For three things the earth is disquieted ,.... The inhabitants of it are made very uneasy; and for four which it cannot bear ; they are a load and burden upon it, and are intolerable to those that dwell on it, and make them very uncomfortable. read more
For a servant, when he reigneth ,.... Being unfit for it through his education, not having been trained up in and learned the arts of government and maxims of it; and through the disposition of his mind, which is mean, abject, and servile; and as he has been used himself when a servant, so he will use others F3 "Nec bellua tetrior ulla est, quam servi rabies in libera colla furentis", Claudian. in Eutrop. l. 1. v. 183, 184. and through his circumstances, being poor, he will take... read more
For an odious woman , when she is married ,.... Odious for her person, her ugliness, and the deformity of her body; or rather for the ill qualities of her mind, which, while single, she endeavours to conceal, but, being married, hides them no longer; but becomes imperious, proud, scornful, and malicious, and behaves in an ill natured way to her husband and all about her, to such a degree, that there is no bearing the place where she is; and an handmaid, that is heir to her mistress ;... read more
For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear - This is another enigma. Four things insupportable to men. 1. A slave, when he becomes ruler. 2. An overfed fool. 3. An ill-tempered woman, when mistress of a family. And, 4. A servant maid, when the rule of the house is committed to her. A slave, when he comes to bear rule, is an unprincipled tyrant. It has been often observed both in America and in the West Indies, when it was judged necessary to arm some of the... read more
Part VII. FIRST APPENDIX TO THE SECOND COLLECTION , containing "the words of Agur." A short introduction, teaching that the Word of God is the source of wisdom ( Proverbs 30:1-6 ), is followed by apothegms on different subjects ( Proverbs 30:7-33 ). Cornelius a Lapide offers the following opinion concerning this appendix, which no one can hesitate to say is well founded, if he attempts to give it a spiritual interpretation, and to discern mysteries under the literal... read more
contain six groups of four sentences each, each quaternion having a certain connection in language and concinnity of idea. First ( Proverbs 30:11-14 ) come four generations that are evil—four being taken as the symbol of universality. The sins herein specified had become so general that they affected the whole generation. read more
For three things the earth is disquieted ; better, under three things the earth doth tremble , as if oppressed by an overwhelming borden. The form of expression does not allow us to think of an earthquake. "The earth" is equivalent to "the inhabitants thereof." And for four which it cannot bear; or, under four it cannot stand (comp. Amos 7:10 ). These four evils destroy the comfort of social life, uproot the bonds of society, and endanger the safety of a nation. read more
Then follows a proverb concerning four things which are intolerable, examples of incongruous associations or positions—two in the case of men, two in the case of women. read more
Intolerable things I. THE EXAMPLES . 1 . The slave in authority . ( Proverbs 30:22 .) The inversion of objects is intolerable to the trained eye; things standing upside down, etc. So in social relations and in political Government belongs to the wise and the strong; the feeble in mind and the narrow in heart are emphatically the wrong men in the wrong place, in seats of power. 2 . The self-satisfied fool . His fatuous smile is a satire upon himself and upon the... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 30:18-23
Here is, I. An account of four things that are unsearchable, too wonderful to be fully known. And here, 1. The first three are natural things, and are only designed as comparisons for the illustration of the last. We cannot trace, (1.) An eagle in the air. Which way she has flown cannot be discovered either by the footstep or by the scent, as the way of a beast may upon ground; nor can we account for the wonderful swiftness of her flight, how soon she has gone beyond our ken. (2.) A serpent... read more