The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maiden.
All Commentaries on Proverbs 30:19 Go To Proverbs 30
Hippolytus of Rome
AD 235
As a serpent cannot mark its track upon a rock, so the devil could not find sin in the body of Christ. For the Lord says, “Behold, the prince of the world comes and will find nothing in me.” For as a ship, sailing in the sea, leaves no traces of its way behind it, so neither does the church, which is situated in the world as in a sea, leave her hope upon the earth, because she has her life reserved in heaven; and as it holds her way here only for a short time, it is not possible to trace out her course.… “There are three things which I cannot understand, and the fourth I know not: the tracks of an eagle flying,” that is, Christ’s ascension; “and the ways of a serpent upon a rock,” that is, that the devil did not find a trace of sin in the body of Christ; “and the ways of a ship crossing the sea,” that is, the ways of the church, which is in this life as in a sea and which is directed by its hope in Christ through the cross; “and the ways of a man in youth”—the ways of him, namely, who is born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin. .
