What Can We Learn from Proverbs 30?: Wisdom in Humility and Observation

The Sayings of Agur: Humility, Prayer, and Observation

Proverbs 30 is a distinct collection of wisdom attributed to Agur. It begins not with confident instruction, but with a raw confession of human limitation in the face of God's infinite knowledge in verses 1-4. This humility becomes the foundation for everything that follows: a heartfelt prayer for integrity and contentment, and a series of fascinating numerical lists that draw wisdom from observing the world around us.

The Greatness of God and His Word  (Proverbs 30:1-6)

¹ The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle. The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out.
² Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man.
³ I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One.
⁴ Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!
⁵ Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
⁶ Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

A Prayer for Integrity and Contentment  (Proverbs 30:7-9)

⁷ Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die:
⁸ Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,
⁹ lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Observations on Folly and Insatiable Things  (Proverbs 30:10-20)

¹⁰ Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty.
¹¹ There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.
¹² There are those who are clean in their own eyes but are not washed of their filth.
¹³ There are those - how lofty are his eyes, how high his eyelids lift!
¹⁴ There are those whose teeth are swords, whose fangs are knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, the needy from among mankind.
¹⁵ The leech has two daughters: Give and Give. Three things are never satisfied; four never say, “Enough”:
¹⁶ Sheol, the barren womb, the land never satisfied with water, and the fire that never says, "Enough."
¹⁷ The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.
¹⁸ Three things are too wonderful for me; four I do not understand:
¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a virgin.
²⁰ This is the way of an adulteress: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I have done no wrong."

Wisdom from the Animal Kingdom  (Proverbs 30:21-31)

²¹ Under three things the earth trembles; under four it cannot bear up:
²² a slave when he becomes king, and a fool when he is filled with food;
²³ an unloved woman when she gets a husband, and a maidservant when she displaces her mistress.
²⁴ Four things on earth are small, but they are exceedingly wise:
²⁵ The ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer;
²⁶ the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they make their homes in the cliffs;
²⁷ The locusts have no king, yet all of them march in rank;
²⁸ the lizard you can take in your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces.
²⁹ Three things are stately in their tread; four are stately in their stride:
³⁰ the lion, which is mightiest among beasts and does not turn back before any;
³¹ the strutting rooster, the he-goat, and a king whose army is with him.

A Final Warning Against Anger  (Proverbs 30:32-33)

³² If you have been foolish, exalting yourself, or if you have been devising evil, put your hand on your mouth.
³³ For pressing milk produces curds, pressing the nose produces blood, and pressing anger produces strife.