PROV 30:24 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Four things, they are small things of the earth
⇔ but they are wise things, being made wise:

UST There are four creatures in the world that are small
⇔ but extremely wise:

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE ⇔ “There are four things which are little on the earth,
⇔ but they are exceedingly wise:

WMBB (Same as above)

NET There are four things on earth that are small,
⇔ but they are exceedingly wise:

LSV Four [are] little ones of earth,
And they are made wiser than the wise:

FBV There are four things on earth that are small, but very wise:

T4T ⇔ There are four animals on the earth that are small, but they are very wise:

LEB • There are four small things on the earth, and they are exceedingly wise :[fn]

30:? Literally “wise ones from wise ones ”

BBE There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are very wise:

Moff Four things are small on earth
⇔ small but extremely shrewd:

JPS There are four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:

ASV ⇔ There are four things which are little upon the earth,
⇔ But they are exceeding wise:

DRA There are four very little things of the earth, and they are wiser than the wise:

YLT Four [are] little ones of earth, And they are made wiser than the wise:

Drby There are four [things] little upon the earth, and they are exceeding wise:

RV There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:

SLT They four the small of the earth, and they are wise, being made wise:

Wbstr There are four things which are little upon the earth, but they are very wise:

KJB-1769 There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:[fn]

30.24 exceeding…: Heb. wise, made wise

KJB-1611 [fn]There be foure things which are little vpon the earth; but they are exceeding wise:
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)

30:24 Heb. wise made wise.

Bshps These be foure thynges in the earth the which are very litle, but in wisdome they exceede the wyse:
(These be four things in the earth the which are very little, but in wisdom they exceed the wise:)

Gnva These be foure small things in the earth, yet they are wise and full of wisedome:
(These be four small things in the earth, yet they are wise and full of wisdom: )

Cvdl There be foure thinges in the earth, the which are very litle: but in wy?dome they exceade the wyse.
(There be four things in the earth, the which are very little: but in wisdom they exceed the wise.)

Wycl Foure ben the leeste thingis of erthe, and tho ben wisere than wise men;
(Foure been the leaste things of earth, and those been wisere than wise men;)

Luth Vier sind klein auf Erden und klüger denn die Weisen:
(Vier are small on/in/to earth/land/ground and smarter because/than the ways/manners:)

ClVg [Quatuor sunt minima terræ, et ipsa sunt sapientiora sapientibus:[fn]
([Four are minima of_the_earth/land, and herself are wisera to_the_wise: )

30.24 Quatuor: scilicet minores videntur justi in terra, quam reprobi, id est abjectiores; sed tamen sapientiores sunt sapientibus mundi, quia æterna quærunt, et pro his pati desiderant.

30.24 Four: namely minors they_seem just in/into/on earth/land, how reprobate, that it_is abyectiores; but nevertheless wiseres are to_the_wise world, because eternal they_seek, and for his to_suffer they_desire.

SOTN 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 30:24–28 Four things that are small but very wise

This paragraph is a list of four items, but it is not introduced with the parallel numbers three and four like the numerical proverb in 30:21–23. The first verse introduces two contrasting characteristics which are true of each item in the list. The first line of each verse describes an apparent weakness or disadvantage of a particular animal. The second line describes the unexpected way that the animal makes up for the disadvantage.

30:24

The parallel parts in bold print contrast the small size and strength of the four animals with their wisdom or cleverness.

^24a“Four things on earth are small,

^24byet they are extremely wise:

30:24a

Four things on earth are small,

¶ There are four animals/creatures in the world that are small,
¶ Here/These are four animals that are small or have little strength,

Four things on earth are small: This line refers to four animals that are small or limited in either size or strength. Some other ways to translate this line are:

There are four animals in the world that are small (GNT)

Four animals are small or weak

Four things: The Four things in this list are all small living creatures. They include ants, hyraxes, locusts, and lizards. In English, the word “animals” can be used to refer to all of them. In other languages, a different term may be needed to describe all these different kinds. For example:

Four living creatures

on earth: In some languages, it may not be necessary to specify a phrase such as on earth or “in the world.” If that is true in your language, you may leave this phrase implied.

30:24b

yet they are exceedingly wise:

but they are very clever/wise.
but unexpectedly they have extreme wisdom/skill.

yet they are exceedingly wise: There is a textual issue here with the phrase that the BSB translates as exceedingly wise:

The Masoretic Text (MT) has “extremely wise.” For example:
yet they are exceedingly wise (NRSV) (BSB, CEV, ESV, GW, KJV, NAB, NASB, NCV, NET, NIV, NLT, NRSV, GNT)
The LXX and Latin Vulgate have “wiser than the wise,” which is equivalent to “wisest of the wise.” For example:
though they are the wisest of the wise (NJB) (NJB, NJPS, REB)

It is recommended that you follow the MT, along with most versions and scholars.The HOTTP also supports the MT with a “B” rating, indicating little doubt.

wise: The word wise here also means “clever,” “skillful,” or “cunning.”

Some other ways to translate this line are:

but they are very wise (NCV)

but very, very clever (GNT)

but unusually wise (NLT)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

[30:24](../30/24.md)–[28](../30/28.md) is the fifth of six numerical sayings in this chapter. See the discussion of numerical sayings in the Chapter Introduction.

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

קְטַנֵּי־אָ֑רֶץ

small_of earth

Here Agur is using the possessive form to describe small things that exist on the earth. If your language would not use the possessive form for this, you could use a different expression. Alternate translation: “are smalls things that exist on the earth”

Note 2 topic: writing-poetry

חֲכָמִ֥ים מְחֻכָּמִֽים

wise_ones ones_being_made_wise

Here, wise things, being made wise is an emphatic construction that uses a verb and its object that come from the same root. You may be able to use the same construction in your language to express the meaning here. Alternatively, your language may have another way of showing the emphasis.

Parallel PROV 30:24

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

Paragraph 30:24–28 Four things that are small but very wise

30:24

30:24a

30:24b