Proverbs 27:20

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

Hell and destruction are never full; so 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 labour; man cannot utter it: the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
• Hab 2:5 : 5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
• Prov 30:15-16 : 15 The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: 16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is 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 in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour. 11 Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
• Eccl 6:7 : 7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.
• Jer 22:17 : 17 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
• Job 26:6 : 6 Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering.
• Prov 15:11 : 11 Hell and destruction are before the LORD: 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; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
• Eccl 4:8 : 8 There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also 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 is also vanity. 11 When goods increase, they are increased that eat them: and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their 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 pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.