The Meaning of Proverbs 30:15 Explained

Proverbs 30:15

KJV: The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:

YLT: To the leech are two daughters, 'Give, give, Lo, three things are not satisfied, Four have not said 'Sufficiency;'

Darby: The leech hath two daughters: Give, give. There are three things never satisfied; four which say not, It is enough:

ASV: The horseleach hath two daughters, crying , Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, Yea , four that say not, Enough:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The horseleach  hath two  daughters,  [crying], Give,  give.  There are three  [things that] are never satisfied,  [yea], four  [things] say  not, [It is] enough: 

What does Proverbs 30:15 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 30:1-17 - The Advice Of A Shrewd Observer
This chapter contains a collection of sayings of one person, Agur, of whom we know nothing further. It is supposed that he lived after the return from the Exile. The opening verses of the chapter may be thus rendered: "The utterance of the man who has questioned and thought." I have wearied after God, I have wearied after God, and am faint; for I am too stupid for a man, and am without reason, and I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the All-Holy."
Agur answers his complaint in Proverbs 30:5-9. You cannot know God by your own discovery, but He will make Himself known to you through the written Word, to which no addition may be made, Proverbs 30:6. See also John 1:18, which shows our clearest revelation of Him. But there are two conditions: We must put away vanity and lies; and we must be satisfied with God's arrangement of our daily food. Notice the following quatrain, Proverbs 30:11-14, which is descriptive of four kinds of evil men: the unfilial, the self-righteous, the haughty, and the rapacious. The next quatrain, Proverbs 30:15-16, treats of "the insatiable;" and this is followed by a further description of the doom of the disobedient: strong, wise, shrewd, and sanctified sense. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 30

1  Agur's confession of his faith
7  The two points of his prayer
10  The meanest are not to be wronged
11  Four wicked generations
15  Four things insatiable
24  four things exceeding wise
29  Four things stately
32  Wrath is to be prevented

What do the individual words in Proverbs 30:15 mean?

The leech has two daughters Give [and] Give Three [things] are never satisfied four never say Enough
לַֽעֲלוּקָ֨ה ׀ שְׁתֵּ֥י בָנוֹת֮ הַ֤ב ׀ הַ֥ב שָׁל֣וֹשׁ הֵ֭נָּה לֹ֣א תִשְׂבַּ֑עְנָה אַ֝רְבַּ֗ע לֹא־ אָ֥מְרוּ הֽוֹן

לַֽעֲלוּקָ֨ה ׀  The  leech  has 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular
Root: עֲלוּקָה  
Sense: leech.
שְׁתֵּ֥י  two 
Parse: Number, fdc
Root: שְׁנַיִם  
Sense: two.
בָנוֹת֮  daughters 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: בַּת  
Sense: daughter.
הַ֤ב ׀  Give 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: הַב 
Sense: to give, provide, ascribe, come.
הַ֥ב  [and]  Give 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperative, masculine singular
Root: הַב 
Sense: to give, provide, ascribe, come.
שָׁל֣וֹשׁ  Three  [things] 
Parse: Number, feminine singular
Root: מִשְׁלֹשׁ 
Sense: three, triad.
לֹ֣א  never 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
תִשְׂבַּ֑עְנָה  satisfied 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine plural
Root: שָׂבַע  
Sense: to be satisfied, be sated, be fulfilled, be surfeited.
אַ֝רְבַּ֗ע  four 
Parse: Number, feminine singular
Root: אַרְבַּע  
Sense: four.
לֹא־  never 
Parse: Adverb, Negative particle
Root: הֲלֹא 
Sense: not, no.
אָ֥מְרוּ  say 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
הֽוֹן  Enough 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: הֹון  
Sense: wealth, riches, substance.