a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
eagle
הַנֶּ֨שֶׁרha.Ne.sher
H5404
the eagle (or other large bird of prey) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
air
בַּשָּׁמַיִם֮ba.sha.ma.Yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
way
דֶּ֥רֶךְDe.rekh
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
serpent
נָחָ֗שׁna.Chash
H5175
a snake (from its hiss) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
rock
צ֥וּרtzur
H6697
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
way
דֶּֽרֶךְde.rekh-
H1870
a road (as trodden) · noun, common both genders singular construct
ship
אֳנִיָּ֥ה'o.ni.Yah
H591
a ship · noun, common feminine singular absolute
midst
בְלֶבve.lev-
H3820
the heart · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
sea
יָ֑םYam
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · noun, common masculine singular absolute
way
וְדֶ֖רֶךְve.De.rekh
H1870
a road (as trodden) · conjunction + noun, common both genders singular construct
man
גֶּ֣בֶרGe.ver
H1397
properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
maid
בְּעַלְמָֽהbe.'al.Mah
H5959
a lass (as veiled or private) · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Job 39:27 Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and…
Exodus 22:16 And if a man entice a maid that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall surely endow her to be his wife.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 30:18-23
Here is, I. An account of four things that are unsearchable, too wonderful to be fully known. And here,
1. The first three are natural things, and are only designed as comparisons for the illustration of the last. We cannot trace, (1.) An eagle in the air. Which way she has flown cannot be discovered either by the footstep or by the scent, as the way of a beast may upon ground; nor can we account for the wonderful swiftness of her flight, how soon she has gone beyond our ken. (2.) A serpent upon a rock. The way of a serpent in the sand we may find by the track, but not of a serpent upon the hard rock; nor can we describe how a serpent will, without feet, in a little time creep to the top of…
Hypocrisy is illustrated by four examples of the concealment of all methods or traces of action, and a pertinent example of double dealing in actual vice is added, that is, the adulterous woman.
John Gill on Proverbs 30:19
The way of an eagle in the air,.... And so of any other bird; but this is mentioned, because it flies swiftest, and soars highest: but the way in which it goes is not known, nor can it be seen with the eye; it cuts the air, and passes through it, but leaves no track behind it which may be pointed to, and it may be said, that is the way the eagle took and flew towards heaven out of sight;
the way of a serpent upon a rock; a smooth hard rock; and wonderful it is that it should creep up it without legs; and where it leaves no impression, no footsteps by which it can be traced, as it may in soft and sandy places;
the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; it is marvellous that such a vessel sh…
The following proverb, again a numerical proverb, begins with the eagle, mentioned in the last line of the foregoing:
18 Three things lie beyond me,
And four I understand not:
19 The way of the eagle in the heavens,
The way of a serpent over a rock,
The way of a ship on the high sea,
And the way of a man with a maid.
20 Thus is the way of the adulterous woman:
She eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith:
I have done no iniquity.
נפלאוּ ממּנּי, as relative clause, like 15b (where Aquila, Symmachus, Theodotion rightly: τρία δέ ἐστιν ἃ οὐ πλησθήσεται), is joined to שׁלשׁה המּה. On the other hand, ארבע (τέσσαρα, for with the Kerı̂, conforming to 18a, ארבּעה, τέσσαρας) has to be interpret…
The Church Fathers
Neither against the rock on which Christ builds the church nor against the church will the gates of hades prevail; just as the way of a serpent upon a rock, according to what is written in the Proverbs, cannot be found. Now, if the gates of hades prevail against any one, such cannot be a rock upon which Christ builds the church.
For as a serpent cannot mark its track upon a rock, so the devil could not find sin in the body of Christ. For the Lord says, "Behold, the prince of this world cometh, and will find nothing in me." -For as a ship, sailing in the sea, leaves no traces of her way behind her, so neither does the Church, which is situate in the world as in a sea, leave her hope upon the earth, because she has her life reserved in heaven; and as she holds her way here only for a short time, it is not possible to trace out her course.-As the Church does not leave her hope behind in the world, her hope in the incarnation of Christ which bears us all good, she did not leave the track of death in Hades.-Of whom but of Him who is born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin?-who, in renewing the perfect man in the world, works miracles, beginning from the baptism of John, as the Evangelist also testifies: And Jesus was then beginning to be about thirty years of age. This, then, was the youthful and blooming period of the age of Him who, in journeying among the cities and districts, healed the diseases and infirmities of men.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Agur — Gatherer; the collector, mentioned as author of the sayings in Prov. 30. Nothing is known of him beyond what is there recorded.
Serpent — (Heb. nahash; Gr. ophis), frequently noticed in Scripture. More than forty species are found in Syria and Arabia. The poisonous character of the serpent is alluded to in Jacob’s blessing on Dan (Gen.…
Eagle, The · Peculiarity of its flight alluded to — Peculiarity of its flight alluded to
Lasciviousness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Riddle · By Agur — By Agur
Serpent · Mentioned in — Mentioned in
Ships · Course of, through the midst of the sea, wonderful — Course of, through the midst of the sea, wonderful
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
