Picking out names for children can be fun. Maybe you once read names out of one of those books that tells you what each name means, or maybe you Googled the top ten names for the year; maybe you passed on a family name to your children.
For some people, names mean something; for others, they just like the way a name sounds. In the book of Proverbs we meet someone who gave her children interesting names. In fact, she named both of her daughters the same thing: Give.
Verse 15 says, "The leech has two daughters: Give and Give."
Some older translations say the leech is crying out Give and Give, but there is nothing in the original Hebrew to indicate she is saying anything at all. The best translation seems to be that she has named each of her daughters Give.
This is fictitious, of course, and she is a leech, so we know the author is just telling a humorous story. A leech (or horse leech in some older versions) is a parasite, attaching itself to a host and sucking its blood. She named her daughters Give because she never has enough.
The author of this Proverb, identified as Agur in v.1, is making the point that some people are never satisfied. He mentions the ground that never stops needing the rain, and fire that continues to burn as long as there is something it can destroy.
The point of this proverb is that we need to learn contentment rather than always craving the next thing. We can become like that mother leech, demanding ever more resources from a host. No matter how much we have (or take), we are not satisfied. We start to sound like her children: "Give me more! Give me more!"
If we move from Proverbs to Philippians and look at a first we often take out of context, Paul spoke about contentment: "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. I can do all things through him who strengthens me." (4:11-13)
Whether you have plenty or lack plenty, we need to be content. That is where peace and joy thrive. We are not called to be leeches; don't name your children Give. Ask the Lord to make you content with what you have.
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