Commentary - Proverbs 27:20

Bird's-eye view

This proverb presents a stark and unflinching analogy that cuts to the very core of our fallen human condition. It sets two insatiable realities side by side: the realm of the dead and the desires of mankind. Sheol, the grave, and Abaddon, destruction, are personified as having a ravenous, unending appetite. They are never full; they always have room for one more. Solomon then lays the spiritual straightedge alongside this physical reality and declares, "So the eyes of man are never satisfied." The verse is a diagnosis of the soul-sickness that plagues every son of Adam. It is a proverb about the sin of covetousness, which is not simply wanting something you do not have, but is a fundamental discontentment with the lot God has assigned you. It is the idolatry of the ever-wandering eye, the lust for more that is blind to the grace of enough.

The logic is simple and profound. Just as death and destruction are constants in this fallen world, constantly consuming and never reaching a state of satisfaction, so too is the sinful heart of man. The eyes are the gateway to the heart's desires. They look out upon the world and, apart from grace, they see a thousand things to want, a thousand lives to envy, a thousand sources of imagined happiness. This proverb is a mirror that forces us to see the futility of trying to satisfy the infinite craving of our hearts with the finite things of this world. It is a call to find our satisfaction not in what our eyes can see, but in the unseen God who alone is our portion and our sufficiency.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

Proverbs 27 is part of a larger collection of Solomon's wisdom that deals with practical realities of life in a fallen world. This chapter touches on the uncertainty of the future (v. 1), the danger of self-praise (v. 2), the burdens of foolishness (v. 3), the destructive nature of envy (v. 4), and the value of faithful friendship (vv. 5-6, 9-10). Our verse, verse 20, fits squarely within this context of sober realism. It follows a series of observations about human nature and the created order. Just as jealousy is uncontrollably fierce (v. 4) and a stone is heavy (v. 3), so the desires of man are fundamentally insatiable. The proverb serves as a theological anchor, explaining the why behind so much of the foolish behavior described elsewhere in the book. Why do men boast, envy, and strive endlessly? Because their eyes are never satisfied. It provides the deep diagnosis for which the rest of Scripture, and Christ Himself, is the only cure.

Key Issues

The Infinite Abyss Within

Modern man, particularly in the West, is drowning in opportunity and suffocating from a glut of choices. We are bombarded by advertisements that exist for one reason: to make us discontent with what we have. They are designed to make our eyes wander, to make us believe that satisfaction is just one more purchase, one more upgrade, one more experience away. But Solomon, writing three millennia ago, diagnosed the issue with perfect clarity. The problem is not the advertiser; he is simply a savvy opportunist working in a seller's market. The problem is within us. The sin of covetousness, as Paul tells us in Romans 7, is stirred up by the law, but it originates in the heart. It is a furnace of desire that is never quenched.

This proverb forces us to see that this endless wanting is not a sign of a healthy ambition, but rather a sign of our mortality and fallenness. It is the spiritual equivalent of the grave. The grave takes the king and the pauper, the wise man and the fool, and it is never full. It is an abyss. In the same way, the sinful heart takes in pleasure, possessions, and praise, and it is never full. It is a black hole. To try and fill it with the things of the world is like trying to fill the Grand Canyon with a teaspoon. The project is doomed from the start. The only thing that can satisfy an infinite craving is an infinite God.

Verse by Verse Commentary

20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,

Solomon begins with an observation from the physical world, an observation that every person in every culture understands intuitively. Sheol is the Hebrew word for the grave, the realm of the dead. It is the place where all the living are going. Throughout the Old Testament, it is depicted as a place that is always taking and never giving back. It is a mouth that is always open. Abaddon means destruction or ruin, and is often used in parallel with Sheol to intensify the idea of the finality and totality of death. The point is not to give a detailed theology of the afterlife, but to use this powerful, universal image of an unfillable reality. Death and destruction are never satisfied. They have swallowed up billions, and they are ready for billions more. Their appetite is, from our human perspective, infinite. They are a force of nature that cannot be appeased or filled up.

So the eyes of man are never satisfied.

The word "so" is the hinge upon which the entire proverb turns. It connects the observable reality of the grave to the internal reality of the human heart. In exactly the same way that the grave is never full, the eyes of man are never full. The "eyes" are used here as a metonym for human desire, for our capacity to see and want. This is a consistent biblical theme. Eve saw that the fruit was a "delight to the eyes" (Gen 3:6). Achan saw the spoils of Jericho and coveted them (Josh 7:21). David saw Bathsheba and his lust was kindled (2 Sam 11:2). The eyes are the scouts that go out into the world and report back to the heart on what is available to be desired. And in our fallen state, the heart's capacity for desire is a bottomless pit. No amount of seeing, having, or experiencing can fill it. The pleasure of a new possession fades, the thrill of a new experience wanes, and the eyes begin to wander again, looking for the next thing to consume. This is the very definition of slavery to sin. It is a hamster wheel of desire that leads only to exhaustion and, ultimately, to Sheol and Abaddon themselves.

Application

This proverb is a bucket of cold water in the face of our consumeristic, self-worshipping culture. It tells us that our restless pursuit of more is not a virtue, but a curse. It is the mark of the grave upon our souls. The application, therefore, must be radical. We are called to a radical contentment that is found only in Jesus Christ.

First, we must confess our covetousness as the idolatry that it is. When our eyes are not satisfied with what God has given us, it is because we have made a god out of what He has not given us. We are bowing down to the idol of "if only." If only I had that house, that job, that spouse, that reputation, then I would be satisfied. This proverb tells us that is a lie straight from the pit. You would not be satisfied. Your eyes would simply find a new object for their insatiable hunger.

Second, we must actively cultivate gratitude. The wandering eye is a thankless eye. The cure is to deliberately fix our gaze on the blessings God has already poured out upon us. We are to thank Him for our daily bread, for our families, for our salvation. Gratitude is the discipline of reminding our hearts that God has already given us everything in Christ (Eph 1:3). When we are truly grateful for what we have, the desire for what we do not have loses its power.

Finally, we must redirect our desires. God created us as desiring creatures. The goal is not to stop wanting, but to want the right thing. As C.S. Lewis noted, our problem is not that our desires are too strong, but that they are too weak. We are like children making mud pies in a slum because we cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We settle for the fleeting pleasures our eyes can see, because we have lost our appetite for the eternal glory that is unseen. The only thing that can satisfy the infinite abyss of the human heart is the infinite glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. He is the one who went into Sheol and Abaddon for us and came out the other side, having satisfied the demands of death itself. Only by fixing the eyes of our hearts on Him will the eyes of our flesh ever learn to be content.