Proverbs 27:20

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; And the eyes of man are never satisfied.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

שְׁא֣וֹל *ואבדה **וַ֭אֲבַדּוֹ לֹ֣א תִשְׂבַּ֑עְנָה וְעֵינֵ֥י הָ֝אָדָ֗ם לֹ֣א תִשְׂבַּֽעְנָה׃

Transliteration

šĕʾôl waʾăbaddô lōʾ tiśbaʿnāh wĕʿênê hāʾādām lōʾ tiśbaʿnāh

Grammar Details

• *šĕʾôl*: feminine singular - Sheol/underworld
• *waʾăbaddô*: conjunction + masculine singular - and Abaddon/destruction
• *lōʾ*: negative particle - not
• *tiśbaʿnāh*: qal imperfect 3rd person feminine plural - are satisfied
• *wĕʿênê*: conjunction + feminine dual construct - and eyes of
• *hāʾādām*: definite article + masculine singular - the man

Word Meanings

• *šĕʾôl*: Sheol/grave/pit/underworld
• *ʾăbaddôn*: Abaddon/destruction/place of destruction
• *śābaʿ*: be satisfied/be full/have enough
• *ʿayin*: eye/sight/vision
• *ʾādām*: man/mankind/person

Referenced Verses

• Eccl 1:8 : 8 All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
• Hab 2:5 : 5 Yea, moreover, wine is treacherous, a haughty man, that keepeth not at home; who enlargeth his desire as Sheol, and he is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all peoples.
• Prov 30:15-16 : 15 The horseleach hath two daughters, [crying], Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, [Yea], four that say not, Enough: 16 Sheol; And the barren womb; The earth that is not satisfied with water; And the fire that saith not, Enough.
• Eccl 2:10-11 : 10 And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them; I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor; and this was my portion from all my labor. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do; and, behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was no profit under the sun.
• Eccl 6:7 : 7 All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
• Jer 22:17 : 17 But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
• Job 26:6 : 6 Sheol is naked before [God], And Abaddon hath no covering.
• Prov 15:11 : 11 Sheol and Abaddon are before Jehovah: How much more then the hearts of the children of men!
• Prov 23:5 : 5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For [riches] certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
• Eccl 4:8 : 8 There is one that is alone, and he hath not a second; yea, he hath neither son nor brother; yet is there no end of all his labor, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches. For whom then, [saith he], do I labor, and deprive my soul of good? This also is vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.
• Eccl 5:10-11 : 10 He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance, with increase: this also is vanity. 11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what advantage is there to the owner thereof, save the beholding [of them] with his eyes?
• 1 John 2:16 : 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.