Proverbs 30:22
20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.
21 For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:
For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;
23 For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
24 There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding 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
Delight is not seemly for a fool; much less for a servant to have rule over princes.
Read in contextEcclesiastes 10:7
I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth.
Read in context1 Samuel 25:36–38
And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
Read in context1 Samuel 25:3
Now the name of the man was Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and she was a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man was churlish and evil in his doings; and he was of the house of Caleb.
Read in context1 Samuel 25:10–11
And Nabal answered David’s servants, and said, Who is David? and who is the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master.
Read in contextIsaiah 3:4–5
And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them.
Read in context1 Samuel 25:25
Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
Read in context1 Samuel 30:16
And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
Read in context