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Read the Bible

King James Version

Proverbs 30:21

For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Family;   Gluttony;   Riddle;   Rulers;   Servant;   Wife;   Women;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Servants;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Proverb, the Book of;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Servants;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Agur;   Jakeh;   Massa;   Number;   Proverb;   Proverbs, Book of;   Slave, Slavery;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Four;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Four;   Number;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The earth trembles under three things;it cannot bear up under four:
Hebrew Names Version
"For three things the eretz tremble, And under four, it can't bear up:
English Standard Version
Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up:
New American Standard Bible
Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot endure:
New Century Version
"There are three things that make the earth tremble, really four it cannot stand:
Amplified Bible
Under three things the earth is disquieted and quakes, And under four it cannot bear up:
World English Bible
"For three things the earth tremble, And under four, it can't bear up:
Geneva Bible (1587)
For three things the earth is moued: yea, for foure it cannot susteine it selfe:
Legacy Standard Bible
Under three things the earth quakes,And under four, it cannot bear up:
Berean Standard Bible
Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up:
Contemporary English Version
There are three or four things that make the earth tremble and are unbearable:
Complete Jewish Bible
Three things make the earth quake, four things it can't bear —
Darby Translation
Under three [things] the earth is disquieted, and under four it cannot bear up:
Easy-to-Read Version
There are three things that make trouble on the earth—really, four that the earth cannot bear:
George Lamsa Translation
Under three things the earth quakes, and under four it cannot endure:
Good News Translation
There are four things that the earth itself cannot tolerate:
Lexham English Bible
Under three things the earth trembles, and under four, it is not able to bear up:
Literal Translation
The earth quakes under three things ; yea, it is not able to bear up under four:
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Thorow thre thinges the earth is disquieted, & the fourth maye it not beare:
American Standard Version
For three things the earth doth tremble, And for four, which it cannot bear:
Bible in Basic English
For three things the earth is moved, and there are four which it will not put up with:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
For three things the earth doth quake, and for four it cannot endure:
King James Version (1611)
For three things the earth is disquieted, and for foure which it cannot beare:
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For three thynges the earth is disquieted, and the fourth may it not abyde.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
He that reverences not the persons of the just is not good: such a one will sell a man for a morsel of bread.
English Revised Version
For three things the earth doth tremble, and for four, which it cannot bear:
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
The erthe is moued bi thre thingis, and the fourthe thing, which it may not susteyne;
Update Bible Version
For three things the earth trembles, And for four, [which] it can't bear:
Webster's Bible Translation
For three [things] the earth is disquieted, and for four [which] it cannot bear:
New English Translation
Under three things the earth trembles, and under four things it cannot bear up:
New King James Version
For three things the earth is perturbed, Yes, for four it cannot bear up:
New Living Translation
There are three things that make the earth tremble— no, four it cannot endure:
New Life Bible
Under three things the earth shakes, and under four it cannot stand:
New Revised Standard
Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up:
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Under three things, a land is stirred, yea, under four, she cannot bear up:
Douay-Rheims Bible
By three things the earth is disturbed, and the fourth it cannot bear.
Revised Standard Version
Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up:
Young's Literal Translation
For three things hath earth been troubled, And for four -- it is not able to bear:
THE MESSAGE
Three things are too much for even the earth to bear, yes, four things shake its foundations— when the janitor becomes the boss, when a fool gets rich, when a whore is voted "woman of the year," when a "girlfriend" replaces a faithful wife.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Under three things the earth quakes, And under four, it cannot bear up:

Contextual Overview

18 There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: 19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. 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: 22 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.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: Genesis 16:4 - her mistress Proverbs 6:16 - six Proverbs 19:10 - Delight Proverbs 30:15 - There

Cross-References

Genesis 30:1
And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.
Genesis 30:3
And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her; and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her.
Genesis 34:26
And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out.
Genesis 46:15
These be the sons of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob in Padanaram, with his daughter Dinah: all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For three [things] the earth is disquieted,.... The inhabitants of it are made very uneasy;

and for four [which] it cannot bear; they are a load and burden upon it, and are intolerable to those that dwell on it, and make them very uncomfortable.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For four which it cannot bear - Better: four it cannot bear. Here the common element is that of being intolerable, and the four examples are divided equally between the two sexes. Each has its examples of power and prosperity misused because they fall to the lot of those who have no training for them, and are therefore in the wrong place.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 30:21. For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear — This is another enigma. Four things insupportable to men. 1. A slave, when he becomes ruler. 2. An overfed fool. 3. An ill-tempered woman, when mistress of a family. And, 4. A servant maid, when the rule of the house is committed to her.

1. A slave, when he comes to bear rule, is an unprincipled tyrant. It has been often observed both in America and in the West Indies, when it was judged necessary to arm some of the most confidential slaves, that no regiments were used so cruelly in the drill, c., as those black regiments that had black officers.

2. The overfed fool. The intellectually weak man, who has every thing at his command, has generally manners which none can bear and, if a favourite with his master, he is insupportable to all others.

3. An ill-tempered woman, when she gets embarrassed with domestic cares, is beyond bearing.

4. A servant maid, when, either through the death of the mistress, or the sin of the husband, she is in fact exalted to be head over the family, is so insolent and impudent, as to be hateful to every one, and execrated by all.


 
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