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Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament

Proverbs 30

Proverbs 30: the words of Agur, the prayer for neither poverty nor riches, and the numbered sayings

General context

The chapter opens with a heading: "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal". The speaker says he is more brutish than any man and has not learned wisdom. He asks who has ascended into heaven or descended, gathered the wind in his fists, bound the waters in a garment, established the ends of the earth, and what his name and his son's name are. Every word of God is pure, and nothing is to be added to it. The speaker asks two things before he dies: remove vanity and lies far from me, and give me neither poverty nor riches, lest I be full and say, Who is the Lord? or be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain. Four sayings begin "There is a generation": one that curses father and mother, one pure in its own eyes yet unwashed, one with lofty eyes, and one whose teeth are swords to devour the poor. The horseleach has two daughters crying, Give, give; four things never say enough: the grave, the barren womb, the dry earth and fire. Four ways are too wonderful: an eagle, a serpent on a rock, a ship in the sea, a man with a maid; such is the way of an adulterous woman, who wipes her mouth and says she has done no wickedness. Four things the earth cannot bear: a servant reigning, a fool filled with meat, an odious woman married, a handmaid heir to her mistress. Four things are little but wise: ants, conies, locusts and the spider. If you have lifted yourself up, lay your hand on your mouth; churning milk brings butter, wringing the nose blood, and forcing wrath strife.

Cited passages: Proverbs 30:1, Proverbs 30:2, Proverbs 30:3, Proverbs 30:4, Proverbs 30:5, Proverbs 30:6, Proverbs 30:7, Proverbs 30:8, Proverbs 30:9, Proverbs 30:10, Proverbs 30:11, Proverbs 30:12, Proverbs 30:13, Proverbs 30:14, Proverbs 30:15, Proverbs 30:16, Proverbs 30:17, Proverbs 30:18, Proverbs 30:19, Proverbs 30:20, Proverbs 30:21, Proverbs 30:22, Proverbs 30:23, Proverbs 30:24, Proverbs 30:25, Proverbs 30:28, Proverbs 30:29, Proverbs 30:31, Proverbs 30:32, Proverbs 30:33

Proverbs 30 (KJV)

1The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal,

2Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.

3I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.

4Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?

5Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

6Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

7Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:

8Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:

9Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

10Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty.

11There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.

12There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

13There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.

14There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.

15The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:

16The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.

17The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.

18There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not:

19The 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 maid.

20Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

21For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:

22For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat;

23For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.

24There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:

25The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;

26The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;

27The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;

28The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.

29There be three things which go well, yea, four are comely in going:

30A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any;

31A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.

32If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, lay thine hand upon thy mouth.

33Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The heading names Agur the son of Jakeh as the speaker, calls his words "the prophecy", and names Ithiel and Ucal as those he spoke to. None of these four names appears anywhere else in the book, and the chapter gives no place, time, office or people for any of them. Agur speaks in the first person in verses 2 to 9, calling himself brutish and untaught; the text does not say whether this is modesty or fact. The questions of verse 4 end with "what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?", and the chapter does not answer them. God is named in verses 5 and 9, and the Lord in verse 9 inside the denial the speaker fears he might make. The two requests of verses 7 to 9 are addressed to "thee" and the reasons given, "deny thee" and "take the name of my God in vain", show the one addressed is God. From verse 10 the sayings are no longer in the first person except for verse 18, "too wonderful for me". The numbered lists count "three ... yea, four" and then list four; the text does not explain the counting. The adulterous woman of verse 20 is attached to the list of ways by "Such is the way", and her words are quoted speech. The greyhound, he goat and conies are the KJV's words for the animals listed.

Cited passages: Proverbs 30:1, Proverbs 30:2, Proverbs 30:4, Proverbs 30:5, Proverbs 30:9, Proverbs 30:7, Proverbs 30:18, Proverbs 30:15, Proverbs 30:20, Proverbs 30:31, Proverbs 30:26

Literary context

The chapter has almost no antithetic pairs; its forms are the question, the list and the numbered saying. Verse 4 stacks six questions about heaven, wind, waters, earth and a name. Four verses in a row begin "There is a generation" (11 to 14), each adding a trait; the third names lofty eyes and the fourth teeth that devour the poor. The numbered sayings follow a fixed pattern, "three things ... yea, four", used in verses 15 and 16, 18 and 19, 21 to 23, and 29 to 31, with a plain "four things" in verses 24 to 28; each announces the count, then lists. The lists are built from animals and elements: horseleach, ravens, eagles, eagle, serpent, ship, ants, conies, locusts, spider, lion, greyhound, he goat. The prayer of verses 7 to 9 is balanced on two fears, fullness that denies and poverty that steals, each given its own imagined sentence. Verse 20 hangs an adulterous woman on the list of "ways" that are too wonderful, and gives her a gesture and a line, wiping her mouth and denying wickedness. The chapter closes with three parallel "bringeth forth" clauses, milk to butter, nose to blood, wrath to strife, after the command to lay the hand on the mouth, which answers the speaker's opening confession of brutishness.

Cited passages: Proverbs 30:4, Proverbs 30:11, Proverbs 30:13, Proverbs 30:14, Proverbs 30:15, Proverbs 30:18, Proverbs 30:21, Proverbs 30:29, Proverbs 30:24, Proverbs 30:27, Proverbs 30:30, Proverbs 30:8, Proverbs 30:9, Proverbs 30:20, Proverbs 30:33, Proverbs 30:32, Proverbs 30:2

Key moments

  1. The words of Agur (Proverbs 30:1). A heading introduces Agur the son of Jakeh speaking to Ithiel and Ucal.
  2. Who hath ascended? (Proverbs 30:4). A chain of questions asks who gathered the wind and established the earth, and what his name is.
  3. Neither poverty nor riches (Proverbs 30:8). The speaker asks for neither poverty nor riches but food convenient for him.
  4. Give, give (Proverbs 30:15). The horseleach's two daughters cry Give, give, and four things never say enough.
  5. Four wonderful ways (Proverbs 30:19). The eagle, serpent, ship and a man with a maid are named as ways too wonderful.
  6. Little but wise (Proverbs 30:25). The ants, though not strong, prepare their meat in the summer.
  7. Forcing of wrath (Proverbs 30:33). Churning milk yields butter, wringing the nose blood, and forcing wrath strife.

For reflection

Agur asks for neither poverty nor riches and gives a fear for each: fullness that denies the Lord, and poverty that steals. Do the chapter's own lists, the generation whose teeth devour the poor and the things that never say enough, treat one of those two fears as the nearer danger?

People in this chapter

Also indexed here:

  • Agur
  • Ithiel
  • Jakeh
  • Ucal