There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn’t bless their mother.
Parallel Translations
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There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn’t bless their mother.
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There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
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There is a generation that curse their father, and do not bless their mother.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Proverbs 30:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 20:20 Whoever curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.
- Proverbs 30:17 “The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother: the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it.
- Exodus 21:17 “Anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.
- Deuteronomy 27:16 ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’
- Proverbs 30:12-14 There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up. There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and their jaws like knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and the needy from among men.
- Leviticus 20:9 “ ‘For everyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. He has cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon himself.
- Deuteronomy 21:20-21 They shall tell the elders of his city, “This our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall remove the evil from among you. All Israel shall hear, and fear.
- Matthew 15:4-6 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever may tell his father or his mother, “Whatever help you might otherwise have gotten from me is a gift devoted to God,” he shall not honor his father or mother.’ You have made the commandment of God void because of your tradition.
- Mark 7:10-13 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother;’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban,” ’ ” that is to say, given to God, “then you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother, making void the word of God by your tradition, which you have handed down. You do many things like this.”
- 1 Timothy 5:4 But if any widow has children or grandchildren, let them learn first to show piety toward their own family and to repay their parents, for this is acceptable in the sight of God.
- 1 Timothy 5:8 But if anyone doesn’t provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.
- Matthew 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?
- 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 30:11 [There is] a generation [that] curseth their…
Pro 30:11 [There is] a generation [that] curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.
Ver. 11. There is a generation that curseth their father.] An evil and an adulterous generation, doubtless; a bastardly brood, {a} as were those in the gospel; "a generation of vipers," {b} that make their way into the world by their dams’ death. These monsters of men are doomed to destruction. {Lev 20:9} Hell gapes for them, as also it doth for such as revile or denigrate their masters, magistrates, ministers, benefactors, ancients. There is a certain plant which our herbalists call Herbam impiam, or wicked cudweed, {c} whose younger branches still yield flowers to overtop the older. Such weeds grow too rife abroad; it is an ill soil that produceth them. But of this before.
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{a} γενεα μοιχαλις. {Mat 12:39}
{b} γενεα αχιδνων. {Mat 3:7}
{c} The common name for the genus Gnaphalium of composite plants, having chaffy scales surrounding the flower heads; originally proper to G. sylvaticum; extended to other plants, of allied genera, or similar appearance.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain A generation; a sort of men, abominable both to…
A generation; a sort of men, abominable both to God and men; which is implied concerning these and the following kinds of sinners, Pro 30:12-14.
Their father, and mother too, as it follows; ungrateful and unnatural monsters.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain There is a generation that curseth their father,.... A…
There is a generation that curseth their father,.... A sort of men that neither fear God nor regard men; and are so inhuman as to be without natural affections to their parents; have no reverence of them, love to them, nor give them any honour or obedience; so far from it, that they curse their father that begot them; imprecate on him all the evils in life they can think of, and wish him out of the world;
and doth not bless their mother; cannot give her a good word, who bore them, and brought them up in the most tender and indulgent manner; yea, so unnatural as to curse her also, for that is intended by this way of speaking; see Pro 30:17.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain A generation - A sort of men.
A generation - A sort of men.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. There is a generation] There are such…
Verse 11. There is a generation] There are such persons in the world. In this and the three following verses the wise man points out four grand evils that prevailed in his time.
The first, Those who not only did not honour, but who evil-treated, their parents.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Pro 30:11-14. There is a generation — A sort…
Pro 30:11-14. There is a generation — A sort of men, abominable both to God and men, which is implied concerning these and the following kind of sinners, mentioned in these verses; that curseth their father — And mother too, as it follows; ungrateful and unnatural children. There are those that are pure in their own eyes — Who not only pretend to others, but sincerely think within themselves, that they are truly religious persons, and in all respects such as they should be; and yet are not washed from their filthiness — Not delivered from the guilt or power of their sins; not saved by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost, Tit 3:5; not justified, not sanctified, in the name of the Lord, the Messiah, and by the Spirit of our God, 1Co 6:11. Reader, is this thy case? There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! — With what disdain do they look upon their neighbours! At what a distance do they expect every body to keep! A sort of men that are proud and insolent, advancing themselves, and despising all others in comparison of themselves, and showing the pride of their hearts in their countenances and behaviour. There is a generation whose teeth, &c. — Extortioners, and cruel oppressors, who grind the faces of the poor.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain As the teacher had uttered what he most desired,…
As the teacher had uttered what he most desired, so now he tells what he most abhorred; and in true-harmony with the teaching of the Ten Commandments places in the foremost rank those who rise against the Fifth.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Charles Bridges 1846 · Public Domain Agur here gives in artificial order (as in some…
Agur here gives in artificial order (as in some of the Psalms) his observations, probably in answer to his disciples’ inquiries. He describes four different masses that came under his eyes — not a few individuals, but generations; a race of men, like a large stock, descending from father to son. Truly "the thing that hath been, is that which shall be; and that which is done, is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun." (Ecc 1:9 .) For these four generations belong to every age. They always have been, and always will be, to the end of time.
Take the first generation. What a disgrace to human nature! cursing their parents! Solon, when asked why he had made no law against parricides, replied, that he could not conceive of any one so impious and cruel. The divine law-giver knew his creature better, that his heart was capable of wickedness beyond conception (Jer 17:9 ); of this wickedness beyond the imagination of the heathen sage. He has marked it with his most tremendous judgment.†1 The cursing of a parent was visited with the same punishment as the blaspheming of God;†2 so near does the one sin approach to the other. The rebel against his parent is ready to "stretch out his hand against God" himself, and to "run upon the thick bosses of his buckler." (Job 15:25-26 .) Many are the forms, in which this proud abomination shews itself; resistance of a parent’s authority,†3 contempt of his reproof,†4 shamelessly defiling his name,†5 needlessly exposing his sin,†6 coveting his substance,†7 denying his obligation.†8 Most fearful is the increase of this generation among ourselves. Every village bears sad testimony to this crying sin, that brings down many a parent’s grey hairs with sorrow to the grave, and spreads anarchy throughout the whole land. No plea of extenuation can be allowed to justify the sin. The authority of parents, even in the lowest degradation, must be respected, when we dare not, must not, follow their examples. But what can be done to stay the threatened invasion of this devastating flood? Once and again let us remember, ere it be too late, discipline, wise, tender, early, discipline; prayer — pleading, patient, believing prayer; diligence — active, direct, prudently applied. Will not our God bless his own means, and give us yet to praise him? Trust, and doubt not.
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In what Church do we not find the next generation — pure in their own eyes, yet not washed from their filthiness? (Isa 65:5 ). The Pharisees of the Gospel†9 were the living picture, devoted to the externals of religion, and to them exclusively; "washing the outside of the cup and platter," while the inward part was wholly unwashed from its filthiness. We see them in the next generation in the Laodicean Church (Rev 3:17-18 .) The family at this distance of time is far from being extinct. Their lineal representatives abound among us. Their religion, as of old, is mere ceremony; rigid in forms, but with an inveterate hatred of vital godliness. In the service of the Church they will go through the exercise of confession of sin, and supplication for mercy, as ’miserable offenders;’ still pure in their own eyes, with no conscious filthiness, from which they need to be washed. Nay — they will even at the Lord’s table, engage in a service, as full of contrition and self-renunciation as language could express; yet all this, not to humble the soul in sorrow and confidence, but to feed self-righteousness and delusion. All is formality, and "confidence in the flesh."
Indeed a thin cloak of profession suffices to maintain this self-gratifying judgment. For everywhere it is the great work of Satan, to delude the sinner into a good opinion of himself. His open profession is "according to the course of this world," plunging without scruple into all its follies and pleasures. His baptismal engagement is thrown to the wind. He does not pretend to renounce the devil, the world, or the flesh. Creeds are a matter of indifference. For the hearty service of his God he has no care or concern. And yet, withal, he is pure in his own eyes. He estimates himself by some plausible qualities, or some course of external decorum,†10 while a blind infidel as to the depravity of his nature, which — not the gross acts of sin — gives the stamp to the whole character. Sometimes partial obedience maintains this delusion; while he hides from himself the genuine hypocrisy of secret reserves, which mars all. (1Sa 15:13-14 .) He was once impure; but he has gone through a course of purifying observances, has washed himself from his filthiness, little knowing the infinite distinction between being pure in his own eyes, and being pure in the sight of God.
We often see this self-deceiver in the spiritual Church, exhibiting a full and clean profession to his fellow-men; while himself — awful thought! — living at an infinite distance from God. (1Co 13:1 .) He has got notions of the grand doctrines of the gospel, and he finds it convenient to profess them. Salvation by free grace is his creed, and he will "contend earnestly for" its purest simplicity. He conceives himself to distinguish accurately between sound and unscriptural doctrine. He deems it legal to search for inward evidences, lest they should obscure the glorious freeness of the gospel. All this is a cover for his slumbering delusion. His conscience is sleeping in "the form of godliness," while his heart is wholly uninfluenced by "its power." (2Ti 3:5 .) Or perhaps there may be alarming conviction of some powerful corruption, which, if he could master, he would be at peace. But while fixing his eye upon this single sin, he has no conception of the grand fountain of evil within. Sometimes it is the Romish error (common however to human nature) of substituting penance for penitence; some external work of sacrifice for the deep, inwrought principle; or the periodical routine of humiliation, instead of the daily habit. But with all this, there is no mourning for his innate guilt and pollution; no sensibility of sin in thoughts, objects, motives, or prayers; no perceptible change from a proud, self-willed, or worldly spirit. All serves only to soothe his conscience. He is pure in his own eyes — in his own imaginary view and perverted judgment! Yet until he be disturbed in his complacency, how hopeless his condition! (Pro 3:7 ; Pro 12:15 ; Pro 16:2 .)
Whatever allowance we may make in other cases for the pressure of constitutional temperament, here at least the want of all cheering influence is a plain proof of self-delusion. Vital religion is the sugar in the liquid, which impregnates the whole contents of the cup. The path may be thorny, and our light darkness. But sweetness will be mingled in our sorrow, even till the last drop in the cup of life shall be spent. The formalist’s religion is a piece of polished marble in the cup, externally beautiful, but cold and dead; impregnating nothing with an atom of sweetness.
The power of this self-delusion is, that man has no natural conception of the deep stain of sin, such as nothing but the blood of sprinkling can fetch out. The man of God, bathed in the tears of penitence, cries out for this sprinkling alone to "purge him." (Psa 51:7 .) The tears of the purest repentance in themselves are impure and abominable.†11 It is not the exercise of a day to know the full extent of our corruption. As the Lord leads us into the light of our own hearts, we behold "greater and yet greater abominations." (Eze 8:6 .) The conscience purged from sin becomes more clear for the discovery of remaining pollution. Those who are the most purified will have the deepest sensibility of impurity,†12 and will most deeply value "the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness," with its free invitation — "Wash, and be clean." (Zec 13:1 .)
Sinner! if thou be found unwashed from thy filthiness, must it not be certain exclusion from that "place, into which shall not in any wise enter anything that defileth"? (Rev 21:27 .) Awful indeed will be the final sentence — "He that is filthy, let him be filthy still"! (Rev 22:11 .)
The next generation provokes our sorrowful amazement. O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids lifted up. Such intolerable arrogance! What greater anomaly does the conscience afford than that of a proud sinner! his eyelids being lifted up, instead of being cast down to the ground. Such is his self-confidence even in the presence of his God! (Luk 18:11 .) And before men — all must keep their distance from these swelling worms! We may see this pride embodied in a system — "the Man of sin, sitting in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God"! (2Th 2:4 .) We may see it in worldly greatness — in the pride of Moab;†13 the prince of Tyre;†14 the boasting Antiochus;†15 Haman in all his glory;†16 "Herod arrayed in his royal apparel;"†17 Nebuchadnezzar in his self-pleasing contemplation, before the severe chastening of his God had taught him the wholesome lesson — "Those that walk in pride he is able to abase." (Dan 4:30 .) In a lower level it is the pride of birth, rank, wisdom, riches, or accomplishments. In every circumstance is this high look specially hateful to God;†18 and the day is appointed in his own purpose for its prostrate humiliation. (Isa 2:12 .) Meanwhile little is it conceived, how really contemptible this pride makes its deluded votaries appear before their fellow-creatures. (Psa 101:5 .) One beam of the divine glory,†19 and one sight of the cross of Calvary,†20 must at once dispel their vain splendid illusion.
The last generation appears before us as a monster of iniquity. We can scarcely draw the picture in its full colors. Conceive of brutes with iron teeth — a wild beast opening his mouth, and displaying, instead of teeth, swords and knives, sharpened ready for their murderous work. (Psa 57:4 .) Yet withal, these cruel oppressors are marked by pitiful cowardice. They vent their wantonness, only where there is little or no power of resistance. It is not the wolf with the wolf, but with the defenseless lamb; devouring the poor and needy from off the earth,†21 — "eating up my people" — not like an occasional indulgence, but "as they eat bread" their daily meal, without intermission. (Psa 14:4 .) Such cruel oppressors appear from time to time as a chastening curse to the land; nay, they were found among the rulers of God’s own people,†22 even among the teachers of religion,†23 cloaking their covetousness under the garb of special holiness. God would thus shew us a picture of man left to himself. When the reins are loosened or given up, is there any length of wickedness, to which he may not proceed?
Indeed the four generations teach us this lesson, most valuable, yet most humbling, thoroughly to know. Yet so depraved is man, that he does not understand his own depravity. Nothing is so much hidden from him as himself. (2Ki 8:13 .) He keeps a good opinion of himself, by keeping the light out of the heart and conscience. His imagination fancies good, where there is nothing but hateful deformity. Under this self-delusion, we deal so gently and tenderly with sin, that no conflict is maintained with it, no sorrow or burden felt concerning it. How deeply do we need the searching light and convincing power of the Spirit of God, to shew us our abominations; to make us tremble at the sight of them; and to let us see, that our remedy must come from God every moment; that no partial change, no external polish, nothing less than the creating power of God, can reach the case for a cure! (Psa 51:10 .)
Adored indeed be the grace of God, if we be not in one or other of these generations! But let us remember — "Such were some of us" — either disobedient to our parents, or self-righteous in the church, or proud and contemptuous, or cruel and oppressive. But we are washed from our filthiness. (1Co 6:11 .) Therefore — "who maketh thee to differ?" (1Co 4:7 ) is the profitable recollection, when we are disposed to forget from whence we are raised, and to whom we owe all that we have and are for his service.
Footnotes:
†1 Pro 30:17; Pro 20:20 . Deu 21:18-21 ; Deu 27:16 .
†2 Lev 20:9, with Lev 24:11-16 . See the same close connection, Isa 45:9-10 . 2Ti 3:2 .
†3 2Sa 15:1-10 .
†4 1Sa 2:25 .
†5 2Sa 16:22 .
†6 Gen 9:22.
†7 Pro 19:26. Jdg 17:2 .
†8 Mat 15:4-6 - shewing the identity between cursing, and not blessing, the parent.
†9 Mat 23:25-27. Compare Luk 16:15 ; Luk 18:10 . Joh 9:40-41 .
†10 Mat 19:20. Rom 7:9 . Php 3:6
†11 Job 9:30-31. Jer 2:22 .
†12 Compare Rom 7:9 . Php 3:6, with Rom 7:14-24 . 1Ti 1:15 .
†13 Isa 16:6. Jer 48:29 .
†14 Eze 28:2.
†15 Dan 11:36.
†16 Est 5:11.
†17 Act 12:21.
†18 Pro 6:17; Pro 21:4 . Compare Psa 131:1 .
†19 Compare Job 42:5-6 . Isa 6:5 .
†20 Php 2:5.
†21 Psa 10:8-9. Ecc 4:1 . Isa 3:15 . Amo 2:6-7 ; Amo 8:4 . Mic 2:1-2 . Hab 3:14 .
†22 Amo 4:1. Mic 3:1-3 .
†23 Mat 23:14.
Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs (1846) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Four kinds of hateful persons--(1) graceless children, (2) hypocrites,…
Four kinds of hateful persons--(1) graceless children, (2) hypocrites, (3) the proud, (4) cruel oppressors (compare on Pro 30:14; Psa 14:4; Psa 52:2) --are now illustrated; (1) Pro 30:15-16, the insatiability of prodigal children and their fate; (2) Pro 30:17, hypocrisy, or the concealment of real character; (3 and 4) Pro 30:18-20, various examples of pride and oppression.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 11-14. The four classes here mentioned Agur assumes will…
11-14. The four classes here mentioned Agur assumes will at once be disapproved. To describe them is enough. They need no formal condemnation.
Generation — Race, class.
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Doth not bless — Does not respect or speak well of. It is implied that they do the reverse.
Pure in their own eyes — In their own estimation perfect — without blemish or fault.
Not washed from their filthiness — From that which goeth out from them, excrements. Of course the expression is figurative, and the figure is crude but very pungent. Mat_15:11.
Eyelids are lifted up — Comp. Pro_6:17; there are outward signs of inward pride. We would, perhaps, say eye-brows, to express the same idea. The mention of these classes of evil-minded and evil-doing persons is equivalent to a precept prohibiting the several vices pertaining to them; as if Agur had said, “I mention these that ye may avoid their ways.” It will be noted that the words “there is” in each of these verses, are supplied in italics. The passage would be more forcible without them; “A generation that curseth their father and blesseth not their mother,” etc. Comp. Pro_25:19; Psa_52:2; Psa_57:4.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. generation] i.e. a class, or company, as the…
11. generation] i.e. a class, or company, as the word is used in Psa_14:5; Psa_24:6.
11–14. Four generations, or classes of men that are detestable.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (11) There is a generation . . .—The words…
(11) There is a generation . . .—The words “there is” are not in the Hebrew, so it is left in doubt what is the predicate of these four evil “generations,” whether Agur means by them to describe the men of his own time, or to say that such are unbearable. (Comp. Pro_30:21.) The same characters are to be found in the description of men of the “last days” (2Ti_3:1 sqq).
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 11-31 contain six groups of four sentences each,…
Vers. 11-31 contain six groups of four sentences each, each quaternion having a certain connection in language and concinnity of idea. First (vers. 11-14) come four generations that are evil four being taken as the symbol of universality. The sins herein specified had become so general that they affected the whole generation.
There is a generation that eurseth their father. The words, "there is," are not found in the Hebrew, and the four subjects are without a predicate. Delitzsch calls the group "a mutilated priamel," which is explained to be a kind of gnomic poetry containing a series of antecedents or subjects followed by an epigrammatic conclusion applicable to all the antecedents. In the present ease the conclusion is wanting, so that we are left in doubt whether the author meant merely to de. scribe classes of men in his own time or to affirm that such are abominable. Septuagint, "A wicked generation curseth its father (ekgonon kakon )," which expression is repeated at each of the four verses. The first sin is that which offends against the commandment to honour and obey parents. This was judged worthy of death under the old Law. (Exo_21:17; see Pro_20:20, and note there) And doth not bless their mother. This is a litotes, "not to bless" being equivalent to "to curse.
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Vers. 11-14. Detestable phases of human character.
I THOSE UNGRATEFUL TO PARENTS. (Ver. 11.) "Without natural affection." Solon, asked why he had made no law against parricides, said that he could not conceive of any one so impious and cruel. In the Law of Moses the cursing of a parent was visited with the same punishment as the blaspheming of God. (Lev_20:9 Lev_24:11-16; comp. Isa_45:9, 10 2Ti_3:2)
II CRASS SELF-CONCEIT AND PRIDE. (Vers. 12, 13) The Pharisees in the gospel, (Mat_23:25-27) the Laodicean Church, (Rev_3:17, Rev_3:18) are examples. But the character is a constant one, and reappears in every age as a foil to genuine Christianity. Compare Mozley"s powerful sermon on the Pharisees. But it was a noble Pharisee who learned, in the humility of Christ, to "have no confidence in the flesh". (Php_3:3)
III PITILESS CRUELTY AND OPPRESSION. (Ver. 14) Wolves in human guise or in sheep"s clothing. Similar pictures are to be found in Psa_57:5 Psa_58:7 Isa_9:12 Jer_5:17 Jer_30:16, Jer_30:17. These pictures of the heart, its exceeding deceitfulness and desperate wickedness, should lead us to examine our own. The germs of all the world"s evil are to be found in these microcosmi these "little worlds." When we know ourselves truly, the prayer will the more sincerely arise to him to whom all hearts are open, that he will cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit. J.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Pro_30:15. Horseleech, or “vampire, an imaginary spectre or ghost,…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Pro_30:15. Horseleech, or “vampire, an imaginary spectre or ghost, supposed to suck the blood of children.” (Stuart.)
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Pro_30:15-16. On these verses, Dr. Aiken, the American translator of the Proverbs for Lange’s Commentary, remarks, “As compared with the numerical proverbs which follow, the complexity and the more artificial character of the one before us at once arrests attention. They all have this in common, that whatever moral lesson they have to convey is less obvious, being hinted rather than stated.… In the one now under consideration, insatiable desire and the importance of its regulation seem to be the remote object. In the development, instead of the “three things” and “four things” which repeatedly appear afterwards, we have the “leach,” its two daughters, the three, and the four. Some have regarded the two daughters as representing physical characteristics of the bloodsucker, others as expressing by an Orientalism a doubly intense craving. Parallelism suggests making the first two of the four the two daughters; other allusions of the Scripture to the greediness of the world of the dead justify the first, while the second alone belong to human nature.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Pro_30:11-17
FOUR MANIFESTATIONS OF UNGODLINESS
I. Children without natural affection. Parents that have the disposition and character which God intends them to possess are the best reflection of God that a child can look upon in a fallen world. A son or daughter can by no other means so well come to understand the fatherhood of God as by considering the tenderness and self-sacrifice of good human parents, and hence the Saviour in His most beautiful parable (Luke 15) uses this relationship to set forth the depth and strength of Divine love to sinful men. He who treats such love lightly, therefore, despises the love of Him who instituted the relationship of parent and child to minister to human happiness and to elevate human character. The man or woman who is guilty of this crime reveals a heart incapable of worthy emotion, and a conscience dead to all the claims of duty. Such an unnatural being must fail in all his other relationships—he cannot be a good husband or faithful friend, or worthily fulfil any of the more public duties of life. A man who was found wanting here, was, in the Hebrew commonwealth, regarded as rotten at the very core of his moral nature, and condemned to suffer the extreme penalty of the law (Deu_21:18-21.) Thus God puts the rebellious child on a level with the murderer and blasphemer, and the terrible threatening passed here upon one who disregards the fifth commandment is another proof of the greatness of the sin in the eyes of God. In Pro_30:17 such a sentence is passed upon an undutiful child as is scarcely paralleled in Scripture. Even the body which was the home of so unnatural a soul shall be exposed to ignominy and contempt.
II. Self-deceivers. This is a manifestation of ungodliness, which is in some degree common to all men whose inner vision has not been set right by Divine grace. All unrenewed men are more or less like the ancient Laodiceans, who thought they had need of nothing, but who were in reality so spiritually blind that they could not see their spiritual nakedness (Rev_3:15). It is those who are “not washed from their filthiness” that are “pure in their own eyes,” for they are in the condition of spirit described by the apostle John—they “walk in darkness,” and “that darkness hath blinded their eyes” (1Jn_2:11). But it is their own fault if they remain in this condition of blindness. A man may be born into this world with weak or impaired vision, but there may be means within his reach whereby the defect may be remedied and he become capable of seeing things as they are. By coming under the influence of those who can see well themselves and who can help him to sight also, he may be brought from a state of comparative darkness to one of light, and if with these opportunities within his reach he become worse instead of better, and at last totally blind, his blindness is a crime and not a misfortune. So, although it is true that we all come into this world with our spiritual perceptions defective and impaired, we are blameworthy in the highest degree if we do not put ourselves in contact with the moral light which God has placed within our reach, and we shall in time come to the condition of the Jewish nation in the days of the prophet and in the time of Christ (Isa_6:9; Mat_13:14), “seeing, we shall see, and shall not perceive.” For “the light which lighteneth every man” (Joh_1:9) has come into the world; and when His word is allowed free access to man’s heart and conscience it opens his spiritual eyes as the morning sun playing upon the bodily eyes of the sleeper arouses him to life and consciousness. Self-deception, therefore, is a sin, and a sin inseparable from ungodliness.
III. The proud. This sin is the natural outcome of the one just mentioned. If a man has no sense of his state before God, he will have no right conception of his position in relation to his fellow-creatures. The eyes that cannot discern their own moral defilement will certainly look disdainfully upon others. He who thus dishonours his God will certainly despise his brother, and the less a man has to be prond of, the prouder he will be. (On this subject of pride see on chap. Pro_11:2, and Pro_13:10, pages 192 and 305.)
IV. The cruel and covetous. Man’s rapacity and selfishness are set forth in Pro_30:15-17 in very strong terms. His greediness and cruelty are compared to that of a creature the sole end of whose existence is to gorge itself with blood; to the ever open grave; to swords and knives, etc. We know too well that this picture is not overdrawn. Nothing that man can imagine in the form of cruelty can surpass what man has been guilty of, and such ingenuity has he sometimes displayed in this direction that one is constrained to believe that he has been inspired by a supernatural power of evil, for his deeds of darkness have seemed too black for man of himself to conceive. Some of the cruelty of man towards man may not be the offspring of covetousness, but doubtless much of it is. Men often care not who suffers, or how much they suffer, so that they satisfy their own selfish desires, and all this unnatural conduct is an evidence that there is a schism in the human race which calls for some remedy such as that of the gospel, whereby such savage natures may be transformed, and “The wolf also dwell with, the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid,” etc. (Isa_11:6.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
In Scripture, the word “generations” is repeatedly used to signify particular classes or descriptions of men; for two reasons, or points of analogy:—first, that as generation follows generation, so surely, in every generation, a succession of such characters is to be found;—and secondly, that they very often communicate the character to one another, and thus keep up their respective kinds,—are successive propagators of their species.—Wardlaw.
Pro_30:11. Here a new thought begins, but probably one from the same teacher. As he had uttered what he most desired, so now he tells us what he most abhorred, and in true harmony with the teaching of the Ten Commandments places in the foremost rank those who rise against the Fifth.—Plumptre.
Solon, when asked why he had made no law against parricides, replied, that he could not conceive of anyone so impious and cruel. The divine lawgiver knew His creature better, that His heart was capable of wickedness beyond conception (Jer_17:9).—Bridges.
Pro_30:14. Yet withal, these cruel oppressors are marked by pitiful cowardice. They vent their wantonness only where there is little or no power of resistance. It is not the wolf with the wolf, but with the defenceless lamb; devouring the poor and needy from off the earth,—“eating up my people”—not like an occasional indulgence, but “as they eat bread” their daily meal, without intermission. (Psa_14:4.)—Bridges.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 a generation that curses ... and does not bless…
a generation that curses ... and does not bless ... a generation that is
"a generation of people who curse ... and do not bless ... a generation of people that are"
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generation
type or class or group
is pure in their own eyes
The eyes represent seeing, and seeing represents thoughts or judgment. AT: "considers themselves pure" or "believes they are pure" (See: Metaphor)
they are not washed of their filth
The words "washed" and "filth" speak of God forgiving people who sin as if he were washing physical filth off of the people. This can be translated in active form. AT: "God has not forgiven them of their sins" (See: Metaphor and Active or Passive)
filth
This should be translated with a polite term that includes human or animal vomit and waste.
translationWords
generation
curse
bless
pure
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 30:11-14 These verses summarize the character traits that wise…
30:11-14 These verses summarize the character traits that wise people despise. Fools dishonor their parents (10:1; 20:20; Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16), deceive themselves (Prov 8:7), think they are pure when they are filthy (20:9), are proud (6:17-18; 11:2; 13:10; 15:33; 16:18; 18:12; 19:20; 29:23), wound others with their words (teeth like swords, see 25:18), and harm the poor (3:27; 11:24; 28:27; 29:7, 14).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.