Proverbs 30:26

26. The conies] The Heb. word means the hiders, so called from their “making their houses,” hiding themselves, “in the rocks.”

It is now generally agreed that the animal in question is not, as the name coney, by which it is called also in Lev_11:5; Psa_104:18, implies, a rabbit, but belongs to a different species, being “in its anatomy a true pachyderm, allied to the rhinoceros and the tapir, inferior to them as it is in size.” “It is about the size of a well-grown rabbit, with short ears, round head, long plantigrade feet, no tail, and nails instead of claws. With its weak teeth and short incisors, there seem few animals so entirely without the means of self-defence. But the strong rocks are a refuge for the conies (Pro_30:26, Psa_104:18), and tolerably secure they are in such rocks as these (near Ain Feshkah) on the shore of the Dead Sea. No animal ever gave us so much trouble to secure.” Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 250. Speaker’s Comm. on Lev_11:5. See also Smith’s Dict. of Bible, Art. Coney.

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.

Pro 30:26 The conies [are but] a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;

Ver. 26. The conies are but a feeble folk.] But what they want in strength they have in wisdom; while they work themselves holes and burrows in the earth. Gaudet in effossis habitare cuniculus antris, {a} secures herself in the rocks and stony places. It shall be our wisdom to work ourselves into the rock Christ Jesus, where we shall be safe from hellish hunters.

{a} Martial.

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.

conies--mountain mice, or rabbits.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(26) The conies are but a feeble folk, being only about as big as a rabbit, with nails instead of claws, and weak teeth. Its Hebrew name (shâphân) signifies a “hider,” from its habit of living in clefts of the rocks; its scientific name is Hyrax Syriacus. The translation “coney,” i.e., rabbit, is a mistake. In general appearance it resembles a guinea-pig or marmot.

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

The coneys are but a feeble folk,.... Or "rabbits"; though some think these creatures are not intended, because they are not so little as those with which they are ranked, the ant, the locust, and spider; and because of the places in which they burrow and make their houses, which though in holes and caverns of the earth, yet not in rocky but sandy places; rather therefore it is thought that the mountain mouse, or bear mouse (o), as Jerom calls it, is meant; of which, he says (p), there were great numbers in Palestine, and which had their habitations in the holes of rocks; though if Spain has its name from as some say, because of the multitudes of coneys in it; and hence that part of Spain called Celtiberia is called by Catullus (q) Cuniculosa; the coney may be thought to be meant by this word, and so it is translated in Lev 11:5; the only places where it is elsewhere used; and the word may be derived either from to "cover", by a change of the letters and or from which has the signification both of breaking, and of hiding and covering, Gen 3:15; and this creature breaks the earth and hides itself in it (r);

yet make they their houses in the rocks; it is usual with other writers to call the receptacles of any creatures, beasts, birds, or insects, their houses so we read of the house of the ant, and of the tortoise and snail (s); and which, because it carries its house era its back, it is called by Cicero (t) "domiporta"; see Psa 104:17; the coneys make theirs in the rocks, to cure themselves from their more potent enemies; and thus what they want in strength is made up in sagacity, and by their wise conduct they provide for their safety and protection. These are an emblem of the people of God, who are a weak and feeble people, unable of themselves to perform spiritual duties, to exercise grace, to withstand the corruptions of their nature, resist the temptations of Satan, bear up under afflictive providences, and grapple with spiritual enemies, or defend themselves from them: but such heavenly wisdom is given them, as to betake themselves for refuge and shelter to Christ, the Rock of Israel; the Rock of salvation, the Rock that is higher than they; a strong one, on which the church is built, and against which the gates of hell cannot prevail: and here they are safe from the storms of divine wrath, and the avenging justice of God; from the rage and fury of men, and the fiery darts of Satan; here they dwell safely and delightfully, and have all manner of provision at hand for them; they are the inhabitants of that Rock, who have reason to sing indeed! see Isa 33:16.

(o) , Sept. "choerogryllii", Vatablus; "mures montani", Junius & Tremellius, Cartwright; "arctomyes", Schultens. (p) Epist. ad Sun. & Fretelli, fol. 30, C. tom. 3. (q) Cuniculosa Celtiberia, Epigram. ad Contubernales, 35. v. 18. (r) Gaudet "in effossis habitare cuniculus antris", Martial. Epigr. l. 13. Ep. 58. (s) Phaedri Fab. 37, 80. (t) De Divinat. l. 2. c. 64. and so by Hesiod and Anaxilas in Athenaei Deipnosoph. l. 2. c. 22. p. 63.

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

Conies - See the marginal reference note.

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

In rocky ground, or in the holes of rocks, for their safety against their too potent enemies.

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

The conies are but a feeble folk. The term "coney" (cuniculus) is applied to the rabbit, but this is not the animal here intended; and indeed rabbits are not found in Palestine. The word shaphan designates the Hyrax Syriacus, called by some the rock badger (see Hatrt, "Animals of the Bible," pp. 64, etc.). The coney, says Dr. Geikie ("Holy Land and Bible," 2:90), "abounds in the gorge of the Kedron, and along the foot of the mountains west of the Dead Sea. It is of the size of the rabbit, but belongs to a very different order of animals, being placed by naturalists between the hippopotamus and rhinoceros. Its soft fur is brownish-grey over the back, with long black hairs rising through this lighter coat, and is almost white on the stomach; the tail is very short. The Jews, who were not scientific, deceived by the motion of its jaws in eating, which is exactly like that of ruminant animals, fancied it chewed the cud, though it did not divide the hoof, and so they put its flesh amidst that which was forbidden. It lives in companies, and chooses a ready-made cleft in the rocks for its home, so that, though the conies are but a "feeble folk," their refuge in the rocks gives them a security beyond that of stronger creatures. They are, moreover, "exceeding wise," so that it is very hard to capture one. Indeed, they are said, on high authority, to have sentries regularly placed on the look out while the rest are feeding; a squeak from the watchman sufficing to send the flock scudding to their holes like rabbits. The coney is found in many parts of Palestine, from Lebanon to the Dead Sea." In the rocks. This fact is noticed in Psa_104:18. The Septuagint calls them coirogrullioi here and Psa_104:18, also in Lev_11:6 and Deu_14:7. This notion of the animal as a kind of little pig is not more accurate than that of St. Jerome, who renders the term by lepusculus.

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