The spider skillfully grasps with its hands, And it is in kings’ palaces.
Parallel translations
- WEB You can catch a lizard with your hands, yet it is in kings’ palaces.
- KJV The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.
- BSB and the lizard can be caught in one’s hands, yet it is found in the palaces of kings.
- NASB The lizard you may grasp with the hands, Yet it is in kings’ palaces.
- NLT Lizards—they are easy to catch, but they are found even in kings’ palaces.
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
A lizard, easily caught by hand, still manages to dwell in kings' palaces.
Overview
Despite its smallness and apparent helplessness, the lizard gains access to the grandest places. Its wisdom is in persistence and boldness that overcome natural limitations. The saying encourages the lowly that determination and God-given resourcefulness can carry them far beyond what their weakness would suggest.
Cross-references & the web
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Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 30:28 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.