The Meaning of Proverbs 30:26 Explained

Proverbs 30:26

KJV: The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;

YLT: Conies are a people not strong, And they place in a rock their house,

Darby: the rock-badgers are but a feeble folk, yet they make their house in the cliff;

ASV: The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The conies  [are but] a feeble  folk,  yet make  they their houses  in the rocks; 

What does Proverbs 30:26 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 30:26 mean?

The rock badgers are a folk not feeble and yet they make in the crags their homes
שְׁ֭פַנִּים עַ֣ם לֹא־ עָצ֑וּם וַיָּשִׂ֖ימוּ בַסֶּ֣לַע בֵּיתָֽם

שְׁ֭פַנִּים  The  rock  badgers  are 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: שָׁפָן 
Sense: rock badger, coney, the hyrax.
עַ֣ם  a  folk 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
עָצ֑וּם  feeble 
Parse: Adjective, masculine singular
Root: עָצוּם  
Sense: mighty, vast, numerous.
וַיָּשִׂ֖ימוּ  and  yet  they  make 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural
Root: שׂוּמָה 
Sense: to put, place, set, appoint, make.
בַסֶּ֣לַע  in  the  crags 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: סֶלַע  
Sense: crag, cliff, rock.
בֵּיתָֽם  their  homes 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person masculine plural
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.

What are the major concepts related to Proverbs 30:26?

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