three · cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
go
צָ֑עַדTza.'ad
H6806
a pace or regular step · noun, common masculine singular absolute
well
מֵיטִ֣יבֵיmei.Ti.vei
H3190
to be (causative) make well · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural construct
four
וְ֝אַרְבָּעָ֗הve.'ar.ba.'Ah
H702
four · conjunction + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
comely
טוֹבṭôwb
H2895
to be (transitively
going
יָלַךְyâlak
H3212
to walk (literally or figuratively)
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).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 30:29–end
Here is, I. An enumeration of four things which are majestic and stately in their going, which look great: - 1. A lion, the king of beasts, because strongest among beasts. Among beasts it is strength that gives the pre-eminence, but it is a pity that it should do so among men, whose wisdom is their honour, not their strength and force. The lion turns not away, nor alters his pace, for fear of any pursuers, since he knows he is too hard for them. Herein the righteous are bold as a lion, that they turn not away from their duty for fear of any difficulty they meet with in it. 2. A greyhound that is girt in the loins and fit for running; or (as the margin reads it) a horse, which ought not to be…
spider--tolerated, even in palaces, to destroy flies.
taketh . . . hands--or, uses with activity the limbs provided for taking prey.
John Gill on Proverbs 30:29
There be three things which go well,.... In a very orderly and composed manner; with constancy and cheerfulness, with great stateliness and majesty, intrepidly, and without fear;
yea, four are comely in going; very beautiful and lovely to look at as they walk.
Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 30:29-31
Another numerical proverb with the cipher 4 = 3 + 1:
29 Three things are of stately walk,
And four of stately going:
30 The lion, the hero among beasts,
And that turneth back before nothing;
31 The swift-loined, also the goat;
And a king with whom is the calling out of the host.
Regarding היטיב with inf. following (the segolated n. actionis צעד is of equal force with an inf.), vid., under Pro 15:2.
(Note: In 29a, after Norzi, מיטיבי, and in 29b, מיטבי, is to be written, and this is required by the little Masora to Sa1 25:31, the great, to Eze 33:33, and also the Erfurt little Masora to the passage before us.)
The relation of the members of the sentence in 30a is like that in 25a and 26a: sub…
"There be three things which go well, and the fourth which is comely in going; "that is, the angels in heaven, the saints upon earth, and the souls of the righteous under the earth. And the fourth, viz. God, the Word Incarnate, passed in honour through the Virgin's womb; and creating our Adam anew, he passed through the gates of heaven, and became the first-fruits of the resurrection and of the ascension for all. "The whelp of the lion is stronger than the beasts: "i.e., Christ as prophesied of by Jacob in the person of Judah. "A cock walking with high spirit among his dames: "such was Paul, when preaching boldly among the churches the word of the Christ of God. "A goat heading the herd: "such is He who was offered for the sins of the world. "And a king speaking among the people: "so Christ reigns over the nations, and speaks by prophets and apostles the word of truth.
There are three things which go well, etc. In this place, a lion is introduced, about whom it is written, "The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered" (Revelation 5). He is called the mightiest of beasts, because in him what is weak of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1); he fears no encounter; for he says, "The prince of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me" (John 14). The rooster girded with loins, that is, the holy preachers announcing the true dawn among the darkness of this night; who are girded with loins, because they restrain the flowing of luxury from their members. And a ram, and there is no king who resists him. Whom else do we accept in this place as the ram, if not the order of priests first within the Church? About whom it is written, "Bring to the Lord the sons of rams" (Psalm 29), who lead the flock of sheep following them by their examples; to whom, living spiritually and rightly, no king at all can resist, because any persecutor who confronts them cannot impede their intention. And because after these, even the Antichrist will appear, he adds this fourth saying:
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.
Lion, The · Described as: Majestic in movement — Described as: Majestic in movement
Riddle · By Agur — By Agur
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).
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 30:24-28
Another example of number parallelism. Here, small, insignificant animals are surprisingly powerful and resourceful.
Rashi on Proverbs 30:29
outstanding in their step They walk and succeed with their might.
