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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 30:1-6

Some make Agur to be not the name of this author, but his character; he was a collector (so it signifies), a gatherer, one that did not compose things himself, but collected the wise sayings and observations of others, made abstracts of the writings of others, which some think is the reason why he says (Prov. 30:3), ?I have not learned wisdom myself, but have been a scribe, or amanuensis, to other wise and learned men.? Note, We must not bury our talent, though it be but one, but, as we have... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 30:1

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh ,.... Here begins, according to Aben Ezra, the fourth part of this book; though, according to others, it is the fifth; See Gill on Proverbs 22:17 ; Who this Agur was is a matter of doubt; some of the Jewish writers, as Jarchi and Gersom, and likewise some Christian writers F6 De Dieu, Cocceius, Teelman. Specimen. Explicat. Parabot. p. 378. , take him to be Solomon himself, who calls himself Agur, which is said to signify "a gatherer"; and so the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 30:2

Surely I am more brutish than any man ,.... "Every man is become brutish in his knowledge"; man in his original state was a knowing creature but sinning lost his knowledge, and "became like the beasts that perish"; hence we read of the "brutish among the people": but Agur thought himself not only brutish among the rest, but more brutish than any. So Plato F15 De Leg. l. 10. p, 959. says of some souls living on earth, that they are θηριωδεις , of a brutish nature; see Jeremiah... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 30:3

I neither learned wisdom ,.... Natural wisdom or philosophy, so as to understand the nature of things, and reason about them in a philosophical manner; or political wisdom, so as to know how to govern states, and manage the affairs of kingdoms; or in a lower sphere to transact the affairs of life to any peculiar advantage; he had not a polite or liberal education: or spiritual and evangelical wisdom; that is, not of himself through the mere strength and force of his genius and natural... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 30:4

Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended ?.... That has been thither to fetch knowledge of God and divine things, and has returned to communicate it. Enoch was taken up to heaven before this time: and Elijah, as is very probable, after; but neither of them returned again, to inform mortals what was to be seen, known, and enjoyed there: since, the Apostle Paul was caught up into the third heaven, and came back again; but then the things he heard were such as it was not lawful for a man... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 30:5

Every word of God is pure ,.... The whole word of God. "All Scripture", given by inspiration of God, to which Agur directs, as giving the best account of God, of his name, nature, and perfections; of his Son, person, offices, and grace; being pure, very pure, "purified" F26 צרופה "purgatus", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Gejerus; "purgatissimus", Junius & Tremellius; Heb. "conflatus", Piscator, Mercerus, Cocceius, Schultens. like silver, purified in a furnace of earth.... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 30:6

Add thou not unto his words ,.... To the words of God; as the Jews did, by joining their oral law, or the traditions of the elders, to the written word, and preferring them before it; and as the Papists, by making their unwritten traditions, and the sense and determinations of their church, equal to the Scriptures; and as all enthusiasts do, who set up their pretended dreams, visions, revelations, and prophecies, upon a foot with the word of God, or as superior to it; whereas that is, and... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 30:1

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh - The words Agur, Jakeh, Ithiel, and Ucal, have been considered by some as proper names: by others, as descriptive characters. With some, Agur is Solomon; and Jakeh, David; and Ithiel and Ural are epithets of Christ. The Vulgate translates, Verba congregantis filii vomentis: visio, quam locutus est sir, cum quo est Deus, et qui Deo secum morante confortatus, ait . "The words of the collector, the son of the vomiter: the vision of the man who has God... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 30:2

Surely I am more brutish - These words can in no sense, nor by any mode of speech, be true of Solomon: for while he was the wisest of men, he could not have said that he was more brutish than any man, and had not the understanding of a man. It is saying nothing to the purpose, to say he was so independently of the Divine teaching. Had he put this in, even by innuendo, it might be legitimate: but he does not; nor is it by fair implication to be understood. Solomon is not supposed to have... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 30:3

I neither learned wisdom - I have never been a scholar in any of those schools of the wise men, nor have the knowledge of the holy, קדשים kedoshim , of the saints or holy persons. The Septuagint give this a different turn: yeov dedidace me sofian, kai gnwsin agiwn egnwka; "God hath taught me wisdom, and the knowledge of the saints I have known." This may refer to the patriarchs, prophets, or holy men, that lived before the days of Solomon. That is, the translators might have had... read more

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