1 Agur’s confession of his faith. 7 The two points of his prayer. 10 The meanest are not to be wronged. 11 Four wicked generations. 15 Four things insatiable. 17 Parents are not to be despised. 18 Four things hard to be known. 21 Four things intolerable. 24 Four things exceeding wise. 29 Four things stately. 32 Wrath is to be prevented.
The Words of Agur
Pro 30:1 The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh—an inspired utterance. This man’s utterance to Ithiel: “I am weary, God, but I can prevail.
The interpretation of this verse has occasioned much discussion. Nowhere else in the Bible do we read of Agur or Jakeh or Ucal. The name Ithiel is found in Neh. 11:7 as belonging to a descendant of Benjamin. Some Jewish interpreters believe that “Agur” was an allegorical name for Solomon.
They render the opening phrase, “The sayings of Agur son of Jakeh—an inspired utterance. This man’s utterance to Ithiel: “I am weary, God, but I can prevail. The words of the gatherer the son of the Pious [or Obedient],” referring the designation “Pious” to David.
The Vulgate follows a similar idea, rendering the phrase, “The words of the Collector, son of the Utterer.” Those who do not consider Solomon the author of this section reason that it has a somewhat lower tone than the preceding portions of the book. They also point to vs. 2 and 3 as an unlikely utterance of Solomon. One Greek version and several expositors find in the word for “prophecy” the designation of a place called Massa, probably the one referred to in Gen. 25:14; 1 Chron. 1:30. But even with this designation no light is thrown on the identity of Agur. However, it is not necessary that we know through whom these inspired words were given.
Pro 30:2 Surely I am only a brute, not a man; I do not have human understanding.
This statement appears to be the frank confession of a man who realizes that he has not attained to the intellectual advancement within his grasp.
Pro 30:3 I have not learned wisdom, nor have I attained to the knowledge of the Holy One.
Pro 30:4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know!
Who has gone up? Only by so doing could a man gain any considerable knowledge of the Holy One. Jesus claimed that He alone could reveal the Father, because He alone had been in heaven (John 1:18; 3:13).
Wrapped up the waters. With this verse compare Job 38 and 39.
Pro 30:5 “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
Word. Heb. ’imrah, not occurring elsewhere in Proverbs. ’Imrah is found in the psalm from which the thought may have been taken (Ps. 119:140). The Lord has especially guarded His Word. To those who learn to rely upon it, the Word becomes a perfect shield and protection.
Flawless. Literally, “refined” (see Ps. 12:6).
Pro 30:6 Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.
Since the Word of God is purified by divine care, we should not tamper with it. Our finite minds can never fully understand the thoughts of God (Prov. 30:3, 4; Isa. 55:7–9). Moses gave a similar warning concerning the utterances of God (Deut. 4:2). John closed the last book of the Bible with an even more emphatic prohibition (Rev. 22:18, 19). There is no intention here to forbid the exposition of the Word of God if that Word is left unadulterated to act as a check upon the conclusions reached. It is the alteration or abandonment of the objective standard of truth that brings confusion and earns the reproof of God.
Pro 30:7 “Two things I ask of you, LORD; do not refuse me before I die:
Verses 7–9 present two requests to God the writer desired to see fulfilled during his lifetime.
Pro 30:8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.
Poverty nor riches. A prayer to be kept in moderate circumstances, for reasons given in v. 9.
Pro 30:9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.
The great danger in wealth is that it tends to make a man feel independent of God’s goodness and thus to separate him from the only Source of true riches (see Job 21:13–15; Ps. 73:12).
Poverty, on the other hand, tempts a man to feel that God has ceased to care for him, and may lead him to use sinful means to provide for his own needs (see Isa. 8:21). All men, rich and poor alike, must maintain the feeling of dependence upon the heavenly Father.
Pro 30:10 “Do not slander a servant to their master, or they will curse you, and you will pay for it.
The life of a slave may be made very much worse by the secret slandering of him by a free man. Sympathy is to be shown toward those in lowly positions.
Pro 30:11 “There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers
This verse begins a series of statements describing the generation then existing. The age is marked by disloyalty to parents, a sin deserving of death in Israel (Ex. 21:17; cf. Prov. 20:20).
Pro 30:12 those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth;
Own eyes. Compare Christ’s indictment, charge of the Pharisees (Matt. 23:25–28; Luke 18:9, 11). 13. Lofty. Compare chs. 6:17; 21:4.
Pro 30:13 those whose eyes are ever so haughty, whose glances are so disdainful;
Pro 30:14 those whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are set with knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among mankind.
The greed of this class knows no limits. These people cannot rest till the poor man is completely despoiled of his property (see Amos 8:4).
Pro 30:15 “The leech has two daughters. ‘Give! Give!’ they cry. “There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
The first clause reads literally, “the leech has two daughters, Give, Give.” “Give” may be considered either the name or the cry of these daughters.
Pro 30:16 the grave, the barren womb, land, which is never satisfied with water, and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’
The grave can never be so filled that there is no more room for death; the childless Israelite woman could never cease from her urgent desire to have children so that she might hold up her head among other women (see Gen. 30:1; cf. Gen. 16:4); a parched, “thirsty” soil can never get enough water to render it permanently fertile; and a fire will devour all it is given and never be satisfied.
Pro 30:17 “The eye that mocks a father, that scorns an aged mother, will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley, will be eaten by the vultures.
Long life is promised to those who honor their parents (Ex. 20:12). Violent death with no burial is here threatened for one who breaks the commandment.
Pro 30:18 “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand:
Pro 30:19 the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a young woman.
The four items mentioned are examples of inscrutable things, drawn from natural history. Some have observed that the point common to each of these four diverse things is that there is nothing to mark the path that they have pursued. Allegorizations such as liken the eagle to Christ (Deut. 32:11, 12), the serpent to the devil attacking Christ the Rock (Rev. 12:9), the ship to the church pursuing its unmarked course through the sea of sinful humanity, and the maid to the Virgin Mary, do violence to sound principles of Scriptural interpretation.
Pro 30:20 “This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’
The adulteress, together with all sinners who have escaped the observation of men and feel that there is no trace left of their transgressions, will find all her misdeeds laid bare in the judgment (see Matt. 12:36; 2 Cor. 5:10).
Pro 30:21 “Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up:
Pro 30:22 a servant who becomes king, a godless fool who gets plenty to eat,
The earth trembles under such incongruities as a slave made king, without any training to fit the bondman for the post (see ch. 19:10); a fool who is wealthy and able to gratify his uncontrolled desires to indulge himself and trouble others (see ch. 29:2); an unattractive woman who lives a soured and lonely life before finally marrying and then venting her spite upon those who formerly looked down upon her; and, lastly, a servant girl who fills her mistress’s shoes and is as little fitted to rule a household well as the slave to govern a kingdom.
Pro 30:23 a contemptible woman who gets married, and a servant who displaces her mistress.
Pro 30:24 “Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise:
Pro 30:25 Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer;
See on ch. 6:6.
Pro 30:26 hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags;
Heb. shephannim, probably “rock badgers.” They take shelter in the rocks and are said to appoint sentries to warn them of danger.
Pro 30:27 locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks;
These show no sign of having leaders, yet they move with the synchronism of a well-trained army.
Pro 30:28 a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.
Great achievements in spite of feebleness are stressed. The lizard is so weak that it can easily be seized by the hand, yet it invades kings’ palaces.
Pro 30:29 “There are three things that are stately in their stride, four that move with stately bearing:
Four examples of efficient and confident movement are given.
Pro 30:30 a lion, mighty among beasts, who retreats before nothing;
The word here used for “lion” occurs elsewhere only in Job 4:11; Isa. 30:6.
Pro 30:31 a strutting rooster, a he-goat, and a king secure against revolt.
Pro 30:32 “If you play the fool and exalt yourself, or if you plan evil, clap your hand over your mouth!
Pro 30:33 For as churning cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up anger produces strife.”
Angry pressure upon the nose produces blood, and pressure upon one who is angry will certainly produce strife.