PROV 30:15 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 30:1–33: Here are the sayings of Agur

This section is a collection of verses that were written or organized by Agur the son of Jakeh.Some scholars think that Agur wrote or collected only verses 1–4, 1–6, 1–9, or 1–14. UBS (page 617), Toy (page 518), and Longman (page 513) are among those who list some of these possibilities. The GNT indicates with quotation marks that Agur’s words end after v.6. No other versions indicate that Agur’s words end before the end of the chapter. Waltke (volume I, page 26) strongly defends the entire chapter as the “oracle” of Agur on the basis of its structural unity. Kidner (page 178) divides the chapter into two sections (1–9) and (10–33), but identifies both as coming from “the sage.” The title of this section (30:1a) is the only place in Scripture that Agur is mentioned. The section is divided into paragraphs that vary from one to five verses. The Notes will suggest a paragraph heading for all paragraphs after 30:1a. It is suggested that you use similar headings in your translation to help the readers follow the changes of topic and audience.

The first nine verses contain Agur’s personal thoughts and prayers. Some are addressed to God, others to his audience. The rest of the chapter contains proverbs on various topics. Some are individual warnings or statements (30:10, 17, 20, 32–33). Others contain several kinds of lists of four items each. The lists in verses 15b–16, 18–19, 21–23, and 29–31 have the same form as the numerical proverb in 6:16–19. (See the paragraph summary for 6:16–19 and the notes on 6:16a–b.) The lists in verses 11–14 and 24–28 have different forms. These will be described in the paragraph summaries where they first occur.

Some other headings for this section are:

The Words of Agur (ESV)

Wise Words from Agur (NCV)

Words that the LORD caused Agur to make known

Paragraph 30:15a The leech that always craves more

This verse part is a separate proverb. Although it has the number two and the following numerical proverb has the numbers three and four, it is not part of that numerical proverb. It is related to the preceding verse and the following numerical proverb by the topic of greed.McKane (pages 652–653) makes the point that this proverb is associated with 30:15b–16 by the similar topic of “insatiability,” but is not part of that numerical proverb, because no other numerical proverbs have such a form. Whybray (page 413) echoes the same opinion.

30:15a

The leech has two daughters: Give and Give.

¶ The bloodsucking leech has two daughters. Both their names are “Give!”
¶ The leech has two mouths that suck blood. They are like greedy daughters. The name of one is “Give me more!” The name of the other is also “Give me more!”
¶ Greed has two daughters named “More!” and “More!”

The leech has two daughters: Give and Give: There are two ways to interpret the words Give and Give:

These words are the names of the two daughters. For example:
The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. (ESV) (BSB, CEV, ESV, GW, NAB, NASB, NCV, NJPS, GNT)
These are the words that the two daughters say. For example:
The leech has two daughters; ‘Give,’ says one, and ‘Give,’ says the other. (REB) (KJV, NET, NIV, NJB, NLT, NRSV, REB)

The Notes will follow interpretation (1), along with a slight majority of versions and scholars, but interpretation (2) is equally acceptable. With either interpretation the point of the proverb is the same: the leech’s two daughters always want more blood.

The leech has two daughters: The phrase two daughters refers to the two suckers that a leech has at the ends of its body. The leech uses these suckers or mouths to suck blood from a person or animal.

The leech is personified here as a mother with two daughters. Some other ways to translate the personification in this verse part are:

Keep the personification. For example:
A leech has two daughters, and both are named “Give me!” (GNT)
Use a simile. For example:
The two mouths/suckers of a leech are like its two daughters. The names of both of them are “Give me more!”
The two suckers of a leech are like two greedy daughters named “Give me!” and “Give me!”
Substitute the greed of the leech for the leech itself. For example:
Greed has twins, each named “Give me!” (CEV)

leech: This word refers specifically to the horseleech (KJV).It is identified as the horseleech by Waltke (page 487), Fox (page 867), and Cohen (page 209). Most versions use the more general word leech. In language areas where the leech is not well known, some other ways to translate this word are:

Add a word that describes the leech or use a descriptive phrase. For example:
bloodsucking leech (GW)
a kind of worm that sucks blood
Use a borrowed word along with a picture and/or a footnote. A suggested footnote is:
A leech is a worm that has a sucker or mouth at each end of its body. It fastens itself to a person or animal and sucks its blood until it swells up.
Use the significance of the leech in this proverb rather than the word itself. For example:
Greed has two daughters (NCV)

Paragraph 30:15b–16 Four things that are never satisfiedThe GW has the same paragraph heading.

This paragraph is a numerical proverb. A numerical proverb lists things that are similar in some way. In a numerical proverb, the second line contains a number (in this case, four) that is one greater than the parallel number (three) in the first line. This kind of proverb is always followed by a list of items that correspond to the number in the second line. The two numbers are primarily a poetic feature. They should not imply that the author is unsure of the number of items or that he changed his mind. They should also not imply that the items in the list are the only things that belong to that category. One way to avoid these wrong implications is to use a general phrase instead of the first number. For example:

There are some things that…four of them never say…This suggestion comes from UBS (page 633).

30:15b–c

(combined/reordered)

¶ There are four things that think they never get enough, so they are never satisfied.
Here are four things that are never satisfied.

The parallel parts in bold print are similar in meaning. The two numbers function together as a pair. They indicate that the list in 30:16a–d will contain four things that are never satisfied.

^15b“There are three things that are never satisfied,

^15c four that never say, ‘Enough!’

There is an ellipsis in 30:15c. In some languages, it may be necessary to supply the missing phrase from 30:14b. For example:

^15c there are four that never say, ‘Enough!’

30:15b

There are three things that are never satisfied,

¶ Three things cannot be satisfied.
¶ Here/These are three things that always want more.
¶ Here are some things that are never satisfied.

There are three things that are never satisfied: Some other ways to translate this line are:

Three things are never satisfied. (GW)

Here/These are three things that always want more.

30:15c

four that never say, ‘Enough!’:

Four things never say, “That is enough.”
In fact, four things never say that they have enough.
Four of them always want more.

four that never say, ‘Enough!’: In some languages, it may be helpful to introduce this line with a word such as “Indeed” or “Actually.” Some other ways to translate this line are:

really four that never say, ‘I’ve had enough!’ (NCV)

Four things never say that they do not want any more.

General Comment on 30:15b–c

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts. For example:

There are four things that are never satisfied: (GNT)

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

לַֽ⁠עֲלוּקָ֨ה ׀ שְׁתֵּ֥י בָנוֹת֮

(Some words not found in UHB: [belong]_to,a_leech two(fd) daughters give give three they(f) not satisfied four not say enough )

Here, Agur speaks of a greedy person as if that person were a leech and as if what that person demands from others were Two daughters. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly or use a simile. Alternate translation: “Greedy people always say” or “Greedy people are like a leech with two daughters”

Note 2 topic: translate-unknown

לַֽ⁠עֲלוּקָ֨ה

(Some words not found in UHB: [belong]_to,a_leech two(fd) daughters give give three they(f) not satisfied four not say enough )

A leech is a type of worm that attaches itself to the skin of a person or animal in order to suck blood. If your readers would not be familiar with this type of animal, you could use the name of something similar in your area or you could use a more general term. Alternate translation: “are for the blood-sucking animal” or “are for the parasite”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

הַ֤ב ׀ הַ֥ב

give give

This could refer to: (1) the names of the Two daughters. Alternate translation: “they are named Give and Give” (2) what the Two daughters say. Alternate translation: “they say, ‘Give! Give!’”

שָׁל֣וֹשׁ הֵ֭נָּה לֹ֣א תִשְׂבַּ֑עְנָה אַ֝רְבַּ֗ע לֹא־אָ֥מְרוּ הֽוֹן

three they(f) not satisfied four not say enough

The second half of [30:15](../30/15.md) and all of [30:16](../30/16.md) are the second of six numerical sayings in this chapter. See the discussion of numerical sayings in the Chapter Introduction.

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / parallelism

שָׁל֣וֹשׁ הֵ֭נָּה לֹ֣א תִשְׂבַּ֑עְנָה אַ֝רְבַּ֗ע לֹא־אָ֥מְרוּ הֽוֹן

three they(f) not satisfied four not say enough

To make a comprehensive statement, Agur is using a rhetorical device in which the speaker names a number that should be sufficient to illustrate his point and then increases that number by one for emphasis. Since the meaning of both clauses is the same, you could also combine them into one clause. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “These four things are absolutely never satisfied”

Note 5 topic: writing-poetry

לֹ֣א תִשְׂבַּ֑עְנָה

not satisfied

Parallelism is common in Hebrew poetry. You may want to begin a new line at the start of each parallel statement. If not, use a form in your language that is natural for expressing poetry. Alternate translation: “never have enough for themselves”

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear PROV 30:15

Hebrew word order