The Meaning of Proverbs 30:18 Explained

Proverbs 30:18

KJV: There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:

YLT: Three things have been too wonderful for me, Yea, four that I have not known:

Darby: There are three things too wonderful for me, and four that I know not:

ASV: There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yea, four which I know not:

KJV Reverse Interlinear

There be three  [things which] are too wonderful  for me, yea, four  which I know  not: 

What does Proverbs 30:18 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 30:18-33 - Lessons From Common Things
We have four more quatrains.
1. There are the four wonders that baffle Agur's understanding. How superficial is our knowledge! How does the eagle mount the air, or the serpent find a hold on the slippery rock, or a ship plow her way across the deep, or a man and woman fall in love by a secret interchange of heart which no one else perceives? And further how can a sinner continue to sin without experiencing remorse?
2. There are four intolerable conditions: a slave in authority, a pampered fool, an ill-assorted marriage, and a slave-girl, like Hagar, preferred to her mistress.
3. There are four kinds of animals which prove that it is possible to be insignificant and yet be wise: the ant, the cony, the locust, and the lizard, r.v.
4. There are four things which give the idea of stateliness in motion: a lion, a greyhound, a he-goat, and a king "against whom there is no rising up." This remarkable collection ends with an exhortation to the repression of anger. Sometimes to refuse to express one's passion is the surest way of killing it. Treat it like a room on fire. Shut door and window, that it may die for want of air. Ask God's holy sunlight to replace the unholy heat of your soul. [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 30:18 mean?

Three [things] are too wonderful for me four Yes four not [which] I do understand
שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה הֵ֭מָּה נִפְלְא֣וּ מִמֶּ֑נִּי [וארבע] (וְ֝אַרְבָּעָ֗ה) לֹ֣א יְדַעְתִּֽים

שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה  Three  [things] 
Parse: Number, masculine singular
Root: מִשְׁלֹשׁ 
Sense: three, triad.
נִפְלְא֣וּ  too  wonderful 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Perfect, third person common plural
Root: פָּלָא  
Sense: to be marvellous, be wonderful, be surpassing, be extraordinary, separate by distinguishing action.
מִמֶּ֑נִּי  for  me 
Parse: Preposition, first person common singular
Root: מִן 
Sense: from, out of, on account of, off, on the side of, since, above, than, so that not, more than.
[וארבע]  four 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, feminine singular
(וְ֝אַרְבָּעָ֗ה)  Yes  four 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, masculine singular
Root: אַרְבַּע  
Sense: four.
יְדַעְתִּֽים  [which]  I  do  understand 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, first person common singular, third person masculine plural
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.

What are the major concepts related to Proverbs 30:18?

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