Proverbs 30 is the 30th chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1] The book is a compilation of several wisdom literature collections: the heading in Proverbs 1:1 may be intended to regard Solomon as the traditional author of the whole book, but the dates of the individual collections are difficult to determine, and the book probably obtained its final shape in the post-exilic period. This chapter first records "the sayings of Agur", followed by a collection of epigrams and aphorisms.
The following table shows the Hebrew text[2] [3] of Proverbs 30 with vowels alongside an English translation based upon the JPS 1917 translation (now in the public domain).
| Verse | Hebrew | English translation (JPS 1917) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the burden. The man saith unto Ithiel, unto Ithiel and Ucal: | ||
| 2 | Surely I am brutish, unlike a man, And have not the understanding of a man; | ||
| 3 | And I have not learned wisdom, That I should have the knowledge of the Holy One. | ||
| 4 | Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in his garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou knowest? | ||
| 5 | Every word of God is tried; He is a shield unto them that take refuge in Him. | ||
| 6 | Add thou not unto His words, Lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. | ||
| 7 | Two things have I asked of Thee; Deny me them not before I die: | ||
| 8 | Remove far from me falsehood and lies; Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with mine allotted bread; | ||
| 9 | Lest I be full, and deny, and say: ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or lest I be poor, and steal, And profane the name of my God. | ||
| 10 | Slander not a servant unto his master, Lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty. | ||
| 11 | There is a generation that curse their father, And do not bless their mother. | ||
| 12 | There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, And yet are not washed from their filthiness. | ||
| 13 | There is a generation, Oh how lofty are their eyes! And their eyelids are lifted up. | ||
| 14 | There is a generation whose teeth are as swords, and their great teeth as knives, To devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. | ||
| 15 | The horseleech hath two daughters: ‘Give, give.’ There are three things that are never satisfied, Yea, four that say not: ‘Enough’: | ||
| 16 | The grave; and the barren womb; The earth that is not satisfied with water; And the fire that saith not: ‘Enough.’ | ||
| 17 | The eye that mocketh at his father, And despiseth to obey his mother, The ravens of the valley shall pick it out, And the young vultures shall eat it. | ||
| 18 | There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Yea, four which I know not: | ||
| 19 | 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 young woman. | ||
| 20 | So is the way of an adulterous woman; She eateth, and wipeth her mouth, And saith: ‘I have done no wickedness.’ | ||
| 21 | For three things the earth doth quake, And for four it cannot endure: | ||
| 22 | For a servant when he reigneth; And a churl when he is filled with food; | ||
| 23 | For an odious woman when she is married; And a handmaid that is heir to her mistress. | ||
| 24 | There are four things which are little upon the earth, But they are exceeding wise: | ||
| 25 | The ants are a people not strong, Yet they provide their food in the summer; | ||
| 26 | The rock-badgers are but a feeble folk, Yet make they their houses in the crags; | ||
| 27 | The locusts have no king, Yet go they forth all of them by bands; | ||
| 28 | The spider thou canst take with the hands, Yet is she in kings’palaces. | ||
| 29 | There are three things which are stately in their march, Yea, four which are stately in going: | ||
| 30 | The lion, which is mightiest among beasts, And turneth not away for any; | ||
| 31 | The greyhound; the he-goat also; And the king, against whom there is no rising up. | ||
| 32 | If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, Or if thou hast planned devices, lay thy hand upon thy mouth. | ||
| 33 | For the churning of milk bringeth forth curd, And the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood; So the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife. |
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Hebrew are of the Masoretic Text, which includes the Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).
There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BC. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B;
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Michael Fox,an American biblical scholar, divides this chapter into sections:
This collection is ascribed to an unknown non-Israelite sage (cf. also KJV). Fox suggests that it could have been appended to Proverbs because of its valuable cautionary comments and the exaltation of the Torah. The closeness 'in word and spirit' to Psalm 73 is noted as Agur, like the psalmist, combines confession of ignorance with a profession of faith and exultation in the insight that comes from God alone, while urging people to turn directly to God as a safeguard against temptation.
Aberdeen theologian Kenneth Aitken notes that Agur's sayings may not extend beyond verse 14, as the first 14 verses are separate from verses 15 onwards in the Septuagint, but also comments that "opinion is divided on whether they end before verse 14" (possible at verses 4, 6, or 9). The editors of the New American Bible, Revised Edition, suggest that the "original literary unit" probably consisted of verses 1 to 6.[4]
The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle.
The man declares to Ithiel,
to Ithiel and Ukal:[5]
Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.[6]
Who has ascended up into heaven, or descended?
Who has gathered the wind in his fists?
Who has bound the waters in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name, and what is the name of His son,
if you know?[7] Like those in Job 38–41, these rhetorical questions emphasize "the inscrutability of God's ways".
The editors of the New American Bible, Revised Edition, suggest that the original Agur text probably ended with these verses, because the first six verses reflect a single contrast between human fragility (and ignorance) and divine power (and knowledge).
This part contains various epigrams and three short aphorisms in the midst. Most of the epigrams (similar to KJV) take the form of lists. Epigrams i and vii contain unnumbered lists whose items are grouped by theme and anaphora (each line starts with the same word). Epigram v is a single-number list with four items. Epigrams ii, iii, iv, and vi are numerical proverbs, in the form "Three things … and four". The final item in the series is usually the climax and focal point.
. Michael D. Coogan . The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 . Coogan . Michael David . Marc Zvi . Brettler . Carol Ann . Newsom . Pheme . Perkins . Augmented 3rd . Oxford University Press . 2007 . 9780195288810 .
. Michael V. Fox . Proverbs 10-31: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary . Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries . Yale University Press . 2009 . 978-0300155563.
. Henry Hampton Halley. Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary . 24th (revised). Zondervan Publishing House . 1965 . registration. 0-310-25720-4.
. Ernst Würthwein . The Text of the Old Testament . Wm. B. Eerdmans . Grand Rapids, MI . 1995 . Erroll F.. Rhodes . 0-8028-0788-7 . January 26, 2019.