Pro 30:15-16 | KingComments | STEP | The four generations mentioned above ( ) are the leeches of . The leech is the symbol of greed. It sucks blood by means of its suckers at both ends of its body. Agur here mentions the “two daughters”, one named “Give” and the other also named “Give”. The name “Give” is a ‘brand name’ you can put on any form of greed. In each case it is about nothing but the satisfaction of a desire that in reality is never satisfied. Always the desire for more or different remains. Satan is the great leech. He sucks the life out of people. The instruments he uses to do this are the “two daughters” who are also leeches. The expression “three, ... four” ( ) is a Hebrew saying indicating that it is not about something incidental, but something more common. The “three things” are satan and his ‘daughters’. This can be applied to man’s sinful lusts, for they never say “enough”. Satan and his daughters are insatiable leeches. To illustrate the dark nature of man’s sinful, insatiable lusts, Agur uses “four” examples. There is mention of two daughters, three insatiable things and four things that never say: “Enough.” The first example of what is insatiable is “Sheol” or the realm of death ( ; ). Sheol is like a house that is always open and where there is always room when someone has died. Countless have gone before us since the Fall. Never will the door close with a sign that says Full. The door of that house will not close until eternity comes and death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire ( ). This is not because the realm of death is full, but because there is no one left to enter it. The second example is “the barren womb”. The woman’s womb is always absorbing the seed, but the woman never receives the satisfaction she desires: to give life to a child ( ; ). The womb is thus equivalent to Sheol. The third example is dry earth. That “earth that is never satisfied with water”, will absorb water with the greatest eagerness and never say it is enough (cf. ). Poured out water is a symbol of the pouring out of life, which always goes on and on ( ). As a result, this example can also be connected to death. The fourth example is “fire”. Fire does not ever become satiated from what it can consume. It eats up everything it encounters in its path and continues to do so insatiably as long as there is anything that is combustible. Similarly, anything thrown into it is eaten up by the flames. Never do flames reach a point where they give back what was thrown in because they would have enough. This is reminiscent of hell, the eternal fire, a fire that never comes to an end, that burns on forever and is not satiated until eternity. Only the Creator can satiate man’s deepest desires, that is a life in fellowship with Him. Only He can fill the emptiness of the heart He created by satisfying the desire for Him.

‏ Proverbs 30:15-16

Four Insatiable Things

The four generations mentioned above (Pro 30:11-14) are the leeches of Pro 30:15. The leech is the symbol of greed. It sucks blood by means of its suckers at both ends of its body. Agur here mentions the “two daughters”, one named “Give” and the other also named “Give”. The name “Give” is a ‘brand name’ you can put on any form of greed. In each case it is about nothing but the satisfaction of a desire that in reality is never satisfied. Always the desire for more or different remains.

Satan is the great leech. He sucks the life out of people. The instruments he uses to do this are the “two daughters” who are also leeches. The expression “three, ... four” (Pro 30:18 ; 21 ; 29) is a Hebrew saying indicating that it is not about something incidental, but something more common.

The “three things” are satan and his ‘daughters’. This can be applied to man’s sinful lusts, for they never say “enough”. Satan and his daughters are insatiable leeches. To illustrate the dark nature of man’s sinful, insatiable lusts, Agur uses “four” examples. There is mention of two daughters, three insatiable things and four things that never say: “Enough.”

The first example of what is insatiable is “Sheol” or the realm of death (Pro 30:16; Hab 2:5). Sheol is like a house that is always open and where there is always room when someone has died. Countless have gone before us since the Fall. Never will the door close with a sign that says Full. The door of that house will not close until eternity comes and death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:14). This is not because the realm of death is full, but because there is no one left to enter it.

The second example is “the barren womb”. The woman’s womb is always absorbing the seed, but the woman never receives the satisfaction she desires: to give life to a child (Gen 30:1; 1Sam 1:8). The womb is thus equivalent to Sheol.

The third example is dry earth. That “earth that is never satisfied with water”, will absorb water with the greatest eagerness and never say it is enough (cf. Psa 63:1-2). Poured out water is a symbol of the pouring out of life, which always goes on and on (2Sam 14:14). As a result, this example can also be connected to death.

The fourth example is “fire”. Fire does not ever become satiated from what it can consume. It eats up everything it encounters in its path and continues to do so insatiably as long as there is anything that is combustible. Similarly, anything thrown into it is eaten up by the flames. Never do flames reach a point where they give back what was thrown in because they would have enough. This is reminiscent of hell, the eternal fire, a fire that never comes to an end, that burns on forever and is not satiated until eternity.

Only the Creator can satiate man’s deepest desires, that is a life in fellowship with Him. Only He can fill the emptiness of the heart He created by satisfying the desire for Him.