Proverbs 30:15

Proverbs 30:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:
• New International Version (NIV)“The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
• English Standard Version (ESV)The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough":
• New King James Version (NKJV)The leech has two daughters— Give and Give! There are three things that are never satisfied, Four never say, “Enough!”:

Context of Proverbs 30:15

13There are some people who are very proud. They look down on everyone else. 14There are some people who are very cruel. Their teeth are like swords and sharp knives. They want to eat up all the poor and helpless people, so that they disappear from the earth. A greedy leech has two daughters. They are always saying, ‘Give me more!’ There are three things that never have enough for themselves, even four things: 16The deep hole of death. A wife who has no children. Dry ground that needs rain. A fire that burns strongly. 17Punishment will come to anyone who insults his father, or who refuses to listen to his mother. Wild birds will pick out his eyes and vultures will eat his body.

Proverbs 30:15 word by word

לַֽעֲלוּקָ֨ה׀ שְׁתֵּ֥י בָנוֹת֮ הַ֤ב׀ הַ֥ב שָׁל֣וֹשׁ הֵ֭נָּה לֹ֣א תִשְׂבַּ֑עְנָה אַ֝רְבַּ֗ע לֹא־אָ֥מְרוּ הֽוֹן׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The horseleachעֲלוּקָה‛ălûqâh · leechH5936
• hath twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• daughtersבַּתbath · daughterH1323
• Giveיָהַבyâhab · to giveH3051
• There are threeשָׁלֹשׁshâlôsh shâlôsh shelôshâh shelôshâh · threeH7969
• are never satisfiedשָׂבֵעַώâba‛ ώâbêa‛ · to satisfyH7646
• fourאַרְבַּע'arba‛ 'arbâ‛âh · fourH702
• sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• enoughהוֹןhôn · substanceH1952

Cross-references for Proverbs 30:15

• Isaiah 57:3The Lord says, ‘But you magicians, come here! You use magic to learn about future times. You are the family of an adulteress and a prostitute.
• Ezekiel 16:44Look! Everyone says that this proverb is true about you: A daughter will do the same things that her mother does.
• Matthew 23:32Now you must finish the work that your ancestors began to do!
• John 8:39They answered, ‘Abraham is our father!’ Jesus replied, ‘If you really belonged to Abraham's family, you would do the same kind of things that Abraham did.
• Isaiah 56:11They are like dogs who are always hungry. They eat a lot but they never have enough. They are like shepherds who do not understand what to do. They do whatever they want to do, so that it will help them get what they want.
• Hosea 4:18After they have drunk enough wine, they are happy to sleep with prostitutes. They enjoy doing things that should make them ashamed.
• Micah 7:3They know very well how to work together to do bad things. Rulers demand gifts and judges ask for money. Powerful bad people always get what they want. All these people work together to do what is bad.
• Romans 16:18People who are like that are not servants of our Lord Christ. Instead, they are doing the things which please themselves. They speak words that seem very nice, but they deceive people who easily accept a false message.
• 2 Peter 2:3The false teachers want you to give them money. So they will teach things that are not true. A long time ago, God already decided that he must punish them. God is ready to do that now. Certainly, he will soon destroy them.
• Jude 1:11It will be terrible for them! They have lived in the way that Cain lived. They have made the same mistake that Balaam made, because they wanted to get money for themselves. Like Korah, they have refused to obey God. So God will destroy them.
• Proverbs 30:21There are three things that make the earth shake, even four things:
• Proverbs 6:16There are six things that the Lord hates, or even seven things:
• Amos 1:3The Lord says, ‘The people in Damascus have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them! They have been cruel to the people in Gilead. They used their iron weapons to tear them into pieces.
• Amos 2:1The Lord says, ‘The people in Moab have done more and more wrong things. So I will certainly punish them. They dug up the bones of Edom's king. They burned his bones until they became ashes.

Commentaries on Proverbs 30:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15The horseleech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give - "This horseleech," says Calmet, "is Covetousness, and her two daughters are Avarice and Ambition. They never say, It is enough; they are never satisfied; they are never contented." Many explanations have been given of this verse; but as all the versions agree in render ing עלוקה alukah the horseleech or blood-sucker, the general meaning collected has been, "There are persons so excessively covetous…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Note the numeration mounting to a climax, the two, the three, the four (Amos 1:3 etc.). The word rendered “horseleach” is found nowhere else, and its etymology is doubtful; but there are good grounds for taking the word in its literal sense, as giving an example, in the natural world, of the insatiable greed of which the next verse gives other instances. Its voracious appetite is here represented, to express its intensity, as two daughters, uttering the…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-17Verses 15-17 Cruelty and covetousness are two daughters of the horseleech, that still cry, "Give, give," and they are continually uneasy to themselves. Four things never are satisfied, to which these devourers are compared. Those are never rich that are always coveting. And many who have come to a bad end, have owned that their wicked courses began by despising their parents' authority.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-16The number parallelism (three...four) is a method to list poetic examples. This list shows powers that are never satisfied and often dangerous. See also Proverbs 30:18–19, 21–23, 29–31. The grave, representing death, never seems to have enough—people keep dying (Proverbs 27:20). barren womb: Women unable to have children often long for them, like Sarah before Isaac, Rebekah before Esau and Jacob, and Hannah before Samuel. The thirsty desert and a fire…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 15-1615-16. horse leech--supposed by some to be the vampire (a fabulous creature), as being literally insatiable; but the other subjects mentioned must be taken as this, comparatively insatiable. The use of a fabulous creature agreeably to popular notions is not inconsistent with inspiration. There are three ... yea, four--(Compare Pr 6:16).Read the comment

Topics related to Proverbs 30:15

• Horse-Leech
• Riddle

In the dictionaries

• Agur
• Convenient
• Folk
• Food
• Hell
• Horseleech
• Four
• Horseleach
• Massa
• Night-Monster

Commentaries on Proverbs 30

• 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
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings