Proverbs 30:16 - Exposition

The four insatiable things are now named: first, the grave, sheol ( Proverbs 27:20 ), which can never be filled with its victims. Horace talks of a man as—

" Victima nil miserantis Orci ."

('Carm.,' 2.3, 24.)

And Hesiod of Hades as—

νηλεὲς ἧτορ ἔχων

"A heart possessing that no pity knows."

The second thing is the barren womb; "the closing of the womb," as Genesis 20:18 ; Isaiah 66:9 . The burning desire for children, characteristic of an Israelitish wife, is here denoted, like the passionate cry of Rachel to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die" ( Genesis 30:1 ). The barren woman, says Corn. a Lapide, " concubitus magis est avida quam ceterae tum propter desiderium habendae prolis, tum quod foecundae et gravidae naturaliter non appetant concubitum." The third insatiable thing is the earth that is not filled ( satisfied ) with water ; the parched and thirsty soil which no amount of water can satisfy, which drinks in all that is poured upon it and is not benefited, what Virgil ('Georg.,' 1:114) calls "bibula arena." The fourth is the fire that saith not, It is enough; the "devouring element," as the newspapers term it. The more you heap on fire, the more material you supply, the fiercer it rages. Septuagint, "Hades, and the love of woman, and earth not satisfied with water, and water, and fire, will not say, It sufficeth." Cheyne and others quote from the Sanscrit 'Hitopadesa,' "Fire is never satisfied with fuel; nor the ocean with rivers; nor death with all creatures; nor bright-eyed women with men."