Proverbs 30 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Unknown, possibly pre-exilic (before 586 BC)
Location
Possibly outside Israel — Agur may have been from the Arabian region of Massa
Audience
Wisdom seekers in Israel and beyond
Situation
Proverbs 30 contains 'the words of Agur son of Jakeh' — the only chapter attributed to this otherwise unknown sage. It represents international wisdom included in Israel's collection.
Key Background
Agur is not an Israelite king or prophet but a foreign wisdom teacher, possibly from the Arabian tribe of Massa (also mentioned in Genesis 25:14 as an Ishmaelite clan). His inclusion demonstrates that Israel valued wisdom regardless of its source. The chapter opens with a remarkable confession of human ignorance before God (vv.1-4), followed by a prayer for neither poverty nor wealth (vv.7-9), and a series of 'numerical proverbs' (three things... four things...) that use keen natural observation to illuminate human behavior. This literary form was common in ancient Near Eastern wisdom traditions.
The words of son of Jakeh — an oracle. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:
Surely I am more than anyone, and I lack the understanding that most people have.
I have not learned wisdom, nor do I have knowledge of the who is
Who has gone up to heaven and come back down? Who has the in the hollow of hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is and what is son's name? Surely you know!
Every word God speaks has been and true. He is a to everyone who in him.
Don't add to his words, or he will you and expose you as a liar.
Two things I ask of you, — don't refuse me before I die:
Keep and far from me; give me neither poverty nor wealth — just feed me the I for
Otherwise, I might have too much and you, saying, "Who is Yahweh?" Or I might become poor and steal, disgracing the of my God.
Don't a to their employer, or they will curse you and you'll pay the price.
There are those who their father and of their mother.
There are those who see themselves as clean but have never been washed of their
There are those — how their eyes! How their eyelids lift with contempt!
There are those whose teeth are swords, whose jaws are set with knives, ready to the from the earth and the needy from among humanity.
The has two daughters: "Give! Give!" they cry. Three things are never satisfied, four that never say "Enough!":
The the womb, land that is never satisfied with water, and fire that never says "Enough!"
The eye that a father and scorns obedience to a mother — the of the valley will gouge it out, and the vultures will eat it.
Three things me, four that I can't begin to understand:
the way an soars through the sky, the way a snake moves over rock, the way a ship cuts through open ocean, and the way a man for a woman.
This is also the way of an woman: she eats, wipes her mouth, and says,
Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up:
a who becomes king, a who is stuffed with food,
a who finally gets married, and a servant girl who
Four things on earth are small, but they are
are creatures of little strength, but they store up their food in summer.
are not powerful creatures, but they make their home in the cliffs.
have no king, but they all in
A you can catch with your hands, but it makes its way into kings' palaces.
Three things move with dignity, four that carry themselves with
a the animals, who doesn't retreat before anything,
a a male goat, and a
If you've been foolish enough to yourself, or if you've been scheming — stop and
For as cream produces butter, and as twisting the nose produces blood, so stirring up produces