Proverbs 30:16

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Sheol; And the barren womb; The earth that is not satisfied with water; And the fire that saith not, Enough.

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

שְׁאוֹל֮ וְעֹ֢צֶ֫ר רָ֥חַם אֶ֭רֶץ לֹא־שָׂ֣בְעָה מַּ֑יִם וְ֝אֵ֗שׁ לֹא־אָ֥מְרָה הֽוֹן׃

Transliteration

šeʾôl weʿōṣer rāḥam ʾereṣ lōʾ-śābeʿâ mayim weʾēš lōʾ-ʾāmerâ hôn

Grammar Details

*šeʾôl*: feminine singular proper noun - Sheol/grave/underworld
*weʿōṣer*: conjunction + masculine singular construct noun - and restraint/closure of
*rāḥam*: masculine singular noun - womb
*ʾereṣ*: feminine singular noun - earth/land
*lōʾ*: negative particle - not
*śābeʿâ*: qal perfect, third feminine singular - is satisfied/satiated with
*mayim*: masculine plural noun - water
*weʾēš*: conjunction + feminine singular noun - and fire
*ʾāmerâ*: qal perfect, third feminine singular - says
*hôn*: masculine singular noun - enough/wealth/sufficiency

Word Meanings

*šeʾôl*: Sheol/grave/underworld/realm of the dead
*ʿōṣer* *rāḥam*: barren womb/closed womb

ℹ️

About this Translation

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Formal EquivalenceSource: American Standard VersionBest for: Word studies and original-language research

🎯 Translation Approach

A highly literal, word-for-word translation (ASV, 1901) augmented with Strong's numbering to connect English words to underlying Hebrew and Greek terms for study.

Word-for-word

5/5

Readability

2/5

💎 Distinctive Features

Integrated Strong's numbering: Links English terms to underlying Hebrew and Greek words for deeper lexical study.
Formal equivalence: Prioritizes close alignment with source-language forms and structures.
Divine name rendering: Frequently renders the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah in the Old Testament, following ASV tradition.
Study-focused formatting: Optimized for reference and research rather than casual reading.

✅ Strengths

High fidelity to original languages
Includes Strong's numbers for precise word study
Consistent lexical choices aid exegesis
Stable, longstanding scholarly text

⚠️ Considerations

Archaic language reduces readability
Older textual basis compared to some modern translations
Strong's numbers are a concordance index, not full lexical definitions

👥 Who is this for?

Ideal for

Pastors and teachers
Seminary students
Serious Bible students
Readers conducting word studies
Those referencing Hebrew/Greek tools

Consider alternatives for

Casual readers
Children and early teens
ESL learners seeking simple English
Readers preferring contemporary language

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Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Prov 27:20 : 20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; And the eyes of man are never satisfied.
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.
Gen 30:1 : 1 And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and she said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

Prov 30:14-15
2 verses
85%
14There is a generation whose teeth are [as] swords, and their jaw teeth [as] knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
15The horseleach hath two daughters, [crying], Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, [Yea], four that say not, Enough:
Prov 27:20
76%
20Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; And the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Prov 30:21
74%
21For three things the earth doth tremble, And for four, [which] it cannot bear:
Job 24:18-21
4 verses
74%
18Swiftly they [pass away] upon the face of the waters; Their portion is cursed in the earth: They turn not into the way of the vineyards.
19Drought and heat consume the snow waters: [So doth] Sheol [those that] have sinned.
20The womb shall forget him; The worm shall feed sweetly on him; He shall be no more remembered; And unrighteousness shall be broken as a tree.
21He devoureth the barren that beareth not, And doeth not good to the widow.
1 Sam 2:5
72%
5They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; And they that were hungry have ceased [to hunger]: Yea, the barren hath borne seven; And she that hath many children languisheth.
Lam 4:4
72%
4The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: The young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them.
Prov 30:17-18
2 verses
71%
17The eye that mocketh at his father, And despiseth to obey his mother, The ravens of the valley shall pick it out, And the young eagles shall eat it.
18There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yea, four which I know not:
Jer 16:3
70%
3For thus saith Jehovah concerning the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and concerning their fathers that begat them in this land:
Job 39:16
70%
16She dealeth hardly with her young ones, as if they were not hers: Though her labor be in vain, [she is] without fear;
Hos 9:14
70%
14Give them, O Jehovah—what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
Eccl 6:7
70%
7All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
Nah 2:10
69%
10She is empty, and void, and waste; and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and anguish is in all loins, and the faces of them all are waxed pale.
Job 27:14-15
2 verses
69%
14If his children be multiplied, it is for the sword; And his offspring shall not be satisfied with bread.
15Those that remain of him shall be buried in death, And his widows shall make no lamentation.
Eccl 6:3
69%
3If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years are many, but his soul be not filled with good, and moreover he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he:
Jer 50:38
69%
38A drought is upon her waters, and they shall be dried up; for it is a land of graven images, and they are mad over idols.
Job 31:12
69%
12For it is a fire that consumeth unto Destruction, And would root out all mine increase.
Mark 9:48
69%
48where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
Luke 23:29
69%
29For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck.
Job 26:6
69%
6Sheol is naked before [God], And Abaddon hath no covering.
Ps 107:34
69%
34A fruitful land into a salt desert, For the wickedness of them that dwell therein.
Isa 5:14
69%
14Therefore Sheol hath enlarged its desire, and opened its mouth without measure; and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth among them, descend [into it].
Joel 1:20
69%
20Yea, the beasts of the field pant unto thee; for the water brooks are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
Eccl 1:8
69%
8All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
Isa 34:10
69%
10It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever; from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
Hos 2:3
68%
3lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst.
Job 14:11
68%
11[ As] the waters fail from the sea, And the river wasteth and drieth up;
Isa 9:18
68%
18For wickedness burneth as the fire; it devoureth the briers and thorns; yea, it kindleth in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
Job 30:3
68%
3They are gaunt with want and famine; They gnaw the dry ground, in the gloom of wasteness and desolation.
Job 21:24-25
2 verses
68%
24His pails are full of milk, And the marrow of his bones is moistened.
25And another dieth in bitterness of soul, And never tasteth of good.
Job 28:5
68%
5As for the earth, out of it cometh bread; And underneath it is turned up as it were by fire.
Job 3:21
68%
21Who long for death, but it cometh not, And dig for it more than for hid treasures;
Job 31:16
68%
16If I have withheld the poor from [their] desire, Or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
Isa 40:16
68%
16And Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering.
Jer 20:17
68%
17because he slew me not from the womb; and so my mother would have been my grave, and her womb always great.
Hos 13:13
68%
13The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for it is time he should not tarry in the place of the breaking forth of children.
Eccl 5:14
68%
14and those riches perish by evil adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.
Job 28:14
68%
14The deep saith, It is not in me; And the sea saith, It is not with me.
Job 22:7
68%
7Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, And thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.
Prov 30:11
68%
11There is a generation that curse their father, And bless not their mother.
Deut 29:23
68%
23[ and that] the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, [and] a burning, [that] it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
Prov 15:11
68%
11Sheol and Abaddon are before Jehovah: How much more then the hearts of the children of men!