English Standard Version
Proverbs 27:20
20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.
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.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
- New Living Translation (NLT)Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.
Context of Proverbs 27:20
18Whoever tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who guards his master will be honored. 19As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man. Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man. 21The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise. 22Crush a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his folly will not depart 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 and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, "Enough":
- Habakkuk 2:5"Moreover, wine is a traitor, an arrogant man who is never at rest. His greed is as wide as Sheol; like death he has never enough. He gathers for himself all nations and collects as his own all peoples."
- Proverbs 23:5When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
- Ecclesiastes 1:8All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
- Ecclesiastes 2:10And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.
- Ecclesiastes 5:10He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.
- Ecclesiastes 6:7All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.
- Jeremiah 22:17But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence."
- 1 John 2:16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries