Proverbs 30:25 - Exposition

The ants are a people not strong. The ant is proposed as an example to the sluggard ( Proverbs 6:6 , etc.). He calls the ants a people, am , because they live in a community, and have authorities which they obey, and their actions are regulated by certain definite laws. So Joel ( Joel 1:6 ) calls the locusts a nation, and Homer ('Iliad,' 2.87) speaks of ἔθνεα μελισσάων ἀδινάων , "the tribes of thronging bees." Yet they prepare their meat in the summer. In countries where ants hybernate the object of this commended foresight is mistaken; but the statement, as that in Proverbs 6:6-8 , is in accordance with the popular belief of the day, and serves well to point the moral intended. We know certainly that in Europe these insects fill their nests with heterogeneous articles—grain, seeds, husks, etc; not as stores to be consumed in the winter, but for warmth and comfort's sake. Scripture is not intended to teach science; it speaks of such matters phenomenally, with no attempt at a precision which would not have been understood or appreciated by contemporaries. But in the present case more careful observation has confirmed the correctness of the asset. tions in our proverbs. In countries where, ants do not hybernate, they do make granaries for themselves in the summer, and use these supplies as food in the winter months (see note on Proverbs 6:8 ).