Three Things . . . Four Things

Proverbs 30:21–28

Biblical Period

²¹The earth shudders at three things,

At four which it cannot bear:

²²A slave who becomes king;

A scoundrel sated with food;

²³A loathsome woman who gets married;

A slave-girl who supplants her mistress.

²⁴Four are among the tiniest on earth,

Yet they are the wisest of the wise:

²⁵Ants are a folk without power,

Yet they prepare food for themselves in summer;

²⁶The badger is a folk without strength,

Yet it makes its home in the rock;

²⁷The locusts have no king,

Yet they all march forth in formation;

²⁸You can catch the lizard^a in your hand,

Yet it is found in royal palaces.

Or “spider.”

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 1.

Ishmael’s Descendants