Proverbs 30

Proverbs 30 is the 30th chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.[1][2] The book is a compilation of several wisdom literature collections, with the heading in 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.[3] This chapter specifically records "the sayings of Agur",[4] followed by a collection of epigrams and aphorisms.[5]

Proverbs 30
← chapter 29
The whole Book of Proverbs in the Leningrad Codex (1008 C.E.) from an old fascimile edition.
BookBook of Proverbs
CategoryKetuvim
Christian Bible partOld Testament
Order in the Christian part21

Text

The original text is written in the Hebrew language. This chapter is divided into 33 verses.

Textual witnesses

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).[6]

There is also a translation into Koine Greek known as the Septuagint, made in the last few centuries BCE. Extant ancient manuscripts of the Septuagint version include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century), Codex Sinaiticus (S; BHK: S; 4th century), and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).[7]

Structure

Michael Fox groups this chapter into:[8]

Words of Agur (30:1–9)

This collection is ascribed to an unknown non-Israelite sage (cf. also 31:1).[4] It could be appended to Proverbs because of its valuable cautionary comments and the exaltation of Torah.[9] 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.[9]

Verse 1
The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle.
The man declares to Ithiel,
to Ithiel and Ukal:[10]
  • "The oracle" translates the Hebrew word massa, which could describe the sayings as a prophetic type 'revelation' (cf. Habakkuk 1:1), but here may designate 'the tribe or place of Massa in northern Arabia' (Genesis 25:14) to which Agur could belong (RSV).[4]
  • "To Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ukal" (KJV: "unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal"; ESV: "I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out") : these names can presumably be Agur's sons or disciples.[4]

Verse 2
Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.[11]

Verse 4
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?[12]

Like those in Job 38–41, these rhetorical questions emphasize' the inscrutability of God's ways'.[13]

Epigrams and Aphorisms (30:10–33)

This part contains various epigrams and three short aphorisms in the midst. Most of the epigrams (similar to 6:1–19) 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 graded numerical sayings, in the form "Three things… and four".[9] The final item in the series is usually the climax and focal point.[14]

Verse 14

There 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.[15]

  • "Knives": from Hebrew: ma'akhelet, "meat-cleavers", also used in the story of the Binding of Isaac, are 'not ordinary knives but the kind used to butcher meat'.[16]

Verse 15
The leech has two daughters,
crying, "Give, give."
There are three things that are never satisfied,
indeed, four things never say, "It is enough":[17]
  • "The leech has two daughters": implying a greedy person, or likely 'a greedy woman', because the Hebrew word for "leech" is a feminine noun. The "two daughters" is seen as 'a reference to the two suckers of the leech'.[16]
  • "Three things...four": Compare to Amos 1:3: "For three crimes of Damascus /and for four, I will not revoke it."[16]

Verse 16
the grave, the barren womb,
the earth that is not filled with water,
and the fire that never says, “It is enough.”[18]
  • "The grave": or "Sheol" is 'never sated with the dead, always wanting more' (cf. 1:12); is placed in a parallelism (in an ironic antithesis) with a blocked womb, which is 'never satisfied with its condition of barrenness, always hungry to produce life'[16] (cf. Genesis 3:1)[19] also like the desire of the earth for water, and the fire for fuel (cf. Amos 7:4).[13]

Verse 31

A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.[20]

  • "A greyhound": or "strutting rooster" (NKJV); is literally 'one girt of loins' or 'girded of waist',[21] i.e. 'the strutter', usually taken with the LXX as referring to the cock, though other animals such as the warhorse have been proposed.[13]
  • "A king against whom there is no uprising": according to a Jewish tradition, or "a king whose troops are with him" in NKJV.[22]

See also


References
  1. Halley 1965, p. 273.
  2. Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.
  3. Aitken 2007, p. 406.
  4. Aitken 2007, p. 421.
  5. Fox 2009, p. 849.
  6. Würthwein 1995, pp. 36-37.
  7. Würthwein 1995, pp. 73-74.
  8. Fox 2009, pp. 849, 862.
  9. Fox 2009, p. 862.
  10. Proverbs 30:1 MEV
  11. Proverbs 30:2 KJV
  12. Proverbs 30:4 MEV
  13. Aitken 2007, p. 422.
  14. Fox 2009, p. 863.
  15. Proverbs 30:14 KJV
  16. Alter 2010, p. 326.
  17. Proverbs 30:15 MEV
  18. Proverbs 30:16 MEV
  19. Coogan 2007, p. 941 Hebrew Bible.
  20. Proverbs 30:31 KJV
  21. Note [a] on Proverbs 30:31 in NKJV.
  22. Note [b] on Proverbs 30:31 in NKJV.

Sources
  • Aitken, K. T. (2007). "19. Proverbs". In Barton, John; Muddiman, John (eds.). The Oxford Bible Commentary (first (paperback) ed.). Oxford University Press. pp. 405–422. ISBN 978-0199277186. Retrieved February 6, 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Alter, Robert (2010). The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes: A Translation with Commentary. W.W. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0393080735.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Coogan, Michael David (2007). Coogan, Michael David; Brettler, Marc Zvi; Newsom, Carol Ann; Perkins, Pheme (eds.). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 (Augmented 3rd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195288810.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Fox, Michael V. (2009). Proverbs 10-31: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300155563.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Halley, Henry H. (1965). Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary (24th (revised) ed.). Zondervan Publishing House. ISBN 0-310-25720-4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Würthwein, Ernst (1995). The Text of the Old Testament. Translated by Rhodes, Erroll F. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. ISBN 0-8028-0788-7. Retrieved January 26, 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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