Christian Standard Bible
Proverbs 27:20
20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and people’s eyes are never satisfied.
Proverbs 27:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
- New International Version (NIV)Death and Destruction are never satisfied, and neither are human eyes.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Context of Proverbs 27:20
18Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and whoever looks after his master will be honored. 19As water reflects the face, so the heart reflects the person. Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and people’s eyes are never satisfied. 21As a crucible refines silver, and a smelter refines gold, so a person should refine his praise. 22Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain, you will not separate his foolishness from him.
Read all of Proverbs 27Proverbs 27:20 word by word
שְׁא֣וֹל וַ֭אֲבַדּוֹ לֹ֣א תִשְׂבַּ֑עְנָה וְעֵינֵ֥י הָ֝אָדָ֗ם לֹ֣א תִשְׂבַּֽעְנָה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 27:20
- Proverbs 30:15The leech has two daughters: “Give, Give!” Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough!”:
- Habakkuk 2:5Moreover, wine betrays; an arrogant man is never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself; he collects all the peoples for himself.
- Proverbs 23:5As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
- Ecclesiastes 1:8All things are wearisome, more than anyone can say. The eye is not satisfied by seeing or the ear filled with hearing.
- Ecclesiastes 2:10All that my eyes desired, I did not deny them. I did not refuse myself any pleasure, for I took pleasure in all my struggles. This was my reward for all my struggles.
- Ecclesiastes 5:10The one who loves silver is never satisfied with silver, and whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with income. This too is futile.
- Ecclesiastes 6:7All of a person’s labor is for his stomach, yet the appetite is never satisfied.
- Jeremiah 22:17But you have eyes and a heart for nothing except your own dishonest profit, shedding innocent blood and committing extortion and oppression.
- 1 John 2:16For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions — is not from the Father, but is from the world.
Commentaries on Proverbs 27:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20Hell and destruction are never full - How hideous must the soul of a covetous man be, when God compares it to hell and perdition! The eyes of man are never satisfied - As the grave can never be filled up with bodies, nor perdition with souls; so the restless desire, the lust of power, riches, and splendor, is never satisfied. Out of this ever unsatisfied desire spring all the changing fashions, the varied amusements, and the endless modes of getting…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20Hades, the world of the dead, and Destruction (Death, the destroying power, personified) have been at all times and in all countries thought of as all-devouring, insatiable (compare the marginal reference). Yet one thing is equally so, the lust of the eye, the restless craving which grows with what it feeds on Ecclesiastes 1:8.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20Verse 20 Two things are here said to be never satisfied, death and sin. The appetites of the carnal mind for profit or pleasure are always desiring more. Those whose eyes are ever toward the Lord, are satisfied in him, and shall for ever be so.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20Sheol and Abaddon: See study note on Proverbs 15:11. People never find true satisfaction in money, power, or pleasure.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Men's cupidity is as insatiable as the grave.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 27:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 27
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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