Bible Strands

Proverbs 30:14

there is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives, devouring the oppressed from the earth and the needy from among men.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Agur addresses a general audience within a wisdom discourse contrasting human generations. He describes a specific cohort actively engaged in social exploitation.

The words — חֲרָב֣וֹת (cha.ra.Vot) translates literally as swords, and עֲנִיִּ֣ים ('a.ni.Yim) means afflicted. These terms anchor the metaphor of predatory violence against vulnerable populations.

The thread — The motif of teeth as weapons appears in Psalms 57:4 and Psalms 3:7, while the image of devouring the vulnerable parallels Psalms 14:4. The passage directly follows Proverbs 30:13 and precedes Proverbs 30:15, framing a sequence on human insatiability.

Why it lands — It identifies a structural pattern where the powerful weaponize their bodies and status to consume the weak. It demands the reader recognize and name systemic oppression without romanticizing the victims or excusing the oppressors.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

דּ֤וֹר׀Dora generationחֲרָב֣וֹתcha.ra.Vot[are] swordsשִׁנָּיו֮shi.Na/vteeth/ itsוּֽמַאֲכָל֪וֹתu./ma.'a.kha.Lotand/ [are] knivesמְֽתַלְּעֹ֫תָ֥יוme.ta.le.'O.Ta/vjaw bones/ itsלֶאֱכֹ֣לle./'e.Kholto/ devourעֲנִיִּ֣ים'a.ni.Yimafflicted [people]מֵאֶ֑רֶץme./'E.retzfrom/ [the] earthוְ֝אֶבְיוֹנִ֗יםve./'ev.yo.Nimand/ needy [people]מֵאָדָֽם׃ פme./'a.Damfrom/ humankind

King James Version

There 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.

Cross-references