Proverbs 30:24

5

"There are four things which are little upon the earth,

But they are exceeding wise:

The ants are a people not strong,

Yet they provide their food in the summer;

The conies are but a feeble folk,

Yet make they their houses in the rocks;

The locusts have no king,

Yet go they forth all of them by bands;

The lizard taketh hold with her hands,

Yet is she in king's palaces."

Other translations give us "badgers"[21] for `conies' in Proverbs 30:26, or "rock-rabbits,"[22] "mormats,"[23] or "the rabbit."[24] Why don't we just stay with the rendition, "conies," as in the NIV?[25]

On Proverbs 30:28, the KJV has: "The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in king's palaces."[26] Nearly all the recent renditions give us 'lizard' here instead of spider; but, there is no doubt that this first line bears the translation, "taketh hold with her hands";[27] and that fits 'spider' a hundred times better than it fits `lizard.' Add to that the fact that `holding a lizard in one's hand' is rather ridiculous, even for men, and absolutely impossible as far as women are concerned! All in all, we overwhelmingly prefer the KJV in this verse.

We should not overlook the lesson here. Although the creatures mentioned here are very small and weak, God has endowed them with instinctive wisdom that perpetuates them. In contrast with that, man himself, who is also week and small, has been endowed with reason and intelligence; and if he would be guided by true wisdom `from God' as faithfully as these exceedingly small creatures are guided by what God gave them, the happiness and continuity of man would be prolonged.