Proverbs 30:1-6

The Words of Agur

1 The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.^[a] The man's oration to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:^[b]

2 I am the least intelligent of men,^[c] and I lack man's ability to understand.

3 I have not gained wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.^[d]

4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down?^[e] Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in a cloak?^[f] Who has established all the ends of the earth?^[g] What is His name, and what is the name of His Son- if you know?^[h]

5 Every word of God is pure;^{[i] [j]} He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

6 Don't add to His words,^[k] or He will rebuke you, and you will be proved a liar.

Proverbs 30:1-6 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 17

This chapter begins with a prophecy of Elijah, that there should be want of rain for some years to come, and he is directed to go first to the brook Cherith, where he should be fed by ravens, 1Ki 17:1-7, and afterwards he is sent to a widow at Zarephath, where he, she, and her son, were supported for a considerable time with a handful of meal, and a little oil in a cruse miraculously increased, 1Ki 17:8-16, whose son falling sick and dying, he restored to life, 1Ki 17:17-24.

Footnotes

• [a] Or The burden, or Jakeh from Massa; Pr 31:1
• [b] Hb uncertain. Sometimes read with different word division as oration: I am weary, God, I am weary, God, and I am exhausted, or oration: I am not God, I am not God, that I should prevail. LXX reads My son, fear my words and when you have received them repent. The man says these things to the believers in God, and I pause.
• [c] Lit I am more stupid than a man
• [d] Pr 9:10
• [e] Jn 3:13; Eph 4:9-10
• [f] Jb 26:8; 38:9
• [g] Jb 38:4-5; Ps 93:1; 119:90
• [h] Mt 11:27; Rv 19:12-13
• [i] Lit refined, like metal
• [j] Ps 12:6; 18:30
• [k] Dt 4:2; 12:32; Rv 22:18