15 The leech hath two daughters: Give, give. There are three [things] never satisfied; four which say not, It is enough:
There are three [things] which have a stately step, and four are comely in going:
Under three [things] the earth is disquieted, and under four it cannot bear up:
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence; because they have despised the law of Jehovah, and have not kept his statutes; and their lies have caused them to err, after which their fathers walked.
Woe to them! because they have gone in the way of Cain, and given themselves up to the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your love-feasts, feasting together [with you] without fear, pasturing themselves; clouds without water, carried along by [the] winds; autumnal trees, without fruit, twice dead, rooted up;
receiving [the] reward of unrighteousness; accounting ephemeral indulgence pleasure; spots and blemishes, rioting in their own deceits, feasting with you; having eyes full of adultery, and that cease not from sin, alluring unestablished souls; having a heart practised in covetousness, children of curse; having left [the] straight way they have gone astray, having followed in the path of Balaam [the son] of Bosor, who loved [the] reward of unrighteousness;
And through covetousness, with well-turned words, will they make merchandise of you: for whom judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction slumbers not.
For such serve not our Lord Christ, but their own belly, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.
Ye are of the devil, as [your] father, and ye desire to do the lusts of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks falsehood, he speaks of what is his own; for he is a liar and its father:
They answered and said to him, Abraham is our father. Jesus says to them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham;
There are four [things] little upon the earth, and they are exceeding wise:
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence; because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime.
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence; because he pursued his brother with the sword, and cast off all pity; and his anger did tear continually, and he kept his wrath for ever.
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Tyre, and for four, I will not revoke its sentence; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant.
Thus saith Jehovah: For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not revoke [my sentence], because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron.
Their drink is sour; they give themselves up to whoredom; her great men passionately love [their] shame.
Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall speak in a proverb against thee, saying, As the mother, [so is] her daughter! Thou art the daughter of thy mother that loathed her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who loathed their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite. And thine elder sister is Samaria that dwelleth at thy left hand, she and her daughters; and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.
and the dogs are greedy, they know not to be satisfied, and these are shepherds that know not how to discern: they all turn to their own way, every one for his gain, even to the last of them: Come, [say they,] I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to-morrow shall be as this day, [and] much more abundant.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Proverbs 30
Commentary on Proverbs 30 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 30
This and the following chapter are an appendix to Solomon's proverbs; but they are both expressly called prophecies in the first verses of both, by which it appears that the penmen of them, whoever they were, were divinely inspired. This chapter was penned by one that bears the name of "Agur Ben Jakeh.' What tribe he was of, or when he lived, we are not told; what he wrote, being indited by the Holy Ghost, is here kept upon record. We have here,
Pro 30:1-6
Some make Agur to be not the name of this author, but his character; he was a collector (so it signifies), a gatherer, one that did not compose things himself, but collected the wise sayings and observations of others, made abstracts of the writings of others, which some think is the reason why he says (v. 3), "I have not learned wisdom myself, but have been a scribe, or amanuensis, to other wise and learned men.' Note, We must not bury our talent, though it be but one, but, as we have received the gift, so minister the same, if it be but to collect what others have written. But we rather suppose it to be his name, which, no doubt, was well known then, though not mentioned elsewhere in scripture. Ithiel and Ucal are mentioned, either,
Three things the prophet here aims at:-
Pro 30:7-9
After Agur's confession and creed, here follows his litany, where we may observe,
Pro 30:10-14
Here is,
Pro 30:15-17
He had spoken before of those that devoured the poor (v. 14), and had spoken of them last, as the worst of all the four generations there mentioned; now here he speaks of their insatiableness in doing this. The temper that puts them upon it is made up of cruelty and covetousness. Now those are two daughters of the horse-leech, its genuine offspring, that still cry, "Give, give, give more blood, give more money;' for the bloody are still blood-thirsty; being drunk with blood, they add thirst to their drunkenness, and will seek it yet again. Those also that love silver shall never be satisfied with silver. Thus, while from these two principles they are devouring the poor, they are continually uneasy to themselves, as David's enemies, Ps. 59:14, 15. Now, for the further illustration of this,
Pro 30:18-23
Here is,
Pro 30:24-28
Pro 30:29-33
Here is,