Proverbs 30:15 says, “The leech has two daughters: ‘Give! Give!'” This proverb comes from the sayings of Agur son of Jakeh, who utters words of wisdom and confession to God (Proverbs 30:1). In this verse, Agur uses the metaphor of the leech and its “two daughters” to make a point about insatiable human nature.
In the ancient world, leeches were seen as creatures that sucked blood continuously, never satisfied. As the ESV Study Bible notes, “The leech’s two daughters crying ‘Give’ and ‘Give’ represent insatiable human nature, always wanting more.” Just as the leech cries “give” for more blood, the “two daughters” depict human beings constantly crying “give me more!” Our sinful human nature is like the leech’s daughters – never satisfied, always wanting more possessions, money, comfort, entertainment, etc.
Matthew Henry comments on this verse: “The desire of the slothful kills him because his hands refuse to labor. He covets greedily all the daylong, but the righteous gives and does not spare. Such is the reigning love of money and of the world: while the covetous hold their treasures with an outstretched arm, God by his providence strips them out of it; or, by his justice, separates them from the enjoyment of it, and brings it into the hands of those who are active to distribute it, or do good with it. The love of the world oils the wheels of industry, but the love of Christ constrains Christians, by holy prudence, to serve him with what they may have, and scatters with a liberal hand what he has given them.”
John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible also gives helpful commentary: “The leech has two daughters, crying, Give, give; which some understand of the two forks of the leech; others interpret it of the man and the horse leeches; rather earth and hell, which are always craving, and can never have enough; or else the lust of the flesh and of the eyes, in men: but it seems best to interpret it of the insatiable desires of men; we all come into the world crying, as children do, give, give; and so we continue all our days: are never satisfied with getting money and riches, or pleasure, or honour and glory; still unsatisfied, craving more and more.”
So in summary, this proverb uses the metaphor of the constantly blood-sucking leech to depict the way that sinful human nature is never satisfied. Just as the leech always wants more blood to suck, people always want more possessions, money, comfort, pleasure, and honors. Our desires and cravings are like the “two daughters” of the leech, constantly crying out “give me more!” This is the nature of greed, covetousness, worldliness, and carnal lusts. The proverb teaches that only God can satisfy the longings of the human heart, not the temporary pleasures of sin.
Here are some key lessons we can take from Proverbs 30:15:
- Our hearts tend towards greed and worldliness apart from God’s grace.
- Coveting earthly things and crying “give me more” will never fully satisfy us.
- We should seek God rather than money, possessions, comforts, or human praise.
- God alone can satisfy the longings of our souls through Christ.
- We must repent of greedy desires and instead be generous and content.
- The wisdom of the world says to acquire more, but God says to be satisfied in Him.
This proverb is a warning against seeking fulfillment in earthly things rather than in the eternal God. Our hearts will always lust for “more”, but pursuing Christ is the only way to be truly satisfied. As Psalm 63:1 says, “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Christ alone can quench our soul’s thirst – not money, possessions, comforts, or human praise.
1. Our hearts tend towards greed and worldliness apart from God’s grace
The metaphor of the leech’s insatiable daughters depicts the natural human tendency towards greed, covetousness and worldliness. Ever since the fall of man, a craving for more has been rooted in the human heart. Our natural inclination is to want more and more – whether more money, a bigger house, nicer possessions, greater comforts, more entertainment, or higher status and honor from people. As sinners, we are never satisfied.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 says, “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.” Jesus warned, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). The Apostle John cautioned: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).
Apart from God’s restraining grace, our fallen human nature tends towards selfishness, greed, and coveting more of the things of this world. Proverbs 30:15 teaches that our cravings for more are like the leech’s daughters, never satisfied but always crying for more. Only through God’s mercy are we able to overcome innate covetousness and find contentment in Christ.
2. Coveting earthly things and crying “give me more” will never fully satisfy us
This proverb reminds us that seeking satisfaction in money, possessions, comforts, pleasure, and human praise will always leave us empty. Like the leech’s insatiable appetite for blood, our desires for more stuff, wealth, comfort, entertainment, and glory are never fully quenched.
Ecclesiastes 5:10 says the lover of money “will not be satisfied with money.” No matter how much they acquire, it does not give lasting contentment. Jesus asked, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). If our souls thirst for meaning, purpose, and eternal joy, no amount of earthly things can quench that spiritual craving.
Augustine of Hippo wrote in his Confessions, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee, O Lord.” The 17th century French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in every heart that only God can fill.” We were made to find ultimate satisfaction in God, not temporal things.
Proverbs 30:15 is a warning against looking to money, possessions, pleasure, comforts, entertainment, or human accolades for meaning and joy. Like the leech’s daughters, crying “give me more” will never deeply satisfy. Only Christ can quench the soul’s thirst for eternal joy and purpose.
3. We should seek God rather than money, possessions, comforts, or human praise
Based on the wisdom of Proverbs 30:15, we should pursue God rather than greedily seeking money, possessions, comforts, entertainment, and human praise. If we focus on storing up earthly treasures, we will never be satisfied, like the constantly craving leech (Matthew 6:19-21). But if we seek first God’s kingdom and righteousness, we find a treasure that moth and rust cannot destroy (Matthew 6:33).
Rather than striving for more possessions, we store up for ourselves treasures in heaven by generously serving God and others (Matthew 6:20, Luke 12:33-34). Rather than coveting greater comforts, Jesus says to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Him (Luke 9:23). Rather than craving the leech’s daughters of money, pleasure, and fame, we should pour our lives out for the eternal kingdom.
Psalm 63:1 expresses the attitude we should have: “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Our hearts should earnestly seek after God, not get distracted by the mirage of satisfaction from temporal things.
Proverbs 30:15 points to the futility of seeking meaning and joy apart from God. Instead of crying “give me more” like the leech’s daughters, we must seek after knowing Christ above all else.
4. God alone can satisfy the longings of our souls through Christ
The greed and craving depicted in Proverbs 30:15 will only be cured when our souls find satisfaction in God Himself. He made us with a thirst meant to be quenched only by Christ. Augustine wrote of this satisfaction, “Inordinate thirst for things that perish can only be quenched by the love of Him who is eternal.”
Psalm 42:1-2 beautifully expresses this longing of the soul for God: “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” God put spiritual thirst into our hearts so we would seek after Him.
Jesus said, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Coming to Christ in faith quenches the soul’s thirst for meaning, purpose, joy, salvation, and eternal life.
Proverbs 30:15 shows that the temporal things of this world will never satisfy our spiritual cravings. But God promises to satisfy the longing soul through Christ. As Psalm 107:9 says, God “satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.”
5. We must repent of greedy desires and instead be generous and content
The wisdom of Proverbs 30:15 should lead us to repentance. If we see in ourselves the leech’s insatiable daughters crying “give me more”, we must turn from covetousness and greed. By God’s grace, we can overcome inborn cravings by finding satisfaction in Him.
Part of our repentance is learning to be generous and giving rather than always taking more for ourselves. As Paul said, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need” (Ephesians 4:28). Following Christ means our hands are open to give rather than clenched to take more and more.
Repentance also means learning to be content with what God has already provided. As Paul testified, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need” (Philippians 4:11-12). Paul learned contentment in Christ, no longer crying for more like the leech.
Proverbs 30:15 calls us to repent of greed and covetousness. By God’s grace, we can become generous and content as we find ultimate satisfaction in Him.
6. The wisdom of the world says to acquire more, but God says to be satisfied in Him
The proverb’s image of the constantly craving leech points to the futility of worldly wisdom that says acquiring more stuff and comfort will lead to happiness. Society often tells us if we just had a little more money or a few more possessions, then we’d be satisfied.
But Proverbs 30:15 aligns with Jesus’ wisdom: “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15). And again, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:36). God says our lives and souls cannot be satisfied by an abundance of earthly possessions or comforts.
Worldly wisdom says we’ll be happy if we can get more stuff. But godly wisdom says we should pour out our lives for eternity and find our satisfaction in Christ. Serving Him brings lasting joy, not accumulating more temporal things.
Paul rightly admonished Timothy, “Godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (1 Timothy 6:6-8). True satisfaction is found in pursuing godliness, not material gain.
Proverbs 30:15 matches Jesus’ wisdom, not the world’s wisdom. We should seek first God’s kingdom rather than joining the world in its endless pursuit of more temporal things that never truly satisfy.
In conclusion, Proverbs 30:15 provides a profound metaphor to warn us against covetousness, greed, and seeking satisfaction from the temporal things of this world. Our cravings for more money, possessions, comforts, entertainment, and human praise are like the insatiable leech, always crying “give me more!” This proverb points us to the only true source of satisfaction for our souls – God Himself. Knowing Christ gives eternal joy, meaning, and purpose that the passing pleasures of sin can never match. This should lead us to repent of worldly desires and seek first God’s kingdom. The wisdom of Proverbs 30:15 stands as an enduring warning against materialism and a guide to finding true contentment in God.