Reflections on Proverbs 30

 Proverbs 30 (Contemporary English Version)

1. These are the sayings and the message of Agur son of Jakeh. Someone cries out to God, "I am completely worn out! How can I last?
   
2. I am far too stupid to be considered human.
   
3. I never was wise, and I don't understand what God is like."
   
4. Has anyone gone up to heaven and come back down? Has anyone grabbed hold of the wind? Has anyone wrapped up the sea or marked out boundaries for the earth? If you know of any who have done such things, then tell me their names and their children's names.
   
5. Everything God says is true-- and it's a shield for all who come to him for safety.
   
6. Don't change what God has said! He will correct you and show that you are a liar.
   
7. There are two things, Lord, I want you to do for me before I die:
   
8. Make me absolutely honest and don't let me be too poor or too rich. Give me just what I need.
   
9. If I have too much to eat, I might forget about you; if I don't have enough, I might steal and disgrace your name.
   
10. Don't tell a slave owner something bad about one of the slaves. That slave will curse you, and you will be in trouble.
    
11. Some people curse their father and even their mother;
    
12. others think they are perfect, but they are stained by sin.
    
13. Some people are stuck-up and act like snobs;
    
14. others are so greedy that they gobble down the poor and homeless.
    
15. Greed has twins, each named "Give me!" There are three or four things that are never satisfied:
    
16. The world of the dead and a childless wife, the thirsty earth and a flaming fire.
    
17. Don't make fun of your father or disobey your mother-- crows will peck out your eyes, and buzzards will eat the rest of you.
    
18. There are three or four things I cannot understand:
    
19. How eagles fly so high or snakes crawl on rocks, how ships sail the ocean or people fall in love.
    
20. An unfaithful wife says, "Sleeping with another man is as natural as eating."
    
21. There are three or four things that make the earth tremble and are unbearable:
    
22. A slave who becomes king, a fool who eats too much,
    
23. a hateful woman who finds a husband, and a slave who takes the place of the woman who owns her.
    
24. On this earth four things are small but very wise:
    
25. Ants, who seem to be feeble, but store up food all summer long;
    
26. badgers, who seem to be weak, but live among the rocks;
    
27. locusts, who have no king, but march like an army;
    
28. lizards, which can be caught in your hand, but sneak into palaces.
    
29. Three or four creatures really strut around:
    
30. Those fearless lions who rule the jungle,
    
31. those proud roosters, those mountain goats, and those rulers who have no enemies.
    
32. If you are foolishly bragging or planning something evil, then stop it now!
    
33. If you churn milk you get butter; if you pound on your nose, you get blood-- and if you stay angry, you get in trouble.

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Chapter 30 is an oracle written by an unknown man by the name of Agur. He begins with the disclaimer that he is unintelligent and lacking wisdom. His lack of wisdom, he says, is due to his lack of knowledge of God. This may be an overstatement since his writing certainly displays a respect for God. But in verse 4 he qualifies his statement about no knowledge of God by asking, "Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son--if you know?" Agur has done none of these things, only God has.

Agur's lack of knowledge of God is lack of direct knowledge, but he certainly knows of God and respects Him. What he knows of God comes through God's word, which he says is pure. He warns against adding to God's word which will bring a rebuke from God. Only God's word will prevail. Anything we add to them will prove us to be a liar.

He then requests two things of God: 1 - "Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me." and 2 - "Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need." He explains that wealth might lead him to deny God and poverty might lead him to steal.

Next comes an observation of four kinds of undesirable behavior:

1. Cursing one's parents.
   
2. Thinking oneself to be pure and without sin.
   
3. Haughty eyes and pretentious looks, which speaks of a prideful attitude.
   
4. Oppressing the poor and needy.
   

Four things, he says, are never satisfied:

1. The grave which never stops claiming the dead.
   
2. A barren womb which continually longs to bear children.
   
3. The earth which is never satisfied with water.
   
4. And a fire which continually seeks to consume more.
   

Continuing, he lists four things he says are amazing. The relationship of the four to one another or their significance are unclear, though:

1. The way of an eagle in the sky.
   
2. The way of a snake on a rock.
   
3. The way of a ship at sea.
   
4. And the way of a man with a young woman.
   

Four things that are unbearable and unfair:

1. A servant that becomes king with no experience or understanding of how to lead.
   
2. A fool when stuffed with food who becomes conceited and inconsiderate of others.
   
3. An unloved woman when she marries and brings unhappiness to a marriage.
   
4. A serving girl when she replaces her lady, having no knowledge of how to direct others.
   

Agur lists four things to make his point that size is not a limit to wisdom:

1. The ant which has the foresight to store up food in the summer.
   
2. The hyraxes which makes its home in the cliffs for safety.
   
3. The locusts which fly in formation without a leader.
   
4. And the lizard which is small enough to be caught in the hand yet lives in kings' palaces.
   

He lists four creatures he considers to be stately. Again, we don't know how these things are related or what makes them stand out from other things:

1. The lion which is the mightiest of beast and doesn't retreat from anything.
   
2. The strutting rooster.
   
3. A goat.
   
4. And a king at the head of his army.
   

Agur concludes with some advice about foolishness. If you find you have foolishly exalted yourself, or you have been scheming, stop it. As surely as churning milk will produce butter and twisting the nose will draw blood, pridefully exalting yourself and scheming will stir up anger and strife.