Proverbs 30:14

Modern

…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.

Traditional

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.

Literal

A generation—its teeth are swords and its fangs are knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and needy ones from mankind.

Latin

…generatio quæ pro dentibus gladios habet, et commandit molaribus suis, ut comedat inopes de terra, et pauperes ex hominibus.

Hebrew

English

…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.

These verses describe traits that wise people dislike. Fools:

Disrespect their parents (Proverbs 10:1; 20:20; Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16)
Deceive themselves (Proverbs 8:7)
Think they are clean when they are not (Proverbs 20:9)
Are proud (Proverbs 6:17–18; 11:2; 13:10; 15:33; 16:18; 18:12; 19:20; 29:23)
Hurt others with their words (teeth like swords, see Proverbs 25:18)
Harm the poor (Proverbs 3:27; 11:24; 28:27; 29:7, 14)

Theme notes and profiles

Psalm 57:4
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts—with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
Psalm 3:7
Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked.
Psalm 14:4
Will the workers of iniquity never learn? They devour my people like bread; they refuse to call upon the LORD.
Job 29:17
I shattered the fangs of the unjust and snatched the prey from his teeth.
Ecclesiastes 4:1
Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.
Psalm 58:6
O God, shatter their teeth in their mouths; O LORD, tear out the fangs of the lions.
Psalm 12:5
“For the cause of the oppressed and for the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will bring safety to him who yearns.”
Revelation 9:8
They had hair like that of women, and teeth like those of lions.
Amos 8:4
Hear this, you who trample the needy, who do away with the poor of the land,
Micah 2:1–2
Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
Psalm 10:8–9
He lies in wait near the villages; in ambush he slays the innocent; his eyes watch in stealth for the helpless.
Zephaniah 3:3
Her princes are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves, leaving nothing for the morning.