Proverbs 6:6–8
The ant, and a Greek bee
"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest." The Hebrew stops there. The library's Greek continues with a passage about the bee: "Or go to the bee, and learn how industrious she is… kings and the sick use the fruit of her labour for their health; she is glorious and desired by all."
Disputed addition: some witnesses include it, some do not
The family tree
Each row is a language or text tradition. Witnesses in the same row may share ancestry, revise one another, or have an uncertain relationship; the line under each box says which. A solid arrow appears only where direct copying or a documented revised edition is established. Order by date never implies copying. Scroll sideways on a phone.
✓ includes the disputed words · ✕ does not include them · ❝ quotes part of them · ⓘ reports on manuscripts · ▢ pages lost · – no copy survives
- Same line, through lost copies
- Translation
Every witness, in order
Collections from the monarchy to the Persian period (debated)
The proverb as first composed
No original survives. The oldest Hebrew copies of Proverbs are two small Qumran fragments (4Q102, 4Q103, 1st century BC – 1st century AD, reported).
Jerome c. AD 398, from Hebrew; edition 1592
Latin Vulgate (Clementine)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Clementine Vulgate (1592 edition).
Vade ad formicam, o piger, et considera vias ejus, et disce sapientiam. Quæ cum non habeat ducem, nec præceptorem, nec principem, parat in æstate cibum sibi, et congregat in messe quod comedat.
Latin position: Proverbs 6:6–8. Jerome translated Proverbs from Hebrew (c. AD 398), so the Vulgate is an indirect witness to a Hebrew text, with Jerome's interpretation.
AD 1008
Masoretic Text (Leningrad Codex)
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: Westminster Leningrad Codex, a digital transcription of the Leningrad Codex.
לֵֽךְ־אֶל־נְמָלָ֥ה עָצֵ֑ל רְאֵ֖ה דְרָכֶ֣יהָ וַחֲכָֽם׃ אֲשֶׁ֖ר אֵֽין־לָ֥הּ קָצִ֗ין שֹׁטֵ֥ר וּמֹשֵֽׁל׃ תָּכִ֣ין בַּקַּ֣יִץ לַחְמָ֑הּ אָגְרָ֥ה בַ֝קָּצִ֗יר מַאֲכָלָֽהּ׃
Go to the ant, sluggard; see her ways and be wise: she has no chief, officer or ruler, yet she prepares her food in summer and gathers her provisions at harvest
Hebrew position: Proverbs 6:6–8.
1611
King James Bible
How the site knows this: Read in the site's library text: King James Version (1769 text).
Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
Old Greek c. 2nd century BC; French 1872
Greek Proverbs (library: Giguet's French)
How the site knows this: Known here only through a translation.
Va voir la fourmi, ô paresseux; regarde, et sois envieux de ses voies, et deviens plus sage qu’elle. Car elle n’a ni laboureurs, ni maîtres, ni personne qui la contraigne. Cependant elle prépare l’été sa nourriture, et en fait d’abondants magasins au temps de la moisson. Ou bien encore va voir l’abeille, et apprends comme elle est industrieuse, et comme son industrie est digne de nos respects; car les rois et les infirmes usent, pour leur santé, des fruits de son labeur. Or elle est glorieuse et désirée de tous, et, si chétive qu’elle soit, on l’honore, parce qu’elle apprécie la sagesse.
Greek (digital file) position: Proverbs 6:6–8. Giguet's 1872 French of a printed Greek text (D check). No Göttingen critical edition of Greek Proverbs is published yet; a C check needs Rahlfs–Hanhart and specialist studies. The bee passage is inside the file's 6:8.
What changed, and why
The ant (nemalah) is the Levantine harvester ant, which gathers seeds in summer and stores them underground; the Mishnah discusses grain found in ant-holes (Pe'ah 4:11). "No guide, overseer, or ruler" describes how the ants appear to an observer: they work without anyone forcing them. The lesson is foresight and self-motivation. The same small creature reappears in 30:24–25 among the "four things which are little upon the earth."
The bee passage (Greek 6:8a–c in modern editions) has no Hebrew witness. Greek writers from Aristotle on admired the bee's industry and order, and many scholars think the Greek translator added it, perhaps in a Hellenistic setting where the bee was a standard moral example. It is a clear case of the Greek Proverbs expanding the Hebrew. The library's Greek includes it inside verse 8 (D check); its exact wording is a C check (Rahlfs).
What the evidence shows
- The library's Greek includes a bee passage after the ant.
- The bee passage has no Hebrew counterpart in the library's Hebrew.
- The bee passage was added by the Greek translator.
Sources
Related lessons
- Proverbs 6: Go to the Ant, Thou Sluggard →Proverbs 6 gathers four short teachings and one long one. Do not guarantee another person's debt; if you have, get free at once (vv. 1–5). Learn from the ant, which works without a supervisor (vv. 6–11). The troublemaker winks, gestures and sows discord, and will be broken suddenly (vv. 12–15). Six things the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination (vv. 16–19). And adultery is fire in one's lap: the husband's jealousy accepts no payment (vv. 20–35).