Proverbs 30:25

Pro 30:25 The ants [are] a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

Ver. 25. The ants are a people not strong.] A feeble folk, but notable for their forecast. See Pro 6:6-7. Let us be so, but specially in spirituals.

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.

25. the ants] See Pro_6:6-8 notes.

a people] Comp. Joe_1:6, where the locusts are called a “nation.” So we have in Homer, ἔθνεα χηνῶν, μελισσάων, χοίρων, flocks of geese, swarms of bees, herds of pigs; and in Virgil, gentes equorum, droves of horses; lit. in each case “nations.”

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 ants are a people not strong,.... Far from it; what is weaker than an ant? a multitude of them may be destroyed at once, with the crush of a foot. Pliny calls it "minimum animal", the least animal; and the Arabians use it as a proverb, to call a weak man one weaker than an ant: and there is one sort of ants called "dsar", so small that one hundred of them will not weigh more than a barley corn (g): they are called a people, because they associate together in great numbers; though small in bulk, and weak as to power and strength; and which is a figure elsewhere used in the sacred Scriptures; see Joe 1:6; and by profane writers, as Homer and Virgil, who speak of bees as a people and nation (h); and of nations of flies, and of flying birds, geese, cranes, and swans (i);

yet their prepare their meat in the summer; build granaries with great art and wisdom, carry in grains of corn with great labour and industry, in the summer season, when only to be got, and lay them up against winter. Phocylides (k) the poet says much the same things of them; he calls them a tribe or nation, small but laborious, and says, they gather and carry in their food in summer for the winter, which is a proof of their wisdom. Cicero (l) says, the ant has not only sense, but mind, reason, and memory. Aelianus (m) ascribes unspeakable wisdom to it; and Pliny (n) discourse and conversation; See Gill on Pro 6:6; see Gill on Pro 6:7; See Gill on Pro 6:8. It is a pattern of industry and diligence both as to temporal and spiritual things, Ecc 9:10.

(g) Bochart. Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 4. c. 22. col. 598. (h) Iliad. 2. v. 87. "Et populos et proelia dicam", Georgic. l. 4. v. 4, 5. (i) Iliad. 2. v. 459, 469. & 15. v. 690, 691. (k) Poem. Admon. v. 158, 159. (l) De Natura Deorum, l. 3. (m) De Animal. l. 16. c. 15. (n) Nat. Hist. l. 11. c. 30.

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

See the marginal reference note. Note the word “people” applied here to ants, as to locusts in Joe 1:6. The marvel lies in their collective, and, as it were, organized action.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

CHAPTER XXX.

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).

People; which title is oft given to the unreasonable creatures, both in Scripture, as Joe 1:6; 2:2, and in Homer, and Virgil, and divers other authors.

They prepare their meat in the summer; of which See Poole "Pro 30:6", See Poole "Pro 30:7", See Poole "Pro 30:8".

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

The ants are a people not strong. The ant is proposed as an example to the sluggard. (Pro_6:6, etc.) He calls the ants a people, am, because they live in a community, and have authorities which they obey, and their actions are regulated by certain definite laws. So Joel (in Joe_1:6) calls the locusts a nation, and Homer ("Iliad," 2:87) speaks of eynea melissawn adinawn , "the tribes of thronging bees." Yet they prepare their meat in the summer. In countries where ants hybernate the object of this commended foresight is mistaken; but the statement, as that Pro_6:6-8, is in accordance with the popular belief of the day, and serves well to point the moral intended. We know certainly that in Europe these insects fill their nests with heterogeneous articles grain, seeds, husks, etc., not as stores to be consumed in the winter, but for warmth and comfort"s sake. Scripture is not intended to teach science; it speaks of such matters phenomenally, with no attempt at a precision which would not have been understood or appreciated by contemporaries. But in the present case more careful observation has confirmed the correctness of the assertions in our proverbs. In countries where, ants do not hybernate, they do make granaries for themselves in the summer, and use these supplies as food in the winter months. (see note on Pro_6:8)

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