulty which arises from the fact... read more
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Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Proverbs 30:20
(20) Such is the way of an adulterous woman.—As there is no proof of her guilt, she flatly denies it. read more