Proverbs 30: 21-33

²¹Under three things the earth quakes,
And under four, it cannot bear up:
²²Under a slave when he becomes king,
And a fool when he is satisfied with food,
²³Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress.
²⁴Four things are small on the earth,
But they are exceedingly wise:
²⁵The ants are not a strong people,
But they prepare their food in the summer;
²⁶The shephanim are not mighty people,
Yet they make their houses in the rocks;
²⁷The locusts have no king,
Yet all of them go out in ranks;
²⁸The lizard you may grasp with the hands,
Yet it is in kings' palaces.
²⁹There are three things which are stately in their march,
Even four which are stately when they walk:
³⁰The lion which is mighty among beasts
And does not retreat before any,
³¹The strutting rooster, the male goat also,
And a king when his army is with him.
³²If you have been foolish in exalting yourself
Or if you have plotted evil, put your hand on your mouth.
³³For the churning of milk produces butter,
And pressing the nose brings forth blood;
So the churning of anger produces strife.

Today's Thought Question:

1. What proverb in today's passage spoke to you and why?

Agur establishes a pattern for presentation that began with yesterday's verses: three things with an additional item at the end--often, one to which we should pay extra attention. He also uses lots of examples from the creation here. I wonder if his students were nature buffs as well.

"Under three things the earth quakes,
And under four, it cannot bear up:
Under a slave when he becomes king,
And a fool when he is satisfied with food,
Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband,
And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress." (vs. 21-23)

What things cause the earth to quiver in anger or fear (as suggested by the Hebrew) [Strong's]? We'll take them one at a a time....

"Under a slave when he becomes king"--Slaves (or servants, as used by the KJV) are characterized as those who have not received wisdom. Solomon said to us in 19:10, "Luxury is not fitting for a fool; much less for a slave to rule over princes." Rather than "becomes king," the KJV uses "when he reigneth," which can mean to take the throne or to take counsel. Surely, it would not be God's intent for fools--who do not have the wisdom of God--to take this kind of leadership over people (unless He had a much bigger purpose in mind!).

"And a fool when he is satisfied with food"--We just chatted about portions a post ago or so. Do you think a fool is satisfied with his allotted portion of food? The fool is one who will indulge himself to excess.

"Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband"--As has happened more than once in this study, the seemingly innocent deserves a bit more attention; because it's not as it appears. Compare the NASB's use of 'unloved' with the KJV's use of 'odious,' which means to hate! The Amplified Bible calls her "an unloved and repugnant woman." Wow! She's unloved not because no one has discovered her. Au contraire! She is unloved because she is unlovable, detestable!! The Message paraphrase says, "when a whore is voted 'woman of the year.'"

"And a maidservant when she supplants her mistress"--A maidservant or handmaid is a female servant (see earth-shaker #1). When the slave becomes "heir" (KJV) to her mistress, there is something wrong. The Message paraphrase all too accurately presents the headline so prevalent in our news these days: "when a 'girlfriend' replaces a faithful wife."


Agur brilliantly follows up this set of verses with another set of four examples--all featuring creatures of the animal world! And the animals are looking way more wise!! (sigh!) Really, it is quite sad when I look over this list and think,"This is what the reality/talk show producers use when they sit around the table at their production meetings to plan their next shows." The ravages of not embracing wisdom shows in our penchant for watching these folks on the tube.

Are these folks doomed to life as a product of daytime TV? Is there hope for the fool? Solomon has given us plenty of verses demonstrating that it is impossible without God and His wisdom. Can a fool turn away from his sin, find the road to wisdom and hear her cry at the city gate?

"Four sorts of persons are very troublesome.... Let those whom Providence has advanced from low beginnings, carefully watch against that sin which most easily besets them."

--Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Bible

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Tomorrow's Scripture Focus and Thought Question:

Proverbs 31: 1-9 (The words of Lemuel)

1. What proverb in today's passage spoke to you and why?
   

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Note: I read from the New American Standard Bible translation, specifically, The MacArthur Study Bible (NASB). I will quote other sources if used in a post.
I also use Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (with notes from the King James Version).