Proverbs 30:22
20 This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.’
21 Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up:
a servant who becomes king, a fool who is filled with food,
23 an unloved woman who marries, and a maidservant who supplants her mistress.
24 Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise:
This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- a servant who becomes king, a fool who is filled with food,
- KJV
- For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;
- WEB
- For a servant when he is king, a fool when he is filled with food,
- ASV
- For a servant when he is king; And a fool when he is filled with food;
- DARBY
- Under a servant when he reigneth, and a churl when he is filled with meat;
- BLB
- Under a servant when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food,
- ÅB
- under en slave når han blir konge, og en dåre når han blir mett av brød,
- OTB
- en tjener som blir konge, en dåre som er mett av mat,
- B1930
- under en træl når han blir konge, og en dåre når han blir mett av brød,
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Proverbs 19:10
Luxury is unseemly for a fool— how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!
Read in contextEcclesiastes 10:7
I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.
Read in context1 Samuel 25:36–38
When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
Read in context1 Samuel 25:3
His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
Read in context1 Samuel 25:10–11
But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.
Read in contextIsaiah 3:4–5
“I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them.”
Read in context1 Samuel 25:25
My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.
Read in context1 Samuel 30:16
So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.
Read in context