_The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, [even] the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal,_ Ver. 1. _The words of Agur the son of Jakeh._] The Vulgate renders, _Verba Congregantis filii Vomentis,_ taking these proper names for appellatives, as if the penman of this chapter mean... [ Continue Reading ]
Surely I [am] more brutish than [any] man, and have not the understanding of a man. Ver. 2. _Surely I am more brutish than any man._] Or, Surely I have been brutish since I was a man. See how this good man vilifies, yea, nullifies himself to the utmost. This was true humility, that like true balm e... [ Continue Reading ]
_I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy._ Ver. 3. _I neither learned wisdom._] As he had it not by nature, _a_ so neither had he attained unto it by any pains or skill of his own. "There is a spirit indeed in man" - a reasonable soul and a faculty of reasoning - "but the inspi... [ Continue Reading ]
Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what [is] his name, and what [is] his son's name, if thou canst tell? Ver. 4. _Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descen... [ Continue Reading ]
_Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him._ Ver. 5. Every word of God is pure: he is a shield.] Albeit all the sacred sentences contained in this blessed book are pure, precious, and profitable; yet as one star in heaven outshineth another, so doth one pro... [ Continue Reading ]
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Ver. 6. _Add thou not unto his words._] As the Jews at this day do by their traditions, which they arrogantly call _mashlamnutha, completio, perfectio,_ _a_ because they think that thereby the law is completed and perfecte... [ Continue Reading ]
_Two [things] have I required of thee; deny me [them] not before I die:_ Ver. 7. _Two things have I required of thee._] Two special requests he had among many, for our present condition is a condition of singular vanity and indigence. We get our living by begging, and are never without somewhat to... [ Continue Reading ]
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Ver. 8. _Remove far from me vanity and lies,_] _i.e., _ All sorts of sins, those lying vanities that promise much happiness to those that pursue them, but perform little enough; "shame" at t... [ Continue Reading ]
Lest I be full, and deny [thee], and say, Who [is] the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God [in vain]. Ver. 9. _Lest I be full and deny thee, &c._] Fulness breeds forgetfulness, saturity security Deuteronomy 32:14; _See Trapp on "_ Deu 32:14 _"_ 1 Timothy 6:17 _See Trapp... [ Continue Reading ]
Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse thee, and thou be found guilty. Ver. 10. _Accuse not a servant unto his master._] Unless it be in an ordinance, for the benefit of both. Much less may we falsely accuse wives to their husbands - as Stephen Gardiner and other courtparasites did Kin... [ Continue Reading ]
Proverbs 30:11 [There is] a generation [that] curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. Ver. 11. _There is a generation that curseth their father._] An evil and an adulterous generation, doubtless; a bastardly brood, _a_ as were those in the gospel; "a generation of vipers," _b_ that m... [ Continue Reading ]
Proverbs 30:12 [There is] a generation [that are] pure in their own eyes, and [yet] is not washed from their filthiness. Ver. 12. _There is a generation that are pure, &c._] As the ancient Puritans, the Novatians, Donatists, Catharists, Illuminates. _Non habeo, Domine, cui ignoscas,_ said one justi... [ Continue Reading ]
Proverbs 30:13 [There is] a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. Ver. 13. _Oh how lofty are their eyes._] The eyes are the seat of pride and disdain, which peep out at these windows. The Hebrews have a saying, that a man's mind is soonest seen _in oculis, in locu... [ Continue Reading ]
Proverbs 30:14 [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. Ver. 14. _There is a generation whose teeth, &c._] These are sycophants and greedy gripers, of whom before, often, in this boo... [ Continue Reading ]
The horseleach hath two daughters, [crying], Give, give. There are three [things that] are never satisfied, [yea], four [things] say not, [It is] enough: Ver. 15. The horseleech _a_ hath two daughters.] That is, Two forks in her tongue, whereby she first pricketh the flesh, and then sucketh the blo... [ Continue Reading ]
The grave; and the barren womb; the earth [that] is not filled with water; and the fire [that] saith not, [It is] enough. Ver. 16. _The grave._] Which in Hebrew hath its name of craving. It is a sarcophagus, feeds on flesh, and it as little appears as once in Pharaoh's lean kine; or as in those tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_The eye [that] mocketh at [his] father, and despiseth to obey [his] mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it._ Ver. 17. _The eye that mocketh at his father._] As Ham did at Noah. "And despiseth to obey his mother," or ‘Despiseth the wrinkles of his moth... [ Continue Reading ]
There be three [things which] are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: Ver. 18. _There be three things which are too wonderful._] The wisest man that is cannot give a reason for all things; such as the ebbing and flowing of the sea, of the colours in the rainbow, of the strength of the... [ Continue Reading ]
The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid. Ver. 19. _And the way of a man with a maid._] That is, Either with a close and chaste virgin, that is kept close from the access of strangers, and goes cove... [ Continue Reading ]
_Such [is] the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness._ Ver. 20. _So is the way of an adulterous woman._] The strumpet, when she hath eaten stolen bread, hath such dexterity in wiping her lips, that not the least crumb shall stick to them... [ Continue Reading ]
For three [things] the earth is disquieted, and for four [which] it cannot bear: Ver. 21. _For three things the earth is disquieted._] Such trouble towns are odious creatures; the places where they live, long for a vomit to spew them out. As they live wickedly, so they die wishedly; there is a good... [ Continue Reading ]
For a servant when he reigneth; and a fool when he is filled with meat; Ver. 22. _For a servant when he reigneth._] As Jeroboam, Saul, Zimri, Herod, Heliogabalus, Phocas. _See Trapp on "_ Pro 19:10 _"_ Vespasian only, of all the emperors, is said to have been better for his advancement. _ For a fo... [ Continue Reading ]
_For an odious [woman] when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress._ Ver. 23. _For an odious woman when she is married._] Such a one was Peninnah, who vexed good Hannah, "to make her to thunder," as the original hath it. _a_ Such was Jezebel, Herodias, Messalina, wife to the E... [ Continue Reading ]
There be four [things which are] little upon the earth, but they [are] exceeding wise: Ver. 24. _There be four things._] Made up thus in _quaternions_ (as the 119th Psalm is in _octonaries,_ and those in an alphabetical order), for help of memory. _ Which are little upon the earth, but exceeding w... [ Continue Reading ]
The ants [are] a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer; Ver. 25. _The ants are a people not strong._] A feeble folk, but notable for their forecast. See Proverbs 6:6,7. Let us be so, but specially in spirituals.... [ Continue Reading ]
The conies [are but] a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks; Ver. 26. _The conies are but a feeble folk._] But what they want in strength they have in wisdom; while they work themselves holes and burrows in the earth. _Gaudet in effossis habitare cuniculus antris,_ _a_ secures herse... [ Continue Reading ]
The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands; Ver. 27. _The locusts have no king._] They are all belly, which is joined to their mouths, and endeth at their tails; hence they make such havoc where they come in those Eastern countries. See Joel 2:11, where they are called "God's... [ Continue Reading ]
_The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces._ Ver. 28. _The spider taketh hold with her hands._] Some render it the ape, and the Hebrew _semamith_ is somewhat like the Latin _simia,_ a creature that is very witty, active, and imitative, taking hold with his hands (such as they... [ Continue Reading ]
There be three [things] which go well, yea, four are comely in going: Ver. 29. _There be three things that go well._] And all for our learning, to teach us in our several stations to deport ourselves in all gravity, maintain our dignity, and show our magnanimity. "Only let your conversation be as b... [ Continue Reading ]
If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself, or if thou hast thought evil, [lay] thine hand upon thy mouth. Ver. 32. _Lay thy hand upon thy mouth._] That is, Better examine thyself, commune with thine own heart and be still. Repent thee, as Job did in like case. Job 42:1-6 _Quem poenitet pecc... [ Continue Reading ]
_Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth strife._ Ver. 33. _So the forcing of wrath._] Too much stirring in an offensive matter bringeth forth brawling, lawing, warring, fighting. _Patientia laesa s... [ Continue Reading ]