Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 30:11
[There is] a generation [that] curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
11. generation ] i.e. a class, or company, as the word is used in Psa 14:5; Psa 24:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
11 14. Four generations, or classes of men that are detestable.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
As the teacher had uttered what he most desired, so now he tells what he most abhorred; and in true-harmony with the teaching of the Ten Commandments places in the foremost rank those who rise against the Fifth.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 11. There is a generation] There are such persons in the world. In this and the three following verses the wise man points out four grand evils that prevailed in his time.
The first, Those who not only did not honour, but who evil-treated, their parents.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
A generation; a sort of men, abominable both to God and men; which is implied concerning these and the following kinds of sinners, Pro 30:12-14.
Their father, and mother too, as it follows; ungrateful and unnatural monsters.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11-14. Four kinds of hatefulpersons(1) graceless children, (2) hypocrites, (3) the proud, (4)cruel oppressors (compare on Pro 30:14;Psa 14:4; Psa 52:2)are now illustrated; (1) Pro 30:15;Pro 30:16, the insatiability ofprodigal children and their fate; (2) Pr30:17, hypocrisy, or the concealment of real character; (3 and 4)Pr 30:18-20, variousexamples of pride and oppression.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
[There is] a generation [that] curseth their father,…. A sort of men that neither fear God nor regard men; and are so inhuman as to be without natural affections to their parents; have no reverence of them, love to them, nor give them any honour or obedience; so far from it, that they curse their father that begot them; imprecate on him all the evils in life they can think of, and wish him out of the world;
and doth not bless their mother; cannot give her a good word, who bore them, and brought them up in the most tender and indulgent manner; yea, so unnatural as to curse her also, for that is intended by this way of speaking; see Pr 30:17.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
There now follows a Priamel,
(Note: Cf. vol. i. p. 13. The name (from praeambulum ) given to a peculiar form of popular gnomic poetry which prevailed in Germany from the 12th ( e.g., the Meistersinger or Minstrel Sparvogel) to the 16th century, but was especially cultivated during the 14th and 15th centuries. Its peculiarity consisted in this, that after a series of antecedents or subjects, a briefly-expressed consequent or predicate was introduced as the epigrammatic point applicable to all these antecedents together. Vid., Erschenburg’s Denkmlern altdeutscher Dichtkinst, Bremen 1799.)
the first line of which is, by , connected with the of the preceding distich:
11 A generation that curseth their father,
And doth not bless their mother;
12 A generation pure in their own eyes,
And yet not washed from their filthiness;
13 A generation – how haughty their eyes,
And their eyelids lift themselves up;
14 A generation whose teeth are swords and their jaw teeth knives
To devour the poor from the earth and the needy from the midst of men.
Ewald translates: O generation! but that would have required the word, 13a, (Jer 2:31), and one would have expected to have found something mentioned which the generation addressed were to take heed to; but it is not so. But if “O generation!” should be equivalent to “O regarding the generation!” then ought to have introduced the sentence. And if we translate, with Luther: There is a generation, etc., then is supplied, which might drop out, but could not be omitted. The lxx inserts after the word , and then renders what follows as pred. – a simple expedient, but worthless. The Venet. does not need this expedient, for it renders ; but then the order of the words in 11a would have been ; and in 12a, after the manner of a subst. clause, , one sees distinctly, from Pro 30:13 and Pro 30:14, that what follows is to be understood, not as a pred., but as an attributive clause. As little can we interpret Pro 30:14, with Lwenstein, as pred. of the three subj., “it is a generation whose teeth are swords;” that would at least have required the words ; but Pro 30:14 is not at all a judgment valid for all the three subjects. The Targ. and Jerome translate correctly, as we above;
(Note: The Syr. begins 11a as if were to be supplied.)
but by this rendering there are four subjects in the preamble, and the whole appears, since the common pred. is wanting, as a mutilated Priamel. Perhaps the author meant to say: it is such a generation that encompasses us; or: such is an abomination to Jahve; for is a Gesamtheit = totality, generation of men who are bound together by contemporary existence, or homogeneity, or by both, but always a totality; so that these Pro 30:11-14, might describe quatuor detestabilia genera hominum (C. B. Michaelis), and yet one generatio , which divide among themselves these four vices, of blackest ingratitude, loathsome self-righteousness, arrogant presumption, and unmerciful covetousness. Similar is the description given in the Mishna Sota ix. 14, of the character of the age in which the Messiah appeared. “The appearance of this age,” thus it concludes, “is like the appearance of a dog; a son is not ashamed before his father; to whom will we then look for help? To our Father in heaven!”
(Note: Cf. also Ali b. Abi Tleb’s dark description, beginning with hadha alzman (this age), Zur allg. Char. der arab. Poesie (1870), p. 54f.)
The undutifulness of a child is here placed first. To curse one’s parents is, after Exo 21:17, cf. Pro 20:10, a crime worthy of death; “not to bless,” is here, per litoten , of the same force as to curse. The second characteristic, Pro 30:12, is wicked blindness as to one’s judgment of himself. The lxx coarsely, but not bad: . Of such darkness one says: sordes suas putat olere cinnama . is not the abbreviated part. (Stuart), as e.g., Exo 3:2, but the finite, as e.g., Hos 1:6.
In 13a the attributive clause forms itself, so as to express the astonishing height of arrogance, into an exclamation: a generation, how lofty are their eyes (cf. e.g., Pro 6:17, )! to which, as usual, it is simply added: and his eyelids ( palpebrae ) lift themselves up; in Lat., the lifting up of the eyebrow as an expression of haughtiness is described by elatum ( superbum ) supercilium .
The fourth characteristic is insatiable covetousness, which does not spare even the poor, and preys upon them, the helpless and the defenceless: they devour them as one eats bread, Psa 14:4. The teeth, as the instruments of eating, are compared to swords and knives, as at Psa 57:4 to spears and arrows. With there is interchanged, as at Job 29:17; Jon 1:6, (not ‘ , as Norzi writes, contrary to Metheg – Setzung, 37, according to which Gaja, with the servant going before, is inadmissible), transposed from , Psa 58:7, from , to strike, pierce, bite. The designation of place, , “from the earth” (which also, in pausa, is not modified into ), and , “from the midst of men,” do not belong to the obj.: those who belong to the earth, to mankind ( vid., Psa 10:18), for thus interpreted they would be useless; but to the word of action: from the earth, out from the midst of men away, so that they disappear from thence (Amo 8:4). By means of fine but cobweb combinations, Hitzig finds Amalek in this fourfold proverb. But it is a portrait of the times, like Psa 14:1-7, and certainly without any national stamp.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
NOTE: The following verses Pro 30:11-31 (except 17 and 20) deal with various subjects in series of four.
Four Evil Generations
Verse 11 reproves children who are disobedient and disrespectful of parents. Such violate Exo 20:12; Eph 6:1-3, and forfeit the promise of long life. Parents who fail to teach their children as commanded by Deu 6:6-7 and Eph 6:4 will be judged.
Verse 12 rebukes the self-righteous who boast of their own goodness, rejecting the truth that men are cleansed of their sin and filthiness only by trust in the LORD, Luk 18:11; Isa 59:3; Heb 9:14; 1Jn 1:7; Rev 7:14.
Verse 13 condemns those who are lifted up with pride and haughtiness, who think themselves too wise to believe the Bible or need anything they cannot provide, Pro 16:18; Pro 21:4; Pro 26:12; 2Ch 26:16; Psa 12:3-4; Isa 13:11; 1Jn 2:16; Luk 18:11; Rev 3:17.
Verse 14 identifies those who defraud, oppress or physically harm the poor. For such, judgment is sure, Pro 14:31; Psa 12:5; Ecc 5:8; Isa 13:11; Isa 26:21; Amo 8:4-7.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 30:15. Horseleech, or vampire, an imaginary spectre or ghost, supposed to suck the blood of children. (Stuart.)
Pro. 30:15-16. On these verses, Dr. Aiken, the American translator of the Proverbs for Langes Commentary, remarks, As compared with the numerical proverbs which follow, the complexity and the more artificial character of the one before us at once arrests attention. They all have this in common, that whatever moral lesson they have to convey is less obvious, being hinted rather than stated. In the one now under consideration, insatiable desire and the importance of its regulation seem to be the remote object. In the development, instead of the three things and four things which repeatedly appear afterwards, we have the leach, its two daughters, the three, and the four. Some have regarded the two daughters as representing physical characteristics of the bloodsucker, others as expressing by an Orientalism a doubly intense craving. Parallelism suggests making the first two of the four the two daughters; other allusions of the Scripture to the greediness of the world of the dead justify the first, while the second alone belong to human nature.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Pro. 30:11-17
FOUR MANIFESTATIONS OF UNGODLINESS
I. Children without natural affection. Parents that have the disposition and character which God intends them to possess are the best reflection of God that a child can look upon in a fallen world. A son or daughter can by no other means so well come to understand the fatherhood of God as by considering the tenderness and self-sacrifice of good human parents, and hence the Saviour in His most beautiful parable (Luke 15) uses this relationship to set forth the depth and strength of Divine love to sinful men. He who treats such love lightly, therefore, despises the love of Him who instituted the relationship of parent and child to minister to human happiness and to elevate human character. The man or woman who is guilty of this crime reveals a heart incapable of worthy emotion, and a conscience dead to all the claims of duty. Such an unnatural being must fail in all his other relationshipshe cannot be a good husband or faithful friend, or worthily fulfil any of the more public duties of life. A man who was found wanting here, was, in the Hebrew commonwealth, regarded as rotten at the very core of his moral nature, and condemned to suffer the extreme penalty of the law (Deu. 21:18-21.) Thus God puts the rebellious child on a level with the murderer and blasphemer, and the terrible threatening passed here upon one who disregards the fifth commandment is another proof of the greatness of the sin in the eyes of God. In Pro. 30:17 such a sentence is passed upon an undutiful child as is scarcely paralleled in Scripture. Even the body which was the home of so unnatural a soul shall be exposed to ignominy and contempt.
II. Self-deceivers. This is a manifestation of ungodliness, which is in some degree common to all men whose inner vision has not been set right by Divine grace. All unrenewed men are more or less like the ancient Laodiceans, who thought they had need of nothing, but who were in reality so spiritually blind that they could not see their spiritual nakedness (Rev. 3:15). It is those who are not washed from their filthiness that are pure in their own eyes, for they are in the condition of spirit described by the apostle Johnthey walk in darkness, and that darkness hath blinded their eyes (1Jn. 2:11). But it is their own fault if they remain in this condition of blindness. A man may be born into this world with weak or impaired vision, but there may be means within his reach whereby the defect may be remedied and he become capable of seeing things as they are. By coming under the influence of those who can see well themselves and who can help him to sight also, he may be brought from a state of comparative darkness to one of light, and if with these opportunities within his reach he become worse instead of better, and at last totally blind, his blindness is a crime and not a misfortune. So, although it is true that we all come into this world with our spiritual perceptions defective and impaired, we are blameworthy in the highest degree if we do not put ourselves in contact with the moral light which God has placed within our reach, and we shall in time come to the condition of the Jewish nation in the days of the prophet and in the time of Christ (Isa. 6:9; Mat. 13:14), seeing, we shall see, and shall not perceive. For the light which lighteneth every man (Joh. 1:9) has come into the world; and when His word is allowed free access to mans heart and conscience it opens his spiritual eyes as the morning sun playing upon the bodily eyes of the sleeper arouses him to life and consciousness. Self-deception, therefore, is a sin, and a sin inseparable from ungodliness.
III. The proud. This sin is the natural outcome of the one just mentioned. If a man has no sense of his state before God, he will have no right conception of his position in relation to his fellow-creatures. The eyes that cannot discern their own moral defilement will certainly look disdainfully upon others. He who thus dishonours his God will certainly despise his brother, and the less a man has to be prond of, the prouder he will be. (On this subject of pride see on chap. Pro. 11:2, and Pro. 13:10, pages 192 and 305.)
IV. The cruel and covetous. Mans rapacity and selfishness are set forth in Pro. 30:15-17 in very strong terms. His greediness and cruelty are compared to that of a creature the sole end of whose existence is to gorge itself with blood; to the ever open grave; to swords and knives, etc. We know too well that this picture is not overdrawn. Nothing that man can imagine in the form of cruelty can surpass what man has been guilty of, and such ingenuity has he sometimes displayed in this direction that one is constrained to believe that he has been inspired by a supernatural power of evil, for his deeds of darkness have seemed too black for man of himself to conceive. Some of the cruelty of man towards man may not be the offspring of covetousness, but doubtless much of it is. Men often care not who suffers, or how much they suffer, so that they satisfy their own selfish desires, and all this unnatural conduct is an evidence that there is a schism in the human race which calls for some remedy such as that of the gospel, whereby such savage natures may be transformed, and The wolf also dwell with, the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid, etc. (Isa. 11:6.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
In Scripture, the word generations is repeatedly used to signify particular classes or descriptions of men; for two reasons, or points of analogy:first, that as generation follows generation, so surely, in every generation, a succession of such characters is to be found;and secondly, that they very often communicate the character to one another, and thus keep up their respective kinds,are successive propagators of their species.Wardlaw.
Pro. 30:11. Here a new thought begins, but probably one from the same teacher. As he had uttered what he most desired, so now he tells us what he most abhorred, and in true harmony with the teaching of the Ten Commandments places in the foremost rank those who rise against the Fifth.Plumptre.
Solon, when asked why he had made no law against parricides, replied, that he could not conceive of anyone so impious and cruel. The divine lawgiver knew His creature better, that His heart was capable of wickedness beyond conception (Jer. 17:9).Bridges.
Pro. 30:14. Yet withal, these cruel oppressors are marked by pitiful cowardice. They vent their wantonness only where there is little or no power of resistance. It is not the wolf with the wolf, but with the defenceless lamb; devouring the poor and needy from off the earth,eating up my peoplenot like an occasional indulgence, but as they eat bread their daily meal, without intermission. (Psa. 14:4.)Bridges.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEXT Pro. 30:11-20
11.
There is a generation that curse their father,
And bless not their mother.
12.
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes,
And yet are not washed from their filthiness.
13.
There is a generation, of how lofty are their eyes!
And their eyelids are lifted up.
14.
There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives,
To devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
15.
The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give.
There are three things that are never satisfied, Yea, four that say not, Enough:
16.
Sheol; and the barren womb;
The earth that is not satisfied with water;
And the fire that saith not, Enough.
17.
The eye that mocketh at his father,
And despiseth to obey his mother,
The ravens of the valley shall pick it out,
And the young eagles shall eat it.
18.
There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yea, four which I know not:
19.
The way of an eagle in the air;
The way of a serpent upon a rock;
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea;
And the way of a man with a maiden.
20.
So is the way of an adulterous woman;
She eateth, and wipeth her mouth,
And saith, I have done no wickedness.
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 30:11-20
1.
Is generation used in Pro. 30:11 as we use it?
2.
Is the generation in Pro. 30:12 the same as in Pro. 30:11 or some other generation?
3.
What is wrong with the generation mentioned in Pro. 30:13?
4.
To what extent will greedy people go in order to get gain (Pro. 30:14)?
5.
Comment on horseleach (Pro. 30:15).
6.
Can you name these four things without looking (Pro. 30:16)?
7.
What is meant by the birds picking out such a ones eyes (Pro. 30:17)?
8.
Too wonderful in what sense (Pro. 30:18)?
9.
Comment upon each thing mentioned in Pro. 30:19.
10. What does sin do to a person (Pro. 30:20)?
PARAPHRASE OF 30:11-20
1114.
There are those who curse their father and mother, and feel themselves faultless despite their many sins. They are proud beyond description, arrogant, disdainful. They devour the poor with teeth as sharp as knives!
15, 16.
There are two things never satisfied, like a leech forever craving more: no, three things! no, four! Hell, the barren womb, a barren desert, fire.
17.
A man who mocks his father and despises his mother shall have his eye plucked out by ravens and eaten by vultures.
18, 19.
There are three things too wonderful for me to understandno four! How an eagle glides through the sky, how a serpent crawls upon a rock, how a ship finds its way across the heaving ocean, the growth of love between a man and a girl.
20.
There is another thing too: how a prostitute can sin and then say, Whats wrong with that?
COMMENTS ON 30:11-20
Pro. 30:11. The next four verses all begin with, There is a generation. Is this a prophecy of a coming wicked generation? He doesnt say, There shall be a generation. Was it his own generation? He didnt say, This generation. Or was it four different generations being described in the four different statements? Likely what he says has fit various generations from time to time. For sure the four statements seem to fit our own generation, and others who have lived before us have felt that they fit theirs also. Our verse is picturing a generation openly violating the Fifth Commandment (Honor thy father and thy motherExo. 20:12). A child who does not honor and respect his parents is off to a bad start in life: the basis of good character is lacking. Imagine a whole generation of such and the society that would result! This verse and disobedient to parents in 2Ti. 3:2 aptly find their fulfillment in the juvenile delinquency of our times.
Pro. 30:12. It is natural for any people to have a concern over human guilt before God, not that everybody comes to God for cleansing and forgiveness. But our verse pictures a time when men will feel no need for such cleansing: they will feel all right as they are. Gospel preaching, evangelistic appeals, and surrender to Christ are indeed foreign, unnecessary, and indeed foolish to such a people. Nor does our present generation miss being this generation by much!
Pro. 30:13. This verse describes a proud, conceited age. This was the sin of King Nebuchadnezzar. Remember his pride when one day as he was walking in his palace, he proudly said to himself, Is this not great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty (Dan. 4:30)? This spirit is not far from the present attitude: See what we have done! Look at what man has accomplished! The more that man is puffed up with his own knowledge, own attainments, and own importance, the less he bows before God, seeks His will, and walks by faith. This is a dangerous spirit to get into.
Pro. 30:14. This verse tells of a greedy age, when the big eat up the little, when the rich devour the poor. Have we not come to this time when everything big drives everything small out of business. The small farmer with no capital can no longer farm. The man with his small store on the corner can no longer compete. The greed mentioned in this verse has characterized many generations Amo. 8:4 uses the same language: Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail.
Pro. 30:15. This verse and the one following will deal with things that seemingly cannot get enough, are never satisfied. To begin with, he compares them with the blood-sucking horseleach whose two daughters can never get enough blood (Give, give, they cry). But the number of things he has in mind are not two, so he raises it to three; and finally he says there are Four that say not, Enough.
Pro. 30:16. What are those four? (1) Sheolthe abode of mens departed spirits. Sheol is never satisfied: it keeps claiming new victims and never says, Enough. Pro. 27:20 and Hab. 2:5 also states that Sheol is never satisfied. (2) The barren wombthe married woman who has not been able to bear children. It keeps crying out for conception. Recall that the barren Rachel said to her husband Jacob, Give me children, or else I die (Gen. 30:1). Elkannahs words to his barren wife Hannah (Am I not better off to thee than ten sons?1Sa. 1:8) did not satisfy her longing for offspring (read 1Sa. 1:4-11). (3) The earthoh, how quickly it dries out after a heavy rain and is ready for more! (4) Fireinstead of being extinguished from fuel put upon it, fire leaps higher and roars louder as if to say, More, more. Actually, what is the moral of such a verse? We conjecture a guess: not so much for the sake of the earth and fire not being satisfied but to remind man of the coming of death and that the barren womb of woman can be a problem.
Pro. 30:17. Mixed in with the groupings of this chapter are occasional single-proverbs (such as this verse and Pro. 30:10). This verse returns to the subject of Pro. 30:11. Other passages on showing disrespect to ones parents: Gen. 9:22; Lev. 20:9, Pro. 20:20. On this verse: Such an undutiful son shall die a violent death; his corpse shall lie unburied, and the birds of prey shall feed upon him…Ravens, vultures, and other birds that live on carrion first attack the eyes of their prey (Pulpit Commentary).
Pro. 30:18. Agur begins another seriesthis time four things he can but wonder at but not comprehend. Job. 42:3 speaks of Things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
Pro. 30:19. What are these four things that excited Agurs wonderment? (1) The way of an eagle in the airhow marvelous his flight! (2) The way of a serpent on a rockhow man likes to conceal himself and study such! (3) The way of a ship in the midst of the seato see a large vessel take to the deep waters and to go with no land in sight was another marvel. (4) The way of a man with a maidenit remains a marvel the way that love develops between two people and grows into the ultimate relation of husband and wife. We personally think the Paraphrase gets to the correct idea better than the commentaries. The Paraphrase reads: There are three things too wonderful for me to understandno four! How an eagle glides through the sky. How a serpent crawls upon a rock. How a ship finds its way across the heaving ocean. The growth of love between a man and a girl.
Pro. 30:20. And here is another thing to marvel at: how an adulterous woman can sin, knowing she has sinned, and say, I have done no wickedness. She would fit the Generation spoken in Pro. 30:12 (pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness).
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 30:11-20
1.
Comment upon generation as used in Pro. 30:11-14.
2.
Which commandment of the Ten would be violated by those in Pro. 30:11?
3.
What is the picture of those in Pro. 30:12?
4.
What evidence can you think of that might relate our generation with what is said in Pro. 30:13?
5.
Has Pro. 30:14 characterized many generations or an occasional one?
6.
Pro. 30:15 introduces four things that seemingly are never …………. .
7.
What are those four (Pro. 30:16)?
8.
Comment upon Pro. 30:17.
9.
What type of things does Pro. 30:18 introduce?
10.
What are those four things (Pro. 30:19)?
11.
What additional thing to marvel at was mentioned in Pro. 30:20?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(11) There is a generation . . .The words there is are not in the Hebrew, so it is left in doubt what is the predicate of these four evil generations, whether Agur means by them to describe the men of his own time, or to say that such are unbearable. (Comp. Pro. 30:21.) The same characters are to be found in the description of men of the last days (2Ti. 3:1 sqq).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
11-14. The four classes here mentioned Agur assumes will at once be disapproved. To describe them is enough. They need no formal condemnation.
Generation Race, class.
Doth not bless Does not respect or speak well of. It is implied that they do the reverse.
Pure in their own eyes In their own estimation perfect without blemish or fault.
Not washed from their filthiness From that which goeth out from them, excrements. Of course the expression is figurative, and the figure is crude but very pungent. Mat 15:11.
Eyelids are lifted up Comp. Pro 6:17; there are outward signs of inward pride. We would, perhaps, say eye-brows, to express the same idea. The mention of these classes of evil-minded and evil-doing persons is equivalent to a precept prohibiting the several vices pertaining to them; as if Agur had said, “I mention these that ye may avoid their ways.” It will be noted that the words “there is” in each of these verses, are supplied in italics. The passage would be more forcible without them; “A generation that curseth their father and blesseth not their mother,” etc. Comp. Pro 25:19; Psa 52:2; Psa 57:4.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 30:11-14. There is a generation, &c. These verses seem to contain cautions against keeping company with certain persons;
1. Those who are ungrateful to their parents;
2 dissembling hypocrites, Pro 30:12;
3 supercilious proud men, Pro 30:13;
4 cruel and uncompassionate men; tyrants, extortioners, calumniators, &c.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 30:11 [There is] a generation [that] curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
Ver. 11. There is a generation that curseth their father. ] An evil and an adulterous generation, doubtless; a bastardly brood, a as were those in the gospel; “a generation of vipers,” b that make their way into the world by their dams’ death. These monsters of men are doomed to destruction. Lev 20:9 Hell gapes for them, as also it doth for such as revile or denigrate their masters, magistrates, ministers, benefactors, ancients. There is a certain plant which our herbalists call Herbam impiam, or wicked cudweed, c whose younger branches still yield flowers to overtop the older. Such weeds grow too rife abroad; it is an ill soil that produceth them. But of this before.
a . Mat 12:39
b . Mat 3:7
c The common name for the genus Gnaphalium of composite plants, having chaffy scales surrounding the flower heads; originally proper to G. sylvaticum ; extended to other plants, of allied genera, or similar appearance.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 30:11-14
Pro 30:11-14
A SERIES OF TETRADS
(A tetrad is a wise saying with four lines or four elements.)
“There is a generation that curse their father, and bless not their mother.
There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes,
And yet are not washed from their filthiness.
There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up.
There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw-teeth as knives,
To devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”
“In all of these sequences of three things, yea, four, it is the climactic fourth that is emphasized.” This was a commonly accepted teaching device among the Jews. The first two chapters of Amos are an example of this method. Harris noted that Jesus also utilized the same device, as for example, in the Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, where one finds two tetrads (Mat 5:3-6; and Mat 5:7-10). The evil character of the generation described here strongly resembles that which is described in the prophecy of Amos.
Pro 30:11. The next four verses all begin with, There is a generation. Is this a prophecy of a coming wicked generation? He doesnt say, There shall be a generation. Was it his own generation? He didnt say, This generation. Or was it four different generations being described in the four different statements? Likely what he says has fit various generations from time to time. For sure the four statements seem to fit our own generation, and others who have lived before us have felt that they fit theirs also. Our verse is picturing a generation openly violating the Fifth Commandment (Honor thy father and thy mother-Exo 20:12). A child who does not honor and respect his parents is off to a bad start in life: the basis of good character is lacking. Imagine a whole generation of such and the society that would result! This verse and disobedient to parents in 2Ti 3:2 aptly find their fulfillment in the juvenile delinquency of our times.
Pro 30:12. It is natural for any people to have a concern over human guilt before God, not that everybody comes to God for cleansing and forgiveness. But our verse pictures a time when men will feel no need for such cleansing: they will feel all right as they are. Gospel preaching, evangelistic appeals, and surrender to Christ are indeed foreign, unnecessary, and indeed foolish to such a people. Nor does our present generation miss being this generation by much!
Pro 30:13. This verse describes a proud, conceited age. This was the sin of King Nebuchadnezzar. Remember his pride when one day as he was walking in his palace, he proudly said to himself, Is this not great Babylon, which I have built for the royal dwelling-place, by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty (Dan 4:30)? This spirit is not far from the present attitude: See what we have done! Look at what man has accomplished! The more that man is puffed up with his own knowledge, own attainments, and own importance, the less he bows before God, seeks His will, and walks by faith. This is a dangerous spirit to get into.
Pro 30:14. This verse tells of a greedy age, when the big eat up the little, when the rich devour the poor. Have we not come to this time when everything big drives everything small out of business. The small farmer with no capital can no longer farm. The man with his small store on the corner can no longer compete. The greed mentioned in this verse has characterized many generations Amo 8:4 uses the same language: Hear this, O ye that would swallow up the needy, and cause the poor of the land to fail.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
a generation: Pro 30:12-14, Mat 3:7, 1Pe 2:9
that curseth: Pro 30:17, Pro 20:20, Lev 20:9, Deu 21:20, Deu 21:21, Deu 27:16, Mat 15:4-6, Mar 7:10-13
doth: 1Ti 5:4, 1Ti 5:8
Reciprocal: Exo 20:12 – Honour Exo 21:15 – General Exo 21:17 – curseth Lev 19:3 – fear Deu 21:18 – have a stubborn 2Sa 15:3 – there is Pro 6:20 – General Pro 19:26 – wasteth Pro 23:22 – despise Eze 22:7 – set Mic 7:6 – son Mal 1:6 – son Eph 6:1 – obey Col 3:20 – obey 1Ti 1:9 – murderers
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 30:11-14. There is a generation A sort of men, abominable both to God and men, which is implied concerning these and the following kind of sinners, mentioned in these verses; that curseth their father And mother too, as it follows; ungrateful and unnatural children. There are those that are pure in their own eyes Who not only pretend to others, but sincerely think within themselves, that they are truly religious persons, and in all respects such as they should be; and yet are not washed from their filthiness Not delivered from the guilt or power of their sins; not saved by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, Tit 3:5; not justified, not sanctified, in the name of the Lord, the Messiah, and by the Spirit of our God, 1Co 6:11. Reader, is this thy case? There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! With what disdain do they look upon their neighbours! At what a distance do they expect every body to keep! A sort of men that are proud and insolent, advancing themselves, and despising all others in comparison of themselves, and showing the pride of their hearts in their countenances and behaviour. There is a generation whose teeth, &c. Extortioners, and cruel oppressors, who grind the faces of the poor.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Agur sketched four verbal pictures and simply placed them side by side in these verses to illustrate the folly of arrogance. He had demonstrated humility himself (Pro 30:2-4; Pro 30:7-9). Each thing listed begins with dor ("generation") meaning a class or group of people (cf. Mat 11:16). [Note: Ross, p. 1121.] The numerical sequence creates a cumulative effect, namely, a feeling of growing intensity. [Note: J. J. Glück, "Proverbs xxx 15a," Vetus Testamentum 14 (1964):368.]