Bible Strands
Proverbs 30:22
a servant who becomes king, a fool who is filled with food,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Agur introduces a list of four phenomena that make the earth tremble in Proverbs 30:21, and this verse supplies the first two items of that enumeration.
The words — The Hebrew יִמְל֑וֹךְ (yim.lokh) means "he will become king" and יִֽשְׂבַּֽע (yis.ba') means "he will be satisfied," describing a servant ruling and a fool eating to fullness.
The thread — The text parallels the social reversal in Ecclesiastes 10:7, while Proverbs 19:10 explicitly notes that luxury is unseemly for a fool and that a slave ruling over princes is an inversion of order.
Why it lands — The passage states that sudden elevation and unchecked appetite occur before warning that both conditions destabilize the foundations of society.
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
King James Version
For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;
Cross-references
- Proverbs 19:10 Luxury is unseemly for a fool—how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!
- Ecclesiastes 10:7 I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.
- 1 Samuel 25:3 His name was Nabal, and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband, a Calebite, was harsh and evil in his dealings.
- 1 Samuel 25:10 But Nabal asked them, “Who is David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants these days are breaking away from their masters.
- 1 Samuel 25:25 My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.
- 1 Samuel 25:36 When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
- 1 Samuel 30:16 So he led David down, and there were the Amalekites spread out over all the land, eating, drinking, and celebrating the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and the land of Judah.
- Isaiah 3:4 “I will make mere lads their leaders, and children will rule over them.”
- Proverbs 28:3 A destitute leader who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no food.