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Proverbs

Chapter 30

The Words of Agur

Proverbs 30 presents the words of Agur, who begins in humility before God's wisdom, asks for truthful speech and daily sufficiency, and then unfolds a series of numerical sayings about greed, disorder, hidden ways, creaturely wisdom, and stately strength. The chapter repeatedly contrasts human limits with God's flawless word and calls the reader to reverent restraint rather than self-exalting folly.

Within Proverbs, this chapter widens the book's voice beyond Solomon while preserving its core concerns: fear of God, disciplined speech, moral realism, and attentive observation of the created world. It shows that wisdom is learned not only through direct exhortation but also through humble confession, careful prayer, and meditation on the patterns God has woven into life.

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Proverbs 30

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vv. 1-33

The Words of Agur

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T1hese are the words of Agur son of Jakeh — the burden that this man declared to Ithiel: 2Surely I am the most ignorant of men, 3I have not learned wisdom, 4Who has ascended to heaven and come down? 5Every word of God is flawless; 6Do not add to His words,

7Two things I ask of You — 8Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. 9Otherwise, I may have too much 10Do not slander a servant to his master,

11There is a generation of those who curse their fathers 12There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes 13There is a generation— how haughty are their eyes 14there is a generation whose teeth are swords 15The leech has two daughters: 16Sheol, 17As for the eye that mocks a father

18There are three things too wonderful for me, four that I cannot understand: 19the way of an eagle in the sky, 20This is the way of an adulteress:

21Under three things the earth trembles, under four it cannot bear up: 22a servant who becomes king, 23an unloved woman who marries,

24Four things on earth are small, yet they are exceedingly wise: 25The ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; 26the rock badgers are creatures of little power, yet they make their homes in the rocks; 27the locusts have no king, yet they all advance in formation; 28and the lizard can be caught in one’s hands, yet it is found in the palaces of kings.

29There are three things that are stately in their stride, and four that are impressive in their walk: 30a lion, mighty among beasts, refusing to retreat before anything; 31a strutting rooster; 32If you have foolishly exalted yourself 33For as the churning of milk yields butter,

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  1. 01vv. 1-33The Words of AgurAgur's sayings begin with confessed ignorance and confidence in God's perfect word, move through a prayer for integrity and daily bread, and then gather several 'three things / four things' reflections on appetite, perversity, wonder, social disorder, creaturely wisdom, and dignified bearing. The whole chapter trains the reader to live humbly under God's truth while observing the world with alert moral imagination.
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