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Texts -- Proverbs 30:1-29 (NET)

Context
The Words of Agur
30:1 The words of Agur , the son of Jakeh ; an oracle : This man says to Ithiel , to Ithiel and to Ukal : 30:2 Surely I am more brutish than any other human being , and I do not have human understanding ; 30:3 I have not learned wisdom , nor do I have knowledge of the Holy One . 30:4 Who has ascended into heaven , and then descended ? Who has gathered up the winds in his fists ? Who has bound up the waters in his cloak ? Who has established all the ends of the earth ? What is his name , and what is his son’s name ?– if you know ! 30:5 Every word of God is purified ; he is like a shield for those who take refuge in him . 30:6 Do not add to his words , lest he reprove you, and prove you to be a liar . 30:7 Two things I ask from you; do not refuse me before I die : 30:8 Remove falsehood and lies far from me; do not give me poverty or riches , feed me with my allotted portion of bread , 30:9 lest I become satisfied and act deceptively and say , “Who is the Lord ?” Or lest I become poor and steal and demean the name of my God . 30:10 Do not slander a servant to his master , lest he curse you, and you are found guilty . 30:11 There is a generation who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers . 30:12 There is a generation who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their filthiness . 30:13 There is a generation whose eyes are so lofty , and whose eyelids are lifted up disdainfully. 30:14 There is a generation whose teeth are like swords and whose molars are like knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among the human race. 30:15 The leech has two daughters : “Give ! Give !” There are three things that are never satisfied , four that never say , “Enough ”– 30:16 the grave , the barren womb , land that is not satisfied with water , and fire that never says , “Enough !” 30:17 The eye that mocks at a father and despises obeying a mother – the ravens of the valley will peck it out and the young vultures will eat it. 30:18 There are three things that are too wonderful for me, four that I do not understand : 30:19 the way of an eagle in the sky , the way of a snake on a rock , the way of a ship in the sea , and the way of a man with a woman . 30:20 This is the way of an adulterous woman : she eats and wipes her mouth and says , “I have not done wrong .” 30:21 Under three things the earth trembles , and under four things it cannot bear up : 30:22 under a servant who becomes king , under a fool who is stuffed with food , 30:23 under an unloved woman who is married , and under a female servant who dispossesses her mistress . 30:24 There are four things on earth that are small , but they are exceedingly wise : 30:25 ants are creatures with little strength , but they prepare their food in the summer ; 30:26 rock badgers are creatures with little power , but they make their homes in the crags ; 30:27 locusts have no king , but they all go forward by ranks ; 30:28 a lizard you can catch with the hand , but it gets into the palaces of the king . 30:29 There are three things that are magnificent in their step , four things that move about magnificently :

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Agur

    [ebd] gatherer; the collector, mentioned as author of the sayings in Prov. 30. Nothing is known of him beyond what is there recorded.
    [isbe] AGUR - a'-gur ('aghur, seeming, from comparison with Arabic roots, to mean either "hireling," or "collector," "gatherer"): One of the contributors to Proverbs; his words being included in Prov 30. He takes an agnostic attitu...
    [nave] AGUR, son of Jakeh, Prov. 30:1.

  • MASSA

    [isbe] MASSA - mas'-a (massa', "burden"): Descendant of Abraham through Ishmael (Gen 25:14; 1 Ch 1:30). His people may be the Masani of Ptolemy, having Eastern Arabia near Babylon as their habitat. The marginal reading of the headi...

  • Riddle

    [nave] RIDDLE Used as a test of wit at Samson's feast, Judg. 14:12-18. By Agur, Prov. 30:15, 16, 18-31. See: Parable; Proverbs.

  • Serpent

    [ebd] (Heb. nahash; Gr. ophis), frequently noticed in Scripture. More than forty species are found in Syria and Arabia. The poisonous character of the serpent is alluded to in Jacob's blessing on Dan (Gen. 49:17; see Prov. 30:18, ...
    [isbe] SERPENT - sur'-pent: 1. General: Serpents are not particularly abundant in Palestine, but they are often mentioned in the Bible. In the Hebrew there are 11 names. The New Testament has four Greek names and the Septuagint emp...
    [smith] The Hebrew word nachash is the generic name of any serpent. The following are the principal biblical allusions to this animal its subtlety is mentioned in (Genesis 3:1) its wisdom is alluded to by our Lord in (Matthew 10:18) ...
    [nave] SERPENT Satan appears in the form of, to Eve, Gen. 3:1-15; 2 Cor. 11:3. Subtlety of, Gen. 3:1; Eccl. 10:8; Matt. 10:16. Curse upon, Gen. 3:14, 15; 49:17. Feeds upon the dust, Gen. 3:14; Isa. 65:25; Mic. 7:17. Unfit for f...

  • NUMBER

    [isbe] NUMBER - num'-ber: I. NUMBER AND ARITHMETIC II. NOTATION OF NUMBERS 1. By Words 2. By Signs 3. By Letters III. NUMBERS IN OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY IV. ROUND NUMBERS V. SIGNIFICANT NUMBERS 1. Seven and Its Multiples (1) Ritual U...

  • FOUR

    [isbe] FOUR - for ('arba`; tessares): "Four" (cardinal number) was a sacred and complete number with the Hebrews, as well as with several other peoples. It occurs very frequently in the Old Testament and the New Testament. (1) It i...

  • Coney

    [ebd] (Heb. shaphan; i.e., "the hider"), an animal which inhabits the mountain gorges and the rocky districts of Arabia Petraea and the Holy Land. "The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks" (Prov. ...
    [isbe] CONEY - ko'-ni (shaphan (Lev 11:5; Dt 14:7; Ps 104:18; Prov 30:26)): The word "coney" (formerly pronounced cooney) means "rabbit" (from Latin cuniculus). Shaphan is rendered in all four passages in the Septuagint choirogrull...
    [smith] (shaphan), a gregarious animal of the class Pachydermata, which is found in Palestine, living in the caves and clefts of the rocks, and has been erroneously identified with the rabbit or coney. Its scientific name as Hyrax sy...
    [nave] CONEY, Lev. 11:5; Deut. 14:7; Psa. 104:18; Prov. 30:26.

  • Industry

    [nave] INDUSTRY. Gen. 2:15; Ex. 23:12 Deut. 5:13. Ex. 35:2; Prov. 10:4, 5; Prov. 12:11, 24, 27; Prov. 13:4, 11, 23; Prov. 14:4, 23; Prov. 16:26; Prov. 20:13; Prov. 21:5; Prov. 22:29; Prov. 27:23 vs. 23-27.; Prov. 28:19; Prov. 30:2...

  • Spider

    [ebd] The trust of the hypocrite is compared to the spider's web or house (Job 8:14). It is said of the wicked by Isaiah that they "weave the spider's web" (59:5), i.e., their works and designs are, like the spider's web, vain and...
    [isbe] SPIDER - spi'-der ((1) `akkabhish; compare Arabic `ankabut, English Versions of the Bible "spider"; Septuagint arachne (Job 8:14; Isa 59:5); (2) semamith, "lizard," the King James Version "spider"; Septuagint kalabotes (Prov...
    [smith] The Hebrew word ?accabish in (Job 8:24; Isaiah 59:5) is correctly rendered "spider." Put semamith is wrongly translated "spider" in (Proverbs 30:28) it refers probably to some kind of lizard. (But "there are many species of s...
    [nave] SPIDER Mentioned in one of Agur's riddles, Prov. 30:28. Web of, figurative of the hope of the hypocrite, Job 8:14; Isa. 59:5.

  • Ucal

    [ebd] the name of a person to whom Agur's words are addressed (Prov. 30:1).
    [isbe] UCAL - u'-kal ('ukhal (see below)): This name occurs along with that of Ithiel (Prov 30:1), both being taken by older interpreters as those of ancient sages. Some have suggested (see Toy, Proverbs, 519 f) that Ucal might be ...
    [smith] (I am strong). According to the received text of (Proverbs 30:1) Ithiel and Ucal must be regarded as proper names; and if so, they must be the names of disciples or sons of Agur the son of Jakeh, an unknown sage among the Heb...
    [nave] UCAL, a man mentioned only in Prov. 30:1.

  • Raven

    [ebd] Heb. 'orebh, from a root meaning "to be black" (comp. Cant. 5:11); first mentioned as "sent forth" by Noah from the ark (Gen. 8:7). "Every raven after his kind" was forbidden as food (Lev. 11:15; Deut. 14:14). Ravens feed mo...
    [isbe] RAVEN - ra'-vn (`orebh; korax; Latin Corvus corax): A large family of the smaller birds of prey belonging to the genus Corvus corax. A bird of such universal distribution that it is known from Iceland to Japan, all over Asia...
    [smith] (black). The Hebrew oreb is applied to the several species of the crow family, a number of which are found in Palestine. The raven belongs to the order Insessores , family Corvidae . (It resembles the crow, but is larger weig...
    [nave] RAVEN A black carnivorous bird, Prov. 30:17; Song 5:11. Forbidden as food, Lev. 11:15; Deut. 14:14. Preserved by Noah in the ark, Gen. 8:7. Fed Elijah, 1 Kin. 17:4-6. Cared for by divine providence, Luke 12:24.

  • Servant

    [nave] SERVANT Distinguished as bond servant, who was a slave, and hired servant. Bond Laws of Moses concerning, Ex. 21:1-11, 20, 21, 26, 27, 32; Lev. 19:20-22; 25:6, 10, 35-55; Deut. 15:12, 14, 18; 24:7. Kidnapping forbidden, D...

  • Animals

    [nave] ANIMALS Creation of, Gen. 1:24, 25; 2:19; Jer. 27:5. Food of, Gen. 1:30. Named, Gen. 2:20. Ordained as food for mankind, Gen. 9:2, 3; Lev. 11:3, 9, 21, 22; Deut. 14:4-6, 9, 11, 20. God's care of, Gen. 9:9, 10; Deut. 25:4...

  • GOD, 2

    [isbe] GOD, 2 - II. The Idea of God in the Old Testament. 1. Course of Its Development: Any attempt to write the whole history of the idea of God in the Old Testament would require a preliminary study of the literary and historical...

  • Lasciviousness

    [nave] LASCIVIOUSNESS. Ex. 32:6; Prov. 2:16-18; Prov. 5:3-5, 8-13; Prov. 7:6-27; Prov. 9:13-18; Prov. 20:16; Prov. 30:18-20; Joel 3:3; Mark 7:21-23; Rom. 1:22-29; Rom. 7:8; Rom. 13:13; 1 Cor. 6:9, 10, 13, 15-18; 1 Cor. 9:27; 2 Cor...

  • Women

    [nave] WOMEN Creation of, Gen. 1:27; 2:21, 22. Named, Gen. 2:23. Fall of, and curse upon, Gen. 3:1-16; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:14. Promise to, Gen. 3:15. Had separate apartments in dwellings, Gen. 24:67; 31:33; Esth. 2:9, 11. Ve...

  • Hell

    [ebd] derived from the Saxon helan, to cover; hence the covered or the invisible place. In Scripture there are three words so rendered: (1.) Sheol, occurring in the Old Testament sixty-five times. This word sheol is derived from a...
    [nave] HELL The word used in the King James Version of the O.T. to translate the Hebrew word sheol, signifying the unseen state, in Deut. 32:22; 2 Sam. 22:6; Job 11:8; 26:6; Psa. 9:17; 16:10; 18:5; 55:15; 86:13; 116:3; 139:8; Prov....

  • Blasphemy

    [nave] BLASPHEMY See also Slander; Speaking, Evil.Ex. 20:7 Deut. 5:11. Lev. 19:12 Lev. 22:32. Lev. 24:10-16; 2 Kin. 19:22 Isa. 37:23. 2 Chr. 32:19 The following passages from the book of Job (with the exception of Job 21:13,14) are...

  • Ant

    [ebd] (Heb. nemalah, from a word meaning to creep, cut off, destroy), referred to in Prov. 6:6; 30:25, as distinguished for its prudent habits. Many ants in Palestine feed on animal substances, but others draw their nourishment pa...
    [smith] (Heb. nemalah). This insect is mentioned twice in the Old Testament: in (Proverbs 6:6; 30:25) In the former of these passages the diligence of this insect is instanced by the wise man as an example worthy of imitation; in the...
    [nave] ANT, Prov. 6:6-8; 30:25.

  • Jakeh

    [ebd] pious, the father of Agur (Prov. 30:1). Nothing is known of him.
    [isbe] JAKEH - ja'-ke (yaqeh, perhaps from Arabic root meaning "carefully religious"; yaqe', as if from qi'): The father of Agur, the author of the sayings recorded in Prov 30:1. Nothing is known of either Jakeh or Agur. The immedi...
    [nave] JAKEH, father of Agur, Prov. 30:1.
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Arts

Questions

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  • I've heard and read the same statement a number of times, but have never troubled myself to look up each passage. I'm not surprised that looking up "heaven" and "hell" in a concordance would give you contradictory results. T...
  • There are many passages in the Bible relative to riches and its opposite, poverty. Nowhere is poverty spoken of as a blessing, but rather as a trial and discipline; yet wealth is to be regarded either as a blessing or the rev...

Sermon Illustrations

Proverbs 22:6; Urim and Thummim

Resources/Books

Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 21:12-14 The Torah upheld capital punishment for murder (v. 12), which God commanded of Noah (Gen. 9:6) and people in the Near East practiced from then on. It did not permit capital punishment in the case of manslaughter (unp...
  • "The constant corollary of the demand for loyalty in ancient suzerainty treaties was the prohibition of allegiance to any and all other lords."109Prosperity (vv. 10-15) and adversity (vv. 16-19) would test the Israelites' dev...
  • 131:1 David claimed that he had not been proud. Pride is essentially a belief that one does not need God but is self-sufficient. Haughty or lofty looks with the eyes betray a proud attitude because they look down on other peo...
  • The title of this book in the Hebrew Bible is "The Proverbs of Solomon, the Son of David, King in Israel"(cf. 1:1). The Greek Septuagint called this book "Proverbs of Solomon."The Latin Vulgate named it "The Book of Proverbs....
  • Proverbs claims to be a compendium of the wise sayings of several different individuals.4Solomon originated some of them (10:1-22:16 and chs. 25-29 definitely, and probably chs. 1-9 as well).5Unnamed wise men (sages) wrote ot...
  • The Book of Proverbs contains no history. It is purely didactic. It is a book of explicit instruction. Like the other Old Testament wisdom books, Job and Ecclesiastes, it does not contain references to Israel's laws, rituals,...
  • I. Discourses on wisdom chs. 1-9A. Introduction to the book 1:1-71. The title of the book 1:12. The purpose of the book 1:2-63. The thesis of the book 1:7B. Instruction for young people 1:8-7:271. Warning against consorting w...
  • Verse one introduces both the book as a whole and chapters 1-9 in particular. The Book of Proverbs is a collection of at least five separate groups of proverbs. There are those that Solomon spoke and or wrote (possibly chs. 1...
  • Chapters 30 and 31 form a distinct section in Proverbs because neither Solomon (1:1-22:16; chs. 25-29) nor the unnamed sages (22:17-24:34) wrote them. Two other wise men whose names the text records did. Some expositors specu...
  • The most distinctive features of Agur's proverbs are his numerical style of grouping similar items, his picturesque speech, and a unique phrase he used. This phrase, "There are three things . . . even four,"occurs with minor ...
  • Agur began with three declarations. The subject of each is God.30:2-4 Behind this ironical section one can perhaps imagine Agur's sons claiming to be wiser than their father. Agur confessed his own limited understanding while...
  • Though his view of and awareness of God are very much behind what Agur said in the rest of this chapter, his counsel deals primarily with practical prudence from this point on.30:10 It is unwise to meddle in the domestic affa...
  • The quality of wisdom that Proverbs presents is much more than the ability to apply knowledge to various situations in life effectively. It also involves submission to the way of God that is the order of life God has revealed...
  • Aitken, Kenneth T. Proverbs. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986.Alden, Robert L. Proverbs: A Commentary on an Ancient Book of Timeless Advice. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1984.Archer, Gleason L., Jr. Encyclopedia of Bi...
  • Isaiah identified another mark of Israel, which boasted in its election by God and viewed righteousness in terms of correct worship ritual. This was the widespread departure of the nation from God (apostasy). She had forsaken...
  • 7:13 Daniel again saw something happening in heaven. One like a son of man was brought before the Ancient of Days. The angelic attendants in heaven's court probably ushered Him forward. This description glorifies the Ancient ...
  • This first part of chapter 6 envisions Israel's repentance. The prophet predicted the words that the penitent generation of Israelites would say when they sought the Lord (5:15). The message contains two cycles, each containi...
  • What follows are the words (i.e., collected messages, cf. Prov. 30:1; 31:1; Eccles. 1:1; Jer. 1:1) of Amos (lit. Burden), who was one of the sheepherders who lived in the Judean town of Tekoa, 10 miles south of Jerusalem. Thi...
  • 1:3 The expression "for three transgressions [Heb. pesha'im, rebellions, i.e., against the universal Sovereign; cf. Gen. 9:5-17] and for four"is one of Amos' trademarks (cf. vv. 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). It means for numerous...
  • The first sentence in this pericope (section) serves as a title for the section, as the sentence in verse 1 did for 1:1-17. Matthew recorded the supernatural birth of Jesus to demonstrate further His qualification as Israel's...
  • 6:5-6 Jesus assumed that His disciples would pray, as He assumed they would give alms (v. 2) and fast (v. 16). Again He warned against ostentatious worship. The synagogues and streets were public places where people could pra...
  • Having described the basis of Christian unity Paul next explained the means by which we can preserve it, namely with the gifts that the Spirit gives.4:7 Whereas each believer has received grace (unmerited favor and divine ena...
  • First, Paul thanked his brethren for their recent gift that Epaphroditus had delivered to him (vv. 10-14).4:10 The "But"(Gr. de) that opens this section in the NASB is a bit misleading. It does not imply a contrast with what ...
  • Paul had not finished all he wanted to say about money, so he returned to that subject briefly with a word of instruction for the wealthy Ephesian believers. He gave these directions to balance what he had said earlier in thi...
  • 9:1 Again John saw a "star"(cf. 6:13; 8:10), but this time the "star"was an intelligent being. If "fallen"(Gr. peptokota) has theological connotations, the "star"may refer to Satan (vv. 2, 11; cf. 1:20; Job. 38:7; Luke 10:18)...
  • 22:12 Jesus Christ repeated His promise to return soon (v. 7, cf. 1:3; 22:20)."Nowhere is a date set, nor was there any definite promise that the consummation would occur within the lifetime of the first century Christians. N...
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