the Week of Proper 12 / Ordinary 17
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Chinese NCV (Simplified)
箴言 30:24
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
地 上 有 四 样 小 物 ， 却 甚 聪 明 ：
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
little: Job 12:7
exceeding wise: Heb. wise, made wise
Reciprocal: Proverbs 6:16 - six Proverbs 30:15 - There
Cross-References
When Rachel saw that she was not having children for Jacob, she envied her sister Leah. She said to Jacob, "Give me children, or I'll die!"
Leah saw that she had stopped having children, so she gave her slave girl Zilpah to Jacob as a wife.
and Leah said, "I am very happy! Now women will call me happy," so she named him Asher.
Leah answered, "You have already taken away my husband, and now you are trying to take away my son's mandrakes." But Rachel answered, "If you will give me your son's mandrakes, you may sleep with Jacob tonight."
Then God answered Leah's prayer, and she became pregnant again. She gave birth to a fifth son
and said, "God has given me what I paid for, because I gave my slave girl to my husband." So Leah named her son Issachar.
Later Leah gave birth to a daughter and named her Dinah.
Then God remembered Rachel and answered her prayer, making it possible for her to have children.
When she became pregnant and gave birth to a son, she said, "God has taken away my shame,"
Give me my wives and my children and let me go. I have earned them by working for you, and you know that I have served you well."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
There be four [things which are] little upon the earth,.... Small in bulk, that have little bodies, are the lesser sort of animals;
but they [are] exceeding wise; show a great deal of art and wisdom in what they do; or "but they are wise, made wise" e by the instinct of nature, by the direction of Providence, by which they do things that are surprising. Some versions, that have no regard to the points, read the words, "but their are wiser than the wise" f; than even wise men; wise men may learn much from the least of creatures; see Job 12:7.
e ××××× ×××××× "sapientia, sapientia imbuta"; Heb. "sapientificata", Piscator, Gejerus. f "Sapientiora sapientibus", so Sept. V. L. Arabic and Syriac versions; "sapientia superant, vel prudentissimos", Tigurine version.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Exceeding wise - Some prefer the reading of the Septuagint and Vulgate: âwiser than the wise.â The thought, in either case, turns upon the marvels of instinct, which, in their own province, transcend the more elaborate results of human wisdom.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Proverbs 30:24. There be four things] Of which it is said, they are very little but very wise. 1. The ants. 2. The rabbits. 3. The locusts. 4. The spider.
1. The ants show their wisdom by preparing their meat in the summer; seeking for it and storing it when it may be had; not for winter consumption, for they sleep all that time; but for autumn and spring. Proverbs 6:6. The ants are a people; they have their houses, towns, cities, public roads, c. I have seen several of these, both of the brown and large black ant.
2. The rabbits act curiously enough in the construction of their burrows but the word ×©×¤× shaphan probably does not here mean the animal we call coney or rabbit. It is most likely that this is what Dr. Shaw calls the Daman-Israel; a creature very like a rabbit, but never burrowing in the ground, but dwelling in clefts and holes of rocks.
3. The locusts. These surprising animals we have already met with and described. Though they have no leader, yet they go forth by troops, some miles in circumference, when they take wing.
4. The spider. This is a singularly curious animal, both in the manner of constructing her house, her nets, and taking her prey. But the habits, &c., of these and such like must be sought in works on natural history.
