Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 30:21
For three [things] the earth is disquieted, and for four [which] it cannot bear:
21. For ] “or Under,” R.V. marg.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
21 23. Four things that are intolerable.
Two of them are drawn from each sex, and in each case they are unbearable because they are out of place, in a false position.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
For four which it cannot bear – Better: four it cannot bear. Here the common element is that of being intolerable, and the four examples are divided equally between the two sexes. Each has its examples of power and prosperity misused because they fall to the lot of those who have no training for them, and are therefore in the wrong place.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 21. 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.
1. 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 most confidential slaves, that no regiments were used so cruelly in the drill, c., as those black regiments that had black officers.
2. The overfed fool. The intellectually weak man, who has every thing at his command, has generally manners which none can bear and, if a favourite with his master, he is insupportable to all others.
3. An ill-tempered woman, when she gets embarrassed with domestic cares, is beyond bearing.
4. A servant maid, when, either through the death of the mistress, or the sin of the husband, she is in fact exalted to be head over the family, is so insolent and impudent, as to be hateful to every one, and execrated by all.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The earth is disquieted; either,
1. The earth itself trembleth and is moved; so it is an hyperbole. Or rather,
2. The inhabitants of the earth. They do by their insolence and impudence cause great and dreadful disturbances in the places where they live.
Which it cannot bear; which are intolerable in human societies.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
21-23. Pride and cruelty, theundue exaltation of those unfit to hold power, produce those viceswhich disquiet society (compare Pro 19:10;Pro 28:3).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
It is now not at all necessary to rack one’s brains over the grounds or the reasons of the arrangement of the following proverb ( vid., Hitzig). There are, up to this point, two numerical proverbs which begin with , Pro 30:7, and , Pro 30:15; after the cipher 2 there then, Pro 30:18, followed the cipher 3, which is now here continued:
21 Under three things doth the earth tremble,
And under four can it not stand:
22 Under a servant when he becomes king,
And a profligate when he has bread enough;
23 Under an unloved woman when she is married,
And a maid-servant when she becomes heiress to her mistress.
We cannot say here that the 4 falls into 3 + 1; but the four consists of four ones standing beside one another. is here without pausal change, although the Athnach here, as at Pro 30:24, where the modification of sound occurs, divides the verse into two; , 14b (cf. Psa 35:2), remains, on the other hand, correctly unchanged. The “earth” stands here, as frequently, instead of the inhabitants of the earth. It trembles when one of the four persons named above comes and gains free space for acting; it feels itself oppressed as by an insufferable burden (an expression similar to Amo 7:10); – the arrangement of society is shattered; an oppressive closeness of the air, as it were, settles over all minds. The first case is already designated, Pro 19:10, as improper: under a slave, when he comes to reign ( quum rex fit ); for suppose that such an one has reached the place of government, not by the murder of the king and by the robbery of the crown, but, as is possible in an elective monarchy, by means of the dominant party of the people, he will, as a rule, seek to indemnify himself in his present highness for his former lowliness, and in the measure of his rule show himself unable to rise above his servile habits, and to pass out of the limited circle of his earlier state. The second case is this: a , one whose mind is perverted and whose conduct is profligate – in short, a low man ( vid., Pro 17:17) – (cf. Metheg – Setzung, 28), i.e., has enough to eat (cf. to the expression Pro 28:19; Jer 44:17); for this undeserved living without care and without want makes him only so much the more arrogant, and troublesome, and dangerous. The , in the second case, is not thought of as a spouse, and that, as in supposed polygamy, Gen 29:31; Deu 21:15-17, as fallen into disfavour, but who again comes to favour and honour (Dathe, Rosenmller); for she can be without her own fault, and as such she is yet no ; and it is not to be perceived why the re-assumption of such an one should shatter social order. Rightly Hitzig, and, after his example, Zckler: an unmarried lady, an old spinster, is meant, whom no one desired because she had nothing attractive, and was only repulsive (cf. Grimm, under Sir. 7:26b). If such an one, as says, at length, however, finds her husband and enters into the married relation, then she carries her head so much the higher; for she gives vent to ill-humour, strengthened by long restraint, against her subordinates; then she richly requites her earlier and happily married companions for their depreciation of her, among whom she had to suffer, as able to find no one who would love her. In the last case it is asked whether is meant of inheriting as an heiress (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Targ., Jerome, the Venet., and Luther), or supplanting (Euchel, Gesenius, Hitzig), i.e., an entering into the inheritance of the dead, or an entering into the place of a living mistress. Since , with the accus. of the person, Gen 15:3-4, signifies to be the heir of one, and only with the accus. of peoples and lands signifies, “to take into possession (to seize) by supplanting,” the former is to be preferred; the lxx (Syr.), , appear to have read . This would certainly be, after Gen 21:10, a piece of the world turned upside down; but also the entering, as heiress, into the inheritance, makes the maid-servant the reverse of that which she was before, and brings with it the danger that the heiress, notwithstanding her want of culture and dignity, demean herself also as heiress of the rank. Although the old Israelitish law knew only intestate succession to an inheritance, yet there also the case might arise, that where there were no natural or legal heirs, the bequest of a wife of rank passed over to her servants and nurses.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Four Intolerable Evils
Verses 21-23 describe four things difficult for right thinking people to bear:
1) A servant (Vs. 22) or incapable person elevated to a position of authority over people much better suited for leadership, Pro 19:10; 1Ki 16:1-20.
2) A fool (Vs. 22) already arrogant and intolerant of God (Psa 14:1) and man (1Sa 25:17) who acquires great riches and is thus more able to disturb others with his undesirable traits, 1Sa 25:2-38.
3) An ill-tempered woman (Vs. 23) set in her ways, who marries and then habitually finds fault with her husband and all with whom she comes in contact, Pro 12:4.
4) A handmaid (Vs. 23) who supplants her mistress, taking her possessions as well as the affections of her husband.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL NOTES.
Pro. 30:23. Odious, or unloved.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Pro. 30:21-23
BURDENS GRIEVOUS TO BE BORNE
I. It is sometimes dangerous to the peace of a community to raise a person from a low to a high position. To place a man who has never before crossed a horse, upon a high-spirited charger, is to create a source of danger both to himself and others. There is a strong probability that the unskilful rider will be thrown from his unaccustomed elevation, and so injure himself. And it is also probable that he will be the means of mischief to other travellers upon the road, whom he will overthrow in his unskilful efforts to keep his seat. It is generally as dangerous an experiment to lift a man at once from the position of a servant to that of a ruler. Although faithfulness over a few things is, according to the highest authority, the best qualification for rulership over many things (Mat. 25:21), it is not always hands used only to service are fit to hold the reins of government, either in a small or a large society. On this subject see also on chap. Pro. 19:10, page 569.
II. Some human creatures cannot safely be trusted with even a sufficiency of this worlds goods. They are not only unfit to rule others, but so unfit to rule themselves that they cannot be filled with meat without becoming a centre of disturbance. Even enough of the necessaries of life suffices to make them injurious to themselves and insolent to their betters. This is especially true of men who are slaves to their bodily appetites. There are men in the world who, although peaceable and even useful citizens when they are kept in a state of comparative want and hardship, indulge in excess and immorality as soon as the restraint is removed. They will sometimes know this to be true, and yet they are so wanting in moral courage and strength as not to struggle after a higher condition of being. Such men are fools indeed.
III. The change of disposition which change of circumstance sometimes seems to work may be the result of deliberate purpose. When a servant becomes a ruler he may be the occasion of trouble simply from intellectual inability, and the fool who cannot safely be filled with meat may be only morally weak; but the woman here represented as developing into a curse after marriage suggests a person who has deliberately hidden her real character for a time in order to gain a position in which she can have more opportunities of indulging her evil propensities. This is a step farther in wickedness, and this domestic burden is often the most grievous of all burdens. On this subject see on chap. Pro. 21:9; Pro. 21:19, page 613.
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
Judge, then, how horrible it is that men should set the devil, or his two angels the world and the flesh, in the throne, whiles they place God in the footstool; or that in this commonwealth of man, reason, which is the queen or princess over the better powers and graces of the soul, should stoop to so base a slave as sensual lust.T. Adams.
And now, just notice the comprehensiveness, in regard to the happiness of human life, of the four things thus enumerated. They begin, observe, at the throne, and come down to the domestic servant. They embrace four great sources of the social unhappiness of mankind. These areincompetent rule, prosperous and, besotted folly, conjugal alienation and strife with its domestic miseries, and the unnatural inversion of social order.Wardlaw.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
TEXT Pro. 30:21-33
21.
For three things the earth doth tremble,
And for four, which it cannot bear:
22.
For a servant when he is king;
And a fool when he is filled with food;
23.
For an odious woman when she is married;
And a handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
24.
There are four things which are little upon the earth,
But they are exceeding wise:
25.
The ants are a people not strong,
Yet they provide their food in the summer;
26.
The conies are but a feeble folk,
Yet make they their houses in the rocks;
27.
The locusts have no king,
Yet go they forth all of them by bands;
28.
The lizard taketh hold with her hands,
Yet is she in kings palaces.
29.
There are three things which are stately in their march,
Yea, four which are stately in going:
30.
The lion, which is the mightiest among beasts,
And turneth not away for any;
31.
The greyhound; the he-goat also;
And the king against whom there is no rising up.
32.
If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself,
Or if thou hast thought evil,
Lay thy hand upon thy mouth.
33.
For the churning of milk bringeth forth butter,
And the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood;
So the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.
STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 30:21-33
1.
Why should the things mentioned in Pro. 30:21-22 cause the earth to tremble?
2.
Comment upon the two things mentioned in Pro. 30:22.
3.
What does odious mean (Pro. 30:23)?
4.
By contrast, what are some things that are large but not wise (Pro. 30:24)?
5.
Comment on the ant as used in Pro. 30:25.
6.
What are conies (Pro. 30:26)?
7.
Comment on the locust as used in Pro. 30:27.
8.
Comment on the lizard as used in Pro. 30:28.
9.
What does stately mean (Pro. 30:29)?
10.
In what passage are the righteous compared to a lion (Pro. 30:30)?
11.
Comment on each thing mentioned in Pro. 30:31.
12.
When did ancients lay their hands upon their mouths (Pro. 30:32)?
13.
Comment upon Pro. 30:33.
PARAPHRASE OF 30:21-33
2123.
There are three things that make the earth trembleno, four it cannot stand: A slave who becomes a king. A rebel who prospers. A bitter woman when she finally marries. A servant girl who marries her mistress husband.
2428.
There are four things that are small but continually wise: Ants: they arent strong, but they store up food for the winter. Cliff badgers: delicate little animals who protect themselves by living among the rocks. The locusts: though they have no leader, they stay together in swarms. The spiders: they are easy to catch and kill, yet are found even in kings palaces!
2931.
There are three stately monarchs in the earthno, four: The lion, king of the animals. He wont turn aside for anyone. The peacock. The he-goat. A king as he leads his army.
32.
If you have been a fool by being proud or plotting evil, dont brag about itcover your mouth with your hand in shame.
33.
As the churning of cream yields butter, and a blow to the nose causes bleeding, so anger causes quarrels.
COMMENTS ON 30:21-33
Pro. 30:21. This verse begins another group, a group of four, four things that bring sorrow, trouble and anguish. Earth here concerns those who live upon it.
Pro. 30:22-23. What four things? (1) A servant when he is kingsometimes a servant is elevated to a ruling status, and sometimes he grabbed the reins of power. Pro. 19:10 speaks of a servant having rule over princes, and Ecc. 10:7 speaks of servants upon horses instead of their usual place (walking). Former servants now ruling or being in charge can become drunk with their newly found position of authorityeach will show everybody who is boss! (2) A fool when he is filled with foodanother case of promotion that doesnt work anymore, so in allows much evil to result. (3) An odious woman when she is marrieda hateful woman, a woman with a bad disposition, who finally gets married. Watch out! She will cause her husband trouble, his people trouble, etc. She is a woman who has passed much of her life without love, having nothing about her attractive either in looks, attainments, or manner, and is consequently soured and ill-tempered. If such a ones does at last win a husband, she uses her new position to vex those who formerly depreciated her, and to make them as miserable as he can (Pulpit Commentary). One person like that in a previously quiet set of people can be like a bombshell. (4) A handmaid that is heir to her mistress-another elevation that backfires. It was agreeable to Abraham and Sarah for him to father a child by the handmaid Hagar (Gen. 16:1-2). The result: When she [Hagar] saw that she was conceived, her mistress wad despised in her eyes (Gen. 16:4).
Pro. 30:24. With this verse Agur begins another series of things, this time four things that are little but exceedingly wise. Pulpit Commentary: In contrast with the intolerable pretensions of the last group.
Pro. 30:25-28. What four? (1) Ants. An ant may not be strong, but an ant is wise enough to prepare his food in the summertime for the winter when it would be hard to find. Ever notice how busy ants are as they work? In countries where ants do not hibernate, they do make granaries for themselves in the summer, and use these supplies as food in the winter months (Pulpit Commentary). (2) Coniesthe rock-badger (Hart in Animals of the Bible). Geike: The coney abounds in the gorge of the Kedrom and along the foot of the mountains west of the Dead Sea. Because they are small (about the size of a rabbit) they live in the rocks. (The rocks are a refuge for the conies(Psa. 104:18). Their wisdom is displayed in their other protective measures: It is very hard to capture one…They have sentries regularly placed on the lookout while the rest are feeding; a squeak from the watchman sufficing to send the flock scudding to their holes (Pulpit Commentary). (3) The locusts. They have no leader, yet they all seem to know what to do. Joe. 2:7-8 says of them, They run like mighty men; they climb the wall like men of war; and they march every one on his ways, and they break not their ranks. Neither doth one thrust another; they march every one in his path; and they burst through their weapons, and break not off their course. (4) The lizardthe small kind with special suction-cup toes that enable it to run up walls and cling to ceilings. This would be the taketh hold with her hands. Small as it is, and easy to catch and crush, it is agile and clever enough to make its way into the very palace of the king, and to dwell there (Pulpit Commentary). The unstated conclusion of this list would be that we should be wise, and we will succeed in spite of various limitations.
Pro. 30:29. This verse introduces another set of four, this time things that are stately in their going or whose movements are remarkable.
Pro. 30:30-31. What four? (1) The lion who fearlessly walks wherever he chooses and is fearlessly unafraid. (2) The greyhound who can run like the wind. (3) The he-goat. Clarke says this is referring to How he walks, and what state he assumes, in the presence of his part of the flock. (4) A king who has things under control so that there is no danger of rebelling against him. This is the way every king wishes it to be.
Pro. 30:32-33. Butter results from churning, nosebleed results from twisting the nose, and strife results from stirring up wrath. What will stir up this wrath? Foolishly lifting oneself up (like James and John were doing in their request for the chief seats in Christs then-coming kingdom: When the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation concerning the two brethrenMat. 20:24) or sometimes even just thinking evil about another (like Ecc. 10:20 pictures: Revile not the king, no, not in thy thought; and revile not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the heavens shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter). Putting the hand over the mouth is also mentioned in Job. 21:5, Job. 40:4; Mic. 7:16. This was done when one recognized he had said the wrong thing or to keep from saying more.
NOTE: Noticeable Groupings within a chapter are found only in those chapters made up of 1-verse sayings (chapters 1029).
TEST QUESTIONS OVER 30:21-33
1.
What does earth mean in Pro. 30:21?
2.
What 2 ways might a servant rise to power (Pro. 30:22)?
3.
Name 3 other promotions in Pro. 30:22-23 that dont usually succeed.
4.
How did Pulpit Commentary contrast the group-of-four things in Pro. 30:24-25 with those in Pro. 30:22-23?
5.
What are ants known for (Pro. 30:25)?
6.
How large is a conie (Pro. 30:26)?
7.
What other Old Testament book described the ways of the locust (Pro. 30:27)?
8.
What is meant by the lizard taking hold with her hands (Pro. 30:28)?
9.
What is the unstated conclusion of Pro. 30:27-28?
10.
What is the group-of-four set forth in Pro. 30:29-31 known for?
11.
What would you say was the purpose of Pro. 30:29-31?
12.
What is the lesson of Pro. 30:32-33?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
21-23. Three four Hence follows another enigma, the four intolerable things.
The earth is disquieted The land is disturbed, thrown into commotion.
A servant when he reigneth When he becomes a ruler. Under Eastern governments slaves are sometimes promoted to office and become rulers. They are frequently the most imperious of tyrants. The same thing was, in the days of slavery, observed in this country when slaves were made overseers of their fellows, and in the West Indies, as Dr. Clarke remarks, where they were made drill masters of black regiments. This grows out of their previous condition and education, or, rather, their lack of education. (Comp. Pro 29:19.)
A fool , ( nabhal,) an ungodly dolt; the word implies wickedness and stupidity. (Compare Pro 19:10.)
An odious woman A hateful and hated woman.
When she is married Literally, when she is lorded, or husbanded; that is, when she gets married. (Comp. Pro 29:17-18; Pro 31:1.)
Heir to her mistress Literally, inherits her mistress; that is, inherits her place disinherits her in the affections and honour of her husband. Comp. Pro 16:21.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 30:21-23. For three things the earth is disquieted We have here an answer to another enigmatical question, What things are most intolerable? Which he tells us are, 1. A slave who bears rule; 2. A fool over-fed; 3. A vicious wife in a family; 4. A servant-maid become mistress of the house. This is very clear, and but too well confirmed by experience. A slave, or a man of an obscure condition, and of a mean servile soul, who domineers over others, is a subject of vexation and pain to them. If it be difficult to endure a master, even of illustrious birth, what must we think of a man who is lifted from servitude to a throne? he must have many degrees of excellence above another, not to be looked upon with jealousy and pain; and, unless endued with great grace, will be more cruel, and more insolent than another:
Regnabit sanguine multo Ad regnum quisquis venit ab exilio.
He will not be sparing of blood who, from a state of slavery, ascends to a throne.
A slave high-fed, and too much at his ease, very often despises his master. Solomon has informed us before, (chap. Pro 29:21.) that he who brings up his servant too delicately from his childhood, will soon see him insolent and disobedient. The same prince has frequently painted the inconveniences and disagreements of an ill-suited marriage, and the company of a quarrelsome, and not beloved wife. It is as a house which continually disgusts, and is open to every wind. Though the law allowed of repudiating this kind of wives, it rarely happened that this liberty was made use of, on account of other considerations of decorum, family, and the difficulties which were expressly urged in the courts of justice against the execution of the law. Lastly, a servant who has taken the place of her dead or repudiated mistress, commonly becomes insupportable to the whole house, and particularly to her husband’s other wives; for we must suppose polygamy in Palestine among the Jews. The jealousy of wives against wives is as it were an unquenchable fire. Witness the case of Hagar, the servant of Sarah, Gen 16:5.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 30:21 For three [things] the earth is disquieted, and for four [which] it cannot bear:
Ver. 21. For three things the earth is disquieted. ] Such trouble towns are odious creatures; the places where they live, long for a vomit to spew them out. As they live wickedly, so they die wishedly; there is a good world’s riddance of them, as there was of Nabal, and of those in Job 27:23 ; Job 27:15 , who were buried before half dead, being hissed and kicked off the stage of the world, as Phocas was by Heraclius.
And for four which it cannot bear.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Pro 30:21-23
Pro 30:21-23
“For three things the earth doth tremble,
And for four which it cannot bear.
For a servant when he is king;
And a fool when he is filled with food;
For an odious woman when she is married;
And a handmaid that is heir to her mistress.”
The cases cited here are of people in relatively inferior positions who find themselves suddenly promoted; and the intimation of the passage is that, “They then become excessively pretentious, arrogant and disagreeable.” Some have discovered an element of humor in the situations mentioned here.
Pro 30:21. This verse begins another group, a group of four, four things that bring sorrow, trouble and anguish. Earth here concerns those who live upon it.
Pro 30:22-23. What four things? (1) A servant when he is king-sometimes a servant is elevated to a ruling status, and sometimes he grabbed the reins of power. Pro 19:10 speaks of a servant having rule over princes, and Ecc 10:7 speaks of servants upon horses instead of their usual place (walking). Former servants now ruling or being in charge can become drunk with their newly found position of authority-each will show everybody who is boss! (2) A fool when he is filled with food-another case of promotion that doesnt work anymore, so in allows much evil to result. (3) An odious woman when she is married-a hateful woman, a woman with a bad disposition, who finally gets married. Watch out! She will cause her husband trouble, his people trouble, etc. She is a woman who has passed much of her life without love, having nothing about her attractive either in looks, attainments, or manner, and is consequently soured and ill-tempered. If such a ones does at last win a husband, she uses her new position to vex those who formerly depreciated her, and to make them as miserable as he can (Pulpit Commentary). One person like that in a previously quiet set of people can be like a bombshell. (4) A handmaid that is heir to her mistress-another elevation that backfires. It was agreeable to Abraham and Sarah for him to father a child by the handmaid Hagar (Gen 16:1-2). The result: When she [Hagar] saw that she was conceived, her mistress wad despised in her eyes (Gen 16:4).
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Reciprocal: Gen 16:4 – her mistress Pro 6:16 – six Pro 19:10 – Delight Pro 30:15 – There
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 30:21-23. For three things the earth That is, the inhabitants of the earth; is disquieted By their insolence and impudence they cause great disturbances in the places where they live; for four it cannot rest They are intolerable in human societies. For a servant when he reigneth When he is advanced to great power and dignity; for such a one is ignorant and unfit for his place, and therefore commits many errors; he is poor, and therefore insatiable; he is proud and imperious, and usually injurious and cruel; and a fool A conceited fool, or an obstinately wicked man; when he is filled with meat When he is over fed, his meat and drink heating his blood, and stirring him up to many insolences: or, when he abounds in wealth, which, in that case, is like a sword in a madmans hand, being an instrument and occasion of many acts of wickedness and mischief. For an odious woman Proud and perverse, and full of other offensive qualities; when she is married For then she displays all those ill humours which before she concealed. And a handmaid that is heir Which great and sudden change transports her beside herself, and makes her insufferably proud and scornful.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
These are four more pictures of arrogant folly. They picture upside-down social situations. One writer saw Adolph Hitler as an example of the kind of servant who became a king that the writer envisioned (Pro 30:22 a). [Note: Greenstone, p. 324.]