Proverbs Chapter 30 verse 26 Holy Bible

ASV Proverbs 30:26

The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks;
read chapter 30 in ASV

BBE Proverbs 30:26

The conies are only a feeble people, but they make their houses in the rocks;
read chapter 30 in BBE

DARBY Proverbs 30:26

the rock-badgers are but a feeble folk, yet they make their house in the cliff;
read chapter 30 in DARBY

KJV Proverbs 30:26

The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;
read chapter 30 in KJV

WBT Proverbs 30:26


read chapter 30 in WBT

WEB Proverbs 30:26

The conies are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the rocks;
read chapter 30 in WEB

YLT Proverbs 30:26

Conies `are' a people not strong, And they place in a rock their house,
read chapter 30 in YLT

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 26. - The conies are but a feeble folk. The term "coney" (cuniculus) is applied to the rabbit, but this is not the animal here intended; and indeed rabbits are not found in Palestine. The word shaphan designates the Hyrax Syriacus, called by some the rock badger (see Hatrt, 'Animals of the Bible,' pp. 64, etc.). The coney, says Dr. Geikie ('Holy Land and Bible,' 2:90), "abounds in the gorge of the Kedron, and along the foot of the mountains west of the Dead Sea. It is of the size of the rabbit, but belongs to a very different order of animals, being placed by naturalists between the hippopotamus and rhinoceros. Its soft fur is brownish-grey over the back, with long black hairs rising through this lighter coat, and is almost white on the stomach; the tail is very short. The Jews, who were not scientific, deceived by the motion of its jaws in eating, which is exactly like that of ruminant animals, fancied it chewed the cud, though it did not divide the hoof, and so they put its flesh amidst that which was forbidden. It lives in companies, and chooses a ready-made cleft in the rocks for its home, so that, though the conies are but a 'feeble folk,' their refuge in the rocks gives them a security beyond that of stronger creatures. They are, moreover, 'exceeding wise,' so that it is very hard to capture one. Indeed, they are said, on high authority, to have sentries regularly placed on the look out while the rest are feeding; a squeak from the watchman sufficing to send the flock scudding to their holes like rabbits. The coney is found in many parts of Palestine, from Lebanon to the Dead Sea." In the rocks. This fact is noticed in Psalm'civ. 18. The Septuagint calls them χοιρογρύλλιοι here and Psalm 104:18, also in Leviticus 11:6 and Deuteronomy 14:7. This notion of the animal as a kind of little pig is not more accurate than that of St. Jerome, who renders the term by lepusculus.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(26) The conies are but a feeble folk, being only about as big as a rabbit, with nails instead of claws, and weak teeth. Its Hebrew name (sh?ph?n) signifies a "hider," from its habit of living in clefts of the rocks; its scientific name is Hyrax Syriacus. The translation "coney," i.e., rabbit, is a mistake. In general appearance it resembles a guinea-pig or marmot.