Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
Parallel translations
- WEB Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; and a man’s eyes are never satisfied.
- KJV Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
- NKJV Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied.
- NASB Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of a person ever satisfied.
- NLT Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Death is never full, and human desire is likewise never satisfied. It warns against the insatiable craving that nothing earthly can fill.
Overview
Sheol and Abaddon, names for the realm of the dead, never stop receiving, and the proverb likens human eyes and desires to that endless appetite. It exposes the futility of seeking contentment in more possessions or experiences. Only Christ, the bread and water of life, can finally satisfy the restless human heart (John 4:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Eccl 1:8All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing.
- 1 Jn 2:16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- Prov 30:15–16The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
- Eccl 6:7All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
- Hab 2:5and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and collects all the peoples as his own.
- Eccl 4:8There is a man all alone, without even a son or brother. And though there is no end to his labor, his eyes are still not content with his wealth: “For whom do I toil and bereave my soul of enjoyment?” This too is futile—a miserable task.
- Eccl 2:10–11Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
- Eccl 5:10–11He who loves money is never satisfied by money, and he who loves wealth is never satisfied by income. This too is futile.
- Jer 22:17“But your eyes and heart are set on nothing except your own dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood, on practicing extortion and oppression.”
- Prov 23:5When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
- Job 26:6Sheol is naked before God, and Abaddon has no covering.
- Prov 15:11Sheol and Abaddon lie open before the LORD—how much more the hearts of men!
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 27:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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