The Meaning of Proverbs 30:17 Explained

Proverbs 30:17

KJV: The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.

YLT: An eye that mocketh at a father, And despiseth to obey a mother, Dig it out do ravens of the valley, And eat it do young eagles.

Darby: The eye that mocketh at a father, and despiseth to obey a mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.

ASV: The eye that mocketh at his father, And despiseth to obey his mother, The ravens of the valley shall pick it out, And the young eagles shall eat it.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The eye  [that] mocketh  at [his] father,  and despiseth  to obey  [his] mother,  the ravens  of the valley  shall pick it out,  and the young  eagles  shall eat  it. 

What does Proverbs 30:17 Mean?

Verse Meaning

Disrespect for one"s parents is as bad as arrogance and greed. Agur"s graphic descriptions visualize the terrible consequences of this folly. Whereas we should obey our parents as long as we live under their authority, we should honor them all our lives. We should do so simply because they have given us physical life, if for no other reason. This proverb warns that severe punishment awaits those who disrespect their parents.

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 30:17 mean?

The eye [that] mocks [his] father and scorns obedience to [his] mother will pick it out the ravens of the valley and will eat it young the eagles -
עַ֤יִן ׀ תִּֽלְעַ֣ג לְאָב֮ וְתָב֪וּז לִֽיקֲּהַ֫ת־ אֵ֥ם יִקְּר֥וּהָ עֹרְבֵי־ נַ֑חַל וְֽיֹאכְל֥וּהָ בְנֵי־ נָֽשֶׁר פ

עַ֤יִן ׀  The  eye 
Parse: Noun, common singular
Root: עֹונָה 
Sense: eye.
תִּֽלְעַ֣ג  [that]  mocks 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: לָעַג  
Sense: to mock, deride, ridicule.
לְאָב֮  [his]  father 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָב  
Sense: father of an individual.
וְתָב֪וּז  and  scorns 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: בּוּז  
Sense: to despise, hold in contempt, hold as insignificant.
לִֽיקֲּהַ֫ת־  obedience  to 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: יְקָהָה  
Sense: obedience, cleansing, purging.
אֵ֥ם  [his]  mother 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֵם  
Sense: mother.
יִקְּר֥וּהָ  will  pick  it  out 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, third person masculine plural, third person feminine singular
Root: נָקַר  
Sense: to bore, pick, dig, pick out.
עֹרְבֵי־  the  ravens 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: עֹרֵב  
Sense: raven.
נַ֑חַל  of  the  valley 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נַחַל 
Sense: torrent, valley, wadi, torrent-valley.
וְֽיֹאכְל֥וּהָ  and  will  eat  it 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive imperfect, third person masculine plural, third person feminine singular
Root: אָכַל  
Sense: to eat, devour, burn up, feed.
בְנֵי־  young 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct
Root: בֵּן 
Sense: son, grandson, child, member of a group.
נָֽשֶׁר  the  eagles 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: נֶשֶׁר  
Sense: eagle, vulture, griffon-vulture.
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation