Proverbs 30 - Introduction

VI. The Words of Agur. Chap. 30

The Collection of proverbs in this chapter is ascribed to a philosopher, or teacher, named Agur, the son of Jakeh, and is addressed by him to Ithiel and Ucal, presumably his scholars or disciples. The name Ithiel occurs again as that of a Benjamite in Nehemiah 11:7. Ucal as a proper name is not found elsewhere in the Old Testament. This and other considerations have led to a rearrangement of the Hebrew text, which gets rid of Ithiel and Ucal as proper names, and substitutes the reading (R.V. marg.): I have wearied myself, O God, I have wearied myself, O God, and am consumed. The wise Teacher is thus regarded as giving vent to the weariness and disappointment consequent upon the vain effort of "exercising himself in great matters which are too high for him," and as turning in what follows, with relief, to the plain pursuit of practical wisdom and duty. He is echoing, so to speak, the words of Moses, in which so many a humble seeker after truth has found rest and satisfaction, "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." Deuteronomy 29:29.

But, interesting as this view is, it lies under the objection of having recourse to conjectural emendation, which is the last resort of sober criticism. The words as they stand in our present Hebrew text, and are retained in R.V. text, give a perfectly admissible meaning. All three names as here used may be those of foreigners. There is no more difficulty in supposing that a collection of proverbs by one of the wise "children of the East" (1 Kings 4:30), who though not an Israelite was a worshipper of the true God, should be added as an Appendix to this Book of Hebrew Wisdom, than that the Book of Job, which by many critics is ascribed to a non-Israelite author, or the prophecies of Balaam, should be admitted into the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures.

The chapter, which is highly interesting and in some respects unique, on which account it may have been selected out of other similar literature for publication as an Appendix to this Book, consists of a Title, or note of authorship (Proverbs 30:1), followed by a prologue, in which in a spirit of deep abasement, which is the spirit of true wisdom, the author confesses his own utter ignorance in view of the great questions which offer themselves for solution. The study of nature makes it clear that there is a God; but who can tell Who and What He is? (Proverbs 30:2). Only by revelation can He be known; and in that revelation, held sacred from all admixture, man finds Him and is safe (Proverbs 30:5). To the God thus found and trusted the writer turns with a twofold prayer a prayer that he may be in himself a real and true man; a prayer that in his earthly lot he may have the happy mean, removed from the temptations which belong to the extremes of poverty and riches (Proverbs 30:7). Then, after an isolated proverb of the familiar type (Proverbs 30:10), another peculiarity of this Collection, which may have been a further reason for its being appended to the Book of Proverbs, is introduced. A series of six "numerical proverbs," or "quatrains," as they have been called, groups of "four things," with a single proverb inserted between the second and third groups (Proverbs 30:17), brings the Collection to a close with the exception of one final proverb at the end of the chapter (Proverbs 30:32).

"Whoever Agur was, he had a certain marked individuality; he combined meditation on lofty questions of theology with a sound theory of practical life. He was able to give valuable admonitions about conduct. But his characteristic delight was to group together in quatrains visible illustrations of selected qualities or ideas." Horton.