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Selected Verse: Proverbs 30:21 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Pr 30:21	Strong Concordance	For three [07969] things the earth [0776] is disquieted [07264], and for four [0702] which it cannot [03201] bear [05375]:
	King James	For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:

Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Pride and cruelty, the undue exaltation of those unfit to hold power, produce those vices which disquiet society (compare Pro 19:10; Pro 28:3).

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Pride and cruelty, the undue exaltation of those unfit to hold power, produce those vices which disquiet society (compare Pro 19:10; Pro 28:3).

Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834]
For four which it cannot bear - Better: four it cannot bear. Here the common element is that of being intolerable, and the four examples are divided equally between the two sexes. Each has its examples of power and prosperity misused because they fall to the lot of those who have no training for them, and are therefore in the wrong place.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
It is now not at all necessary to rack one's brains over the grounds or the reasons of the arrangement of the following proverb (vid., Hitzig). There are, up to this point, two numerical proverbs which begin with שׁתּים, Pro 30:7, and שׁתּי, Pro 30:15; after the cipher 2 there then, Pro 30:18, followed the cipher 3, which is now here continued: 21 Under three things doth the earth tremble, And under four can it not stand: 22 Under a servant when he becomes king, And a profligate when he has bread enough; 23 Under an unloved woman when she is married, And a maid-servant when she becomes heiress to her mistress. We cannot say here that the 4 falls into 3 + 1; but the four consists of four ones standing beside one another. ארץ is here without pausal change, although the Athnach here, as at Pro 30:24, where the modification of sound occurs, divides the verse into two; מארץ, 14b (cf. Psa 35:2), remains, on the other hand, correctly unchanged. The "earth" stands here, as frequently, instead of the inhabitants of the earth. It trembles when one of the four persons named above comes and gains free space for acting; it feels itself oppressed as by an insufferable burden (an expression similar to Amo 7:10); - the arrangement of society is shattered; an oppressive closeness of the air, as it were, settles over all minds. The first case is already designated, Pro 19:10, as improper: under a slave, when he comes to reign (quum rex fit); for suppose that such an one has reached the place of government, not by the murder of the king and by the robbery of the crown, but, as is possible in an elective monarchy, by means of the dominant party of the people, he will, as a rule, seek to indemnify himself in his present highness for his former lowliness, and in the measure of his rule show himself unable to rise above his servile habits, and to pass out of the limited circle of his earlier state. The second case is this: a נבל, one whose mind is perverted and whose conduct is profligate - in short, a low man (vid., Pro 17:17) - ישׂבּע־לחם (cf. Metheg-Setzung, 28), i.e., has enough to eat (cf. to the expression Pro 28:19; Jer 44:17); for this undeserved living without care and without want makes him only so much the more arrogant, and troublesome, and dangerous. The שׂנוּאה, in the second case, is not thought of as a spouse, and that, as in supposed polygamy, Gen 29:31; Deu 21:15-17, as fallen into disfavour, but who again comes to favour and honour (Dathe, Rosenmller); for she can be שׂנואה without her own fault, and as such she is yet no גּרוּשׁה; and it is not to be perceived why the re-assumption of such an one should shatter social order. Rightly Hitzig, and, after his example, Zckler: an unmarried lady, an old spinster, is meant, whom no one desired because she had nothing attractive, and was only repulsive (cf. Grimm, under Sir. 7:26b). If such an one, as כּי תבעל says, at length, however, finds her husband and enters into the married relation, then she carries her head so much the higher; for she gives vent to ill-humour, strengthened by long restraint, against her subordinates; then she richly requites her earlier and happily married companions for their depreciation of her, among whom she had to suffer, as able to find no one who would love her. In the last case it is asked whether כּי־תירשׁ is meant of inheriting as an heiress (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Targ., Jerome, the Venet., and Luther), or supplanting (Euchel, Gesenius, Hitzig), i.e., an entering into the inheritance of the dead, or an entering into the place of a living mistress. Since ירשׁ, with the accus. of the person, Gen 15:3-4, signifies to be the heir of one, and only with the accus. of peoples and lands signifies, "to take into possession (to seize) by supplanting," the former is to be preferred; the lxx (Syr.), ὅταν ἐκβάλῃ, appear to have read כּי־תגרשׁ. This גּרשׁ would certainly be, after Gen 21:10, a piece of the world turned upside down; but also the entering, as heiress, into the inheritance, makes the maid-servant the reverse of that which she was before, and brings with it the danger that the heiress, notwithstanding her want of culture and dignity, demean herself also as heiress of the rank. Although the old Israelitish law knew only intestate succession to an inheritance, yet there also the case might arise, that where there were no natural or legal heirs, the bequest of a wife of rank passed over to her servants and nurses.

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]

It is now not at all necessary to rack one's brains over the grounds or the reasons of the arrangement of the following proverb (vid., Hitzig). There are, up to this point, two numerical proverbs which begin with שׁתּים, Pro 30:7, and שׁתּי, Pro 30:15; after the cipher 2 there then, Pro 30:18, followed the cipher 3, which is now here continued:

21 Under three things doth the earth tremble,

And under four can it not stand:

22 Under a servant when he becomes king,

And a profligate when he has bread enough;

23 Under an unloved woman when she is married,

And a maid-servant when she becomes heiress to her mistress.

We cannot say here that the 4 falls into 3 + 1; but the four consists of four ones standing beside one another. ארץ is here without pausal change, although the Athnach here, as at Pro 30:24, where the modification of sound occurs, divides the verse into two; מארץ, 14b (cf. Psa 35:2), remains, on the other hand, correctly unchanged. The "earth" stands here, as frequently, instead of the inhabitants of the earth. It trembles when one of the four persons named above comes and gains free space for acting; it feels itself oppressed as by an insufferable burden (an expression similar to Amo 7:10); - the arrangement of society is shattered; an oppressive closeness of the air, as it were, settles over all minds. The first case is already designated, Pro 19:10, as improper: under a slave, when he comes to reign (quum rex fit); for suppose that such an one has reached the place of government, not by the murder of the king and by the robbery of the crown, but, as is possible in an elective monarchy, by means of the dominant party of the people, he will, as a rule, seek to indemnify himself in his present highness for his former lowliness, and in the measure of his rule show himself unable to rise above his servile habits, and to pass out of the limited circle of his earlier state. The second case is this: a נבל, one whose mind is perverted and whose conduct is profligate - in short, a low man (vid., Pro 17:17) - ישׂבּע־לחם (cf. Metheg-Setzung, 28), i.e., has enough to eat (cf. to the expression Pro 28:19; Jer 44:17); for this undeserved living without care and without want makes him only so much the more arrogant, and troublesome, and dangerous. The שׂנוּאה, in the second case, is not thought of as a spouse, and that, as in supposed polygamy, Gen 29:31; Deu 21:15-17, as fallen into disfavour, but who again comes to favour and honour (Dathe, Rosenmller); for she can be שׂנואה without her own fault, and as such she is yet no גּרוּשׁה; and it is not to be perceived why the re-assumption of such an one should shatter social order. Rightly Hitzig, and, after his example, Zckler: an unmarried lady, an old spinster, is meant, whom no one desired because she had nothing attractive, and was only repulsive (cf. Grimm, under Sir. 7:26b). If such an one, as כּי תבעל says, at length, however, finds her husband and enters into the married relation, then she carries her head so much the higher; for she gives vent to ill-humour, strengthened by long restraint, against her subordinates; then she richly requites her earlier and happily married companions for their depreciation of her, among whom she had to suffer, as able to find no one who would love her. In the last case it is asked whether כּי־תירשׁ is meant of inheriting as an heiress (Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion, the Targ., Jerome, the Venet., and Luther), or supplanting (Euchel, Gesenius, Hitzig), i.e., an entering into the inheritance of the dead, or an entering into the place of a living mistress. Since ירשׁ, with the accus. of the person, Gen 15:3-4, signifies to be the heir of one, and only with the accus. of peoples and lands signifies, "to take into possession (to seize) by supplanting," the former is to be preferred; the lxx (Syr.), ὅταν ἐκβάλῃ, appear to have read כּי־תגרשׁ. This גּרשׁ would certainly be, after Gen 21:10, a piece of the world turned upside down; but also the entering, as heiress, into the inheritance, makes the maid-servant the reverse of that which she was before, and brings with it the danger that the heiress, notwithstanding her want of culture and dignity, demean herself also as heiress of the rank. Although the old Israelitish law knew only intestate succession to an inheritance, yet there also the case might arise, that where there were no natural or legal heirs, the bequest of a wife of rank passed over to her servants and nurses.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
Four - Which are intolerable in human societies.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear - This is another enigma. Four things insupportable to men. 1. A slave, when he becomes ruler. 2. An overfed fool. 3. An ill-tempered woman, when mistress of a family. And, 4. A servant maid, when the rule of the house is committed to her. 1. A slave, when he comes to bear rule, is an unprincipled tyrant. It has been often observed both in America and in the West Indies, when it was judged necessary to arm some of the most confidential slaves, that no regiments were used so cruelly in the drill, etc., as those black regiments that had black officers. 2. The overfed fool. The intellectually weak man, who has every thing at his command, has generally manners which none can bear; and, if a favourite with his master, he is insupportable to all others. 3. An ill-tempered woman, when she gets embarrassed with domestic cares, is beyond bearing. 4. A servant maid, when, either through the death of the mistress, or the sin of the husband, she is in fact exalted to be head over the family, is so insolent and impudent, as to be hateful to every one, and execrated by all.

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³ A poor [07326] man [01397] that oppresseth [06231] the poor [01800] is like a sweeping [05502] rain [04306] which leaveth no food [03899].

¹⁰ Delight [08588] is not seemly [05000] for a fool [03684]; much less for a servant [05650] to have rule [04910] over princes [08269].

¹⁰ Wherefore she said [0559] unto Abraham [085], Cast out [01644] this bondwoman [0519] and her son [01121]: for the son [01121] of this bondwoman [0519] shall not be heir [03423] with my son [01121], even with Isaac [03327].

³ And Abram [087] said [0559], Behold, to me thou hast given [05414] no [03808] seed [02233]: and, lo, one born [01121] in my house [01004] is mine heir [03423].
⁴ And, behold, the word [01697] of the LORD [03068] came unto him, saying [0559], This shall not be thine heir [03423]; but he that shall come forth [03318] out of thine own bowels [04578] shall be thine heir [03423].

¹⁵ If a man [0376] have two [08147] wives [0802], one [0259] beloved [0157], and another [0259] hated [08130], and they have born [03205] him children [01121], both the beloved [0157] and the hated [08130]; and if the firstborn [01060] son [01121] be hers that was hated [08146]:
¹⁶ Then it shall be, when [03117] he maketh his sons [01121] to inherit [05157] that which he hath, that he may [03201] not make the son [01121] of the beloved [0157] firstborn [01069] before [06440] the son [01121] of the hated [08130], which is indeed the firstborn [01060]:
¹⁷ But he shall acknowledge [05234] the son [01121] of the hated [08130] for the firstborn [01060], by giving [05414] him a double [08147] portion [06310] of all that he hath [04672]: for he is the beginning [07225] of his strength [0202]; the right [04941] of the firstborn [01062] is his.

³¹ And when the LORD [03068] saw [07200] that Leah [03812] was hated [08130], he opened [06605] her womb [07358]: but Rachel [07354] was barren [06135].

¹⁷ But we will certainly [06213] do [06213] whatsoever thing [01697] goeth forth [03318] out of our own mouth [06310], to burn incense [06999] unto the queen [04446] of heaven [08064], and to pour out [05258] drink offerings [05262] unto her, as we have done [06213], we, and our fathers [01], our kings [04428], and our princes [08269], in the cities [05892] of Judah [03063], and in the streets [02351] of Jerusalem [03389]: for then had we plenty [07646] of victuals [03899], and were well [02896], and saw [07200] no evil [07451].

¹⁹ He that tilleth [05647] his land [0127] shall have plenty [07646] of bread [03899]: but he that followeth [07291] after vain [07386] persons shall have poverty enough [07389].

¹⁷ A friend [07453] loveth [0157] at all times [06256], and a brother [0251] is born [03205] for adversity [06869].

¹⁰ Delight [08588] is not seemly [05000] for a fool [03684]; much less for a servant [05650] to have rule [04910] over princes [08269].

¹⁰ Then Amaziah [0558] the priest [03548] of Bethel [01008] sent [07971] to Jeroboam [03379] king [04428] of Israel [03478], saying [0559], Amos [05986] hath conspired [07194] against thee in the midst [07130] of the house [01004] of Israel [03478]: the land [0776] is not able [03201] to bear [03557] all his words [01697].

² Take hold [02388] of shield [04043] and buckler [06793], and stand up [06965] for mine help [05833].

²⁴ There be four [0702] things which are little [06996] upon the earth [0776], but they are exceeding [02449] wise [02450]:

¹⁸ There be three [07969] things which are too wonderful [06381] for me, yea, four [0702] which I know [03045] not:

¹⁵ The horseleach [05936] hath two [08147] daughters [01323], crying, Give [03051], give [03051]. There are three [07969] things that are never satisfied [07646], yea, four [0702] things say [0559] not,It is enough [01952]:

⁷ Two [08147] things have I required [07592] of thee; deny [04513] me them not before I die [04191]: