Proverbs 30:16

Pro 30:16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth [that] is not filled with water; and the fire [that] saith not, [It is] enough.

Ver. 16. The grave.] Which in Hebrew hath its name of craving. It is a sarcophagus, feeds on flesh, and it as little appears as once in Pharaoh’s lean kine; or as in those that having a flux, take in much, but are neither fuller nor fatter. The word here used may be rendered hell, called by the Latins Infernus ab inferendo, from the devil’s continual carrying in souls to that place of torment.

And the barren womb.] Barren women are most desirous of children, which yet are certain cares, but uncertain comforts. How impatient was Rachel! how importunate was Hannah! One hath well observed, that the barren women in Scripture had the best children, as being the fruit of their faith, and the product of their prayers. The Vulgate renders it, Os vulvae and Mercer, Orificium matricis, referring it not to barren, but to incontinent women, such as was Messala, and other insatiate punks, quarum libido non expletur virili semine vel coitu.

The earth that is not filled with water.] That can never have enough at one time to serve at all times. That is a strange earth or country that Pliny speaks of, ubi siccitas dat lutum, imbres pulverem, where drought makes dirt, and rain causeth dust. And yet so it is with us, saith a divine. The plentiful showers of God’s blessings rained down upon us, are answered with the dusty barrenness of our lives. The sweet dews of Hermon have made the hill of Sion more barren. Oh, how inexcusable shall we be!

And the fire that saith not, it is enough.] Fire is known to be a great devourer, turning all corn bustibles into the same nature with itself. How many stately cities hath this untamable element turned into ashes? It is an excellent observation of Herodotus, that the sparks and cinders of Troy are purposely set before the eyes of all men, that they might be an example of this rule - that great sins bring great punishments from God upon the sons of men. {a} Scipio having set Carthage on fire, and beholding the burning, foresaw and bewailed the destiny of Rome: which, as it hath been often burnt already, so it shall be shortly to purpose - the kings, mariners, and merchants, standing aloof and beholding the smoke of her burning. {Rev 17:16; Rev 18:8-9} God will cast this rod of his wrath into the fire, burn this old whore, that hath so long burnt the saints for heretics, and refused to be purged by any other nitre or means whatsoever; therefore all her dross and trash shall pass the fire. This is so plain a truth, that even the Papists themselves subscribe to it. Hear what Ribera, a learned Jesuit, saith, Romam non solum ob pristinam impietatem, &c, {b} That Rome, as well for its ancient impiety as for its late iniquity, shall be destroyed with a horrible fire, it is so plain and evident, that he must needs be a fool that doth but go about to deny it.

{a} των μεγαλων αδικηματων μεγαλαι εισι και αι τιμωριαι παρα του Yεου.

{b} Rib. in loc.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Pro 30:16. The grave, and the barren womb — As the Israelitish women did generally and vehemently desire to have many children, for divers reasons elsewhere mentioned, so those who were barren among them were most eager in those desires, as we see in Rachel, Gen 30:1. And, as in all other cases, persons most prize and thirst after those good things which they want. The earth — Which, when it is dry, thirsts for rain, and in a little time sucks up great quantities of water, and gapes for more. And the fire — Which continually burns, as long as there is any combustible matter left for it. “Some commentators compare certain vices with these four insatiable things: the desire of revenge to the grave; libidinous desires to the barren womb; covetousness, or rather drunkenness, to the thirsty earth; and ambition to the devouring fire. It is easy to show how fitly all these are resembled to the horseleech; it being the vulgar saying, that harlots, for instance, are the horseleeches of young men; and the servant in Plautus, when he was about to rob the chests of two old men, says, Jam ego me vertam in hirudinem, &c. ‘Now will I turn myself into a horseleech, and suck out their very blood.’” — Dodd.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(16) The grave.—See above, on Pro_15:11, where it is translated “hell.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. the grave] Sheol or Hades. See Pro_27:20.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The grave,.... Which is the first of the four daughters, or insatiable things, which resemble the horse leech: the grave is the house appointed for all living; it stands ready for them, it is open to receive them when dead; and though such multitudes have been put into it, since death reigned in the world, yet it is not full, it waits for more; nor will its mouth be shut till the last enemy, death, is destroyed; see Pro 27:20; This is an emblem of a covetous man, who enlarges his desire as hell or the grave; and is never satisfied with gold, silver, and increase of substance he has, but is always craving more;

and the barren womb; the second daughter, that cries, Give, give, as Rachel, "give me children, or I die", Gen 30:1, barren women are oftentimes impatient for children, as she was; and importunate, as Hannah; and as the Israelitish women were before the coming of the Messiah, each hoping he might be born of them; especially before it was so clearly known that he should be born of a virgin: though it may be rather the barren womb of harlots is here meant, and who are generally barren, and whose lust is insatiable; and this may be an emblem of lust, which is never satisfied; whether it be a lust of riches, or of honour, or of uncleanness, or of sensual pleasures;

the earth that is not filled with water; which is dry and parched, and opens and gapes; and though large quantities of rain may fall upon it, which it greedily drinks in; yet is not seen, nor is it filled with it, but it thirsts for more: this may be an emblem of good men, that have received abundance of the grace of God; and though they thirst not after sin, as they before did, and others do; yet thirst after God, more knowledge of him, and communion with him, and for more grace, like the dry and thirsty land, and cannot have enough of it; see Joh 4:13; or rather of wicked men, who drink up iniquity like water, and yet never have their fill of it to their satisfaction. This is the third thing, and the fourth follows:

and the fire that saith not, It is enough; but let what fuel will be cast into it, it devours it, and still wants more: by the Egyptians, as Herodotus (r) relates, fire is reckoned an animated beast, which devours all it can lay hold on; and when it is filled with food, it dies with that which is devoured by it. Such is the fire of divine wrath, hell fire, in which sinners are, as thorns and briers; and which is unquenchable, everlasting, burns for ever and ever; the Tophet, ordained of old, deep and large, the pile thereof is fire and much wood, kindled by the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, Isa 30:33. These are the four daughters of the horse leech which resemble that in its insatiableness. Jarchi makes mention of some that interpret the horse leech of "sheol", or the state of the dead; and the two daughters, of paradise and hell; the one says, "Give me the righteous"; and the other says, "Give me the wicked." Aben Ezra applies these four to the four generations before spoken of; the grave, into which are cast the generation of those that curse their father, and die before their time; the barren womb, the generation of those that are not washed from the filthiness of whoredom, and have no children; the earth not filled with water, the proud and haughty, who are humbled by famine; and the fire is that which descends from heaven, to consume the generation that destroy the poor and oppress the needy, as fire came down upon them in the days of Elijah. Jarchi takes notice of a Midrash, which applies these four things to the four monarchies; as it does also all the four things after mentioned.

(r) Thalia sive, l. 3. c. 16.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Womb. Septuagint, "the love of a woman," (Haydock) a harlot, or rather Hebrew, "a barren woman." --- Enough. The more fuel, the brighter the flame. These four similitudes may denote cruelty, lust, avarice, and prodigality; (Calmet) or the first and last may be understood (Haydock) of envy and ambition. (Worthington)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The barren womb; for as the Israelitish women did generally and vehemently desire many children, for divers reasons elsewhere mentioned; so those who were barren amongst them were most eager in those desires, as we see in Rachel, Gen 30:1, and as in all other cases persons most prize and thirst after those good things which they want.

The earth; which when it is dry thirsts for rain, and in a little time sucks up great quantities of water, and gapes for more.

The fire; which continually burns as long as there is any combustible matter left for it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. The grave, etc. — These four things are given as examples of insatiableness. The learner is left to apply them for himself, as for instance, to the miser, the drunkard, the glutton, the debauchee. This passage is reckoned among the hhidhoth (enigmas) of the book. Compare Pro_1:6. Barren womb — Miller renders, allowably, “The enclosure of the womb.” It is the same word elsewhere translated “prison,” as in Isa_53:8. He adds: “The idea of special insatiableness in the barren seems to be a physiological fancy. Moreover the Hindus have a proverb of just these particulars in which we have nothing of sterility.” Conant says, “The natural desire for offspring (compare the only too passionate expression of it in Gen_30:1, ‘Give me children, or else I die,’) is certainly all that is here meant by the unsatisfied craving of the barren womb. It is not just to the sacred writer to impute to him any other thought.”

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The four insatiable things are now named: first, the grave, sheol, (Pro_27:20) which can never be filled with its victims. Horace talks of a man as"Victima nil miserantis Orci. ("Carm.," 2:3, 24.)

And Hesiod ("Theog.," 456) of Hades as Nhlee "A heart possessing that no pity knows.

The second thing is the barren womb; "the closing of the womb," as Gen_20:18 Isa_66:9. The burning desire for children, characteristic of an Israelitish wife, is here denoted, like the passionate cry of Rachel to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die". (Gen_30:1) The barren woman, says Corn. a Lapide, "concubitus magis est avida quam ceterae tum propter desiderium habendae prolis, tum quod foecundae et gravidae naturaliter non appetant concubitum." The third insatiable thing is the earth that is not filled (satisfied) with water; the parched and thirsty soil which no amount of water can satisfy, which drinks in all that is poured upon it and is not benefited, what Virgil ("Georg.," 1:114) calls "bibula arena." The fourth is the fire that saith not, It is enough; the "devouring element," as the newspapers term it. The more you heap on fire, the more material you supply, the fiercer it rages. Septuagint, "Hades, and the love of woman, and earth not satisfied with water, and water, and fire, will not say, It sufficeth." Cheyne and others quote from the Sanscrit "Hitopadesa," "Fire is never satisfied with fuel; nor the ocean with rivers; nor death with all creatures; nor bright-eyed women with men."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

grave

Heb. "Sheol," (See Scofield "Hab 2:5").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

the confined womb Sexual intercourse.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.