Proverbs 30:19

The way of an eagle in the air,.... And so of any other bird; but this is mentioned, because it flies swiftest, and soars highest: but the way in which it goes is not known, nor can it be seen with

There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: There be three (things) ... yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a

The way of an eagle in the air; either, 1. The manner of her flight, which is exceeding high, and swift, and strong. Or rather, 2. The way or part of the air through which she passeth, without leaving any print or sign in it, which though it be true of all birds, yet is here attributed to the eagle, of whom this is more true, because she flies out of sight, where neither her body nor any sign of it can be discerned. The way of a serpent upon a rock; where she leaves no impression, nor slime, nor token where she was, as she doth in softer bodies, and as birds leave their feathers there. The way of a ship in the midst of the sea; which though at present it make a furrow, yet is speedily closed again. The way of a man with a maid; either, 1. The various methods and artifices which young men use to entice or persuade young virgins, either to honest love and marriage, or to unlawful lust and uncleanness. Or rather, 2. The impure conversation of a man with one who goeth under the name of a maid, but is not so in truth, which is managed with so much secrecy and cunning that it can very hardly be discovered; which exposition agrees best with the foregoing. similitudes referred to it, and with the following verse.

Proverbs 30:19 The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.Ver. 19. And the way of a man with a maid.] That is, Either with a close and chaste virgin, that is kept close from the access of strangers, and goes covered with a veil; or else with a maid that, though deflowered, yet would pass for a pure virgin, and is so taken to be till her lewdness is discovered. It is expressly noted of Rebecca, to her commendation, that though fair to look upon, yet she was a virgin, neither had any man known her. There are those who pass for virgins, and yet it cannot be said of them that man never knew them. “ Thesaurum cure virgo tuum vas fictile servet, Ut fugias quae sunt noxia, tuta time. ”

Verse 19. The way of an eagle] I borrow, with thanks, the very sensible note of the Rev. Mr. Holden on this passage. "The particle כן ken plainly shows that Proverbs 30:19-20 are to be taken in connection; consequently, it is a comparison between the way of an adulterous woman, and the way of the things here described. "The adulterous woman goes about in search of her deluded victim, like as the eagle takes its flight into the air to spy out its prey. She uses every species of blandishment and insinuation to allure and beguile, as the serpent employs its windings and sinuous motions to pass along the rocks; she pursues a course surrounded with danger, as a ship in the midst of the sea is continually exposed to the fury of the tempest, and the hazard of shipwreck; and she tries every means, and exercises all her sagacity, to prevent the discovery of her illicit enjoyments, as a man attempts to conceal his clandestine intercourse with a maid. Such is the conduct of a lewd woman, marked by specious dissimulation and traitorous blandishment; she eateth and wipeth her mouth-she indulges her adulterous lust, yet artfully endeavours to conceal it, and with unblushing countenance asserts her innocence, exclaiming, I have done no wickedness." CHAUCER'S January and May is an excellent comment on such wiles and protestations. The way of a man with a maid.] בעלמה bealmah, with, or in a maid; but one of De Rossi's MSS. has בעלמיו bealmaiv, in his youth; and with this the SEPTUAGINT, εςνεοτητι, the VULGATE, in adolescentia, the SYRIAC and the ARABIC agree; and so also my own MS. Bible:-The weie of a man in his waxing youthe. Dr. Kennicott, in a sermon preached at Oxford, 1765, p. 46, has defended the reading of the versions, corroborating it by two MSS., one in the Harleian, and the other in the Bodleian library, besides that mentioned by De Rossi. See De Rossi's Var. Lect. Certainly the way of a man in his youth contains too many intricacies for human wisdom to explore. He only who searches the heart knows fully its various corrupt principles, and their productions. The common reading may refer to the formation of a child in the womb. But some have understood it of the immaculate conception. See Clarke on Matthew 1:23, where the subject is largely considered. If we take the four things which Agur says were too wonderful for him, in their obvious sense, there is little difficulty in them. 1. The passage which a bird makes through the air; 2. That which is made by a serpent on a rock; and, 3. That made by a ship through the sea, are such as cannot be ascertained: for who can possibly show the track in which either of them has passed? And as to the fourth, if it refer to the suspected incontinence of one reputed a virgin, the signs are so equivocal, as to be absolutely unascertainable.

18–20. Four things that are inscrutable.

18, 19. Too wonderful — As we have in the preceding verses several illustrations of the insatiable, so we have in these examples of the mysterious.