The Meaning of Proverbs 30:27 Explained

Proverbs 30:27

KJV: The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;

YLT: A king there is not to the locust, And it goeth out -- each one shouting,

Darby: the locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands;

ASV: The locusts have no king, Yet go they forth all of them by bands;

KJV Reverse Interlinear

The locusts  have no king,  yet go they forth  all of them by bands; 

What does Proverbs 30:27 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 30:27 mean?

King have no the locusts and yet they advance in ranks all
מֶ֭לֶךְ אֵ֣ין לָאַרְבֶּ֑ה וַיֵּצֵ֖א חֹצֵ֣ץ כֻּלּֽוֹ

מֶ֭לֶךְ  King 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
אֵ֣ין  have  no 
Parse: Adverb
Root: אַיִן 
Sense: nothing, not, nought n.
לָאַרְבֶּ֑ה  the  locusts 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: אַרְבֶּה  
Sense: a kind of locust, locust swarm (coll).
וַיֵּצֵ֖א  and  yet  they  advance 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine singular
Root: יׄוצֵאת 
Sense: to go out, come out, exit, go forth.
חֹצֵ֣ץ  in  ranks 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: חָצַץ 
Sense: to divide.