Proverbs 30:2 - Exposition

Surely I am more brutish than any man "Surely" ( ki ) should be "for" (see note on verse l). Cheyne, "I am too stupid for a man;" I am a mere irrational beast (comp. Proverbs 12:1 ; Psalms 73:22 ). And have not the understanding of a man . I am not worthy to be called a man, as I possess not the intellectual faculty which a man ought to have. This is not ironical, as if he did not desire the statement to be taken in its full sense, and meant to say, "Of course it is my own stupidity that is in fault;" but it is a genuine confession of incompetence to investigate the subject matter, which is too mysterious for his mental powers to penetrate. Thus Solomon acknowledges that he is but a little child, nod prays for an understanding heart ( 1 Kings 3:7 , 1 Kings 3:9 ; comp. Wis. 9:5; Matthew 11:25 ).