Horse-Leech

The horse-leech is a blood-sucking parasite invoked once in Proverbs as a figure for greed that can never be filled.

A Figure of Insatiable Appetite

The single occurrence opens one of Agur's numerical sayings: "The horseleach has two daughters, [crying] Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, [Yes,] four that don't say, Enough:" (Pr 30:15). The horseleach (UPDV's archaic spelling) is itself the headline, with its "two daughters" personifying the doubled cry of "Give, give" — a creature whose nature is to drain without limit. The verse then opens onto the four things that never say "Enough" listed in the lines that follow: Sheol, the barren womb, the dry earth, and the fire. The horseleach sets the tone: appetite as a permanent, voiced demand.