The original Hebrew text consisted solely of consonants, leaving the insertion of vowels and the articulation of meaning to the reader, which explains why different translators sometimes offer radically differing versions of a particular verse, all of which may have been intended by Solomon’s meticulous choice of words and inspired phrasing. Although this may seem cumbersome to the modern reader, this unique flexibility of language encouraged a very patient, methodical and thoughtful approach to the study of scripture.
Rather than reading quickly through a series of proverbs, a student, with the guidance of a trained tutor, might spend an hour or more analyzing just one verse, considering alternative readings, possible shades of meaning, and, of course, their implications for his life.
The radically differing translations offered by scholars for the first few lines of this section illustrate also the fact that because Hebrew names were meaningful and not capitalized, it is sometimes not clear whether a particular consonant grouping forms a proper noun or a common one. For example, many translations insert the names of four unknown individuals into the first verse of this chapter, rendering it as: "The words of Agur, son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spoke unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal". The alternative rendering shown below seems to be far more meaningful and appropriate to the context.
30.1 Words of a Gatherer, son of an obedient one, an affirmation of the man. I have wearied myself God, I have wearied myself, and am consumed
As we enter this penultimate section of proverbs, Solomon may be describing himself as the Gatherer, the one who collected, sifted and set in order the principles of wise living. In his quest for teachable wisdom, the Gatherer has wearied himself to the point of exhaustion, which was the experience of Solomon as described in the last few verses of Ecclesiastes.
Solomon was also the son of King David, an "obedient one", and perhaps he is saying here that at the end of his quest for wisdom he has returned to the beginning, discovering what he should perhaps already have realized before he started -- that the way of true wisdom is in fact the Godly way of life that his father struggled to follow and teach and write about in so many Psalms. There follows an Affirmation, or outline, of his wisdom philosophy.
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30.2 Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
I neither learned wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the holy.
The wiser Solomon became, the more clearly he saw his own un-wisdom, un-righteousness, self-deception, lusts and personal limitations. Paul describes himself in similar terms, saying: "I am less than the least of all God’s people" (Ephesians 3:8).
The commitment to live with Godly wisdom is so easily frustrated by our human nature, as the desires and drives of the flesh oppose those of the Spirit, which is why Paul also says: "I delight in the law of God in the inward man; But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? – I thank God, through Jesus Christ" (Romans 7:22-25).
The ability to assimilate and apply Godly wisdom comes through the Spirit of Wisdom, as was promised earlier -- through Jesus Christ, in fact -- which is perhaps why he is described by Paul in another place as "the power of God and the wisdom of God" (1 Corinthians 1:24).
It is all too easy to try to sound wise, to confidently mouth a proverb, or quote a scripture, but do we really understand what we are saying? Having been humbled by his suffering and brought to real repentance, Job, a man of wisdom and possibly the builder of the Great Pyramid, says: "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know" (Job 42:3). Perhaps this is why Paul also says: "If any man thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know" (1 Corinthians 8:2).
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30.4 Who has ascended up into heaven, or descended? who has gathered the wind in his fists? who has bound 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, if you can tell?
Like Job, Solomon contemplated the glory of God’s creation, from the ant, the worm and the weather to the stars of the universe, and saw clearly that the sum total of human knowledge and understanding are as nothing, and less than nothing, perhaps, because of error, when compared to the infinite wisdom of God.
With this same perspective on God’s infinite power, Paul encourages people to pray, saying: "Now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to the power that is at work in us, to him be glory" (Ephesians 3:20-21).
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30.5 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Add you not unto his words, lest he reprove you, and you be found a liar.
The wise man centers his life on God and seeks guidance from his word. Perhaps this is why Paul says: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Live by the word of God, says Solomon, but accept nothing beyond it. Paul issues a similar warning against the influence of lying religious teachers who twist the scriptures and devise all kinds of strange and cunning doctrines in order to enslave people and create a following for themselves. He says: "Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving"(1 Timothy 4: 2-3).
Never swallow the teachings and accept the spiritual leadership of any religious leader, no matter how charismatic -- but follow instead the advice of Paul when he says: "Prove all things, and hold fast that which is good" (1Thessalonians 5:21). Think for yourself.
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30.7 Two things have I required of you; deny me them not before I die:
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
Lest I be full, and deny you, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
The wise man aims to live a balanced life of sensible moderation, avoiding extremes. Let me not be a liar and cheat, on the one hand, he prays, nor a vain and pretentiously self-righteous person on the other.
Fully aware of his human frailty, he asks, Grant me neither riches nor poverty, neither surfeit nor hunger, lest the pressures of either extreme destroy my faith and turn me away from God.
Perhaps this is why Jesus teaches his disciples to pray: "Give us this day our daily bread", implying sufficiency for our needs – and, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil".
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30.10 Accuse not a servant unto his master, lest he curse you, and you be found guilty.
Do not meddle in the affairs of other people, says Solomon. If you do, you may stir up hostility and trouble for yourself that you can well do without. You do not know the full facts, so do not get involved. Sort out your own life instead, and do good, but do not go about grumbling and complaining, or trying to redress grievances, real or imagined.
Perhaps this is why Paul warns Christians not to be busybodies, saying: "Aspire to live quietly, to mind your own affairs" (1 Thessalonians 4:11).
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30.11 There is a breed of man who curses his father, and does not bless his mother.
As we approach the end of Proverbs, Solomon offers a catalogue of stereotypical attitudes that may be blocking your path to wisdom and severely limiting your success. Are you, for example, one of those who blame father and mother, and other people in general perhaps, for their own mistakes and failures?
There is a breed of man like this, says Solomon -- it is a common pitfall, a warped outlook that afflicts many. Individuals with this angry attitude towards life and other people will not find the success they seek until they become meekly teachable and prepared to listen for a change. Perhaps this is why Jesus says: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" (Matthew 5:5).
Childhood experiences are very important, and may have left us with a variety of emotional weaknesses and misconceptions of how the world works -- but as human beings we have the choice of making changes, and, with God’s help, of overcoming personal problems and bad habits that may have plagued us from an early age.
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30.12 There is a breed that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.
The theme continues. Before we can overcome weaknesses and bad attitudes that may be blighting our life, we have to admit they exist. This self-righteous breed, however, refuse to see themselves as they really are.
Paradoxically, however, they may see the sins of other people quite clearly, which is why Jesus says to them: "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3). Using a similar metaphor, James compares the word of God to a mirror that shows us the weaknesses in our character that may already be as obvious to other people through our words and actions as is our face (James 1:23).
The Hebrew text of this proverb apparently implies that although these people had performed various cleansing rituals at the Temple, their supposed moral purity did not manifest itself in their everyday lives. Such was also the situation with the highly intelligent and strictly religious but hard-hearted Pharisees to whom Jesus says: "You hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean" (Matthew 23:25-26).
The wise man prays: "Purify my heart, O Lord, through the inspiration of thy Holy Spirit".
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30.13 There is a breed, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up.
The theme continues. This haughty breed is contemptuous of other lesser mortals, and open their eyes wide and arch their eyebrows in shock horror at the merest suggestion that they themselves might have anything to repent of. As a result, they are rigid in outlook, and easily offended.
Pride, along with lust, drives the evil world we live in, which is why John says: "The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but of the world" (1 John 2:16).
Perhaps this is why Jesus says of those ready to adopt a different attitude: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God" (Matthew 5:3).
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30.14 There is a breed, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaws are set with knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.
Are you one of those fierce and rapacious individuals whom God has typified in nature by predatory carnivores such as the wolf and the shark, that survive by tearing to pieces and consuming weaker creatures? Do you use your strength, your intelligence and education to prey on the weak, and exploit and oppress the poor, needy and ignorant? If you do, your success is illusory and a fearful fate may await you.
In a reversal of this metaphor, James warns such wicked individuals that they themselves have become like cattle fattened up to be slaughtered by the farmer, by God! He says: "Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you . . . You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you" (James 5:1,5-6).
Perhaps, however, you are just the opposite of the men Solomon describes. Do you make yourself an easy victim? Are you too soft and weak, too docile, too lacking in drive and determination? Are you too timid, too spineless and fearful for your own good?
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30.15 The horseleech has two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yes, four things say not, It is enough:
The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that says not, It is enough.
Many leeches grow a sucker at either end of their body. Solomon was an avid student of nature and these two suckers are probably the greedy daughters he refers to. Both suck blood, so the vile creature can do its job twice as quickly.
The leech attaches itself to its victim, then mindlessly sucks in blood until it drops off under its own bloated weight. It can never get enough. Its appetite is never satisfied. But what about you? Are you mindlessly and greedily driven, beyond need? Are you a workaholic, unthinkingly attached to your money-making activity in a leech-like fashion, unable to let go? How much money do you want? How big a house? How much success? How much fame? What will it take to finally satiate your desires?
What is your overall perspective on life? The grave is never satisfied, so no matter how much success you achieve, death will consume you, sooner or later. And then what?
A barren woman can become desperate to have children to the extent that she is totally consumed by that single-minded desire. Does anything dominate and drive your life in such an unhealthy manner, and turn you totally inward? Are you being consumed by anger and bitterness about something you do not have – and so ruining the enjoyment of what you do have?
The earth soaks up the rain that falls, drains it away, and is soon ready for more. Are you trying to satisfy desires that can never be fully and finally satisfied? How much money do you need to spend to make you happy? How many possessions will you need to make you feel contended? How much praise and approval can you soak up?
Are you yourself are being consumed by your desires, like a fire consumes wood or coal? Have you kindled evil lusts that are burning out of control, spreading out and destroying your life? Unlike the other three things mentioned, fire expands and eagerly seeks more things to consume.
Solomon’s four metaphors focus on consuming – on getting, receiving, on taking in. Jesus teaches his disciples that happiness lies in precisely the opposite direction, saying: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
Do you need to radically simplify your life, and change your focus from getting to giving? Are you foolishly walking away from happiness? Do you need to turn around your attitudes and go in the opposite direction?
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30.17 The eye that mocks at his father, and despises to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.
Perhaps the theme continues. Do we think we can flout the laws of life, and live to excess and get away with it? Are we consumed by arrogance and foolish over-confidence?
Sensible parents try to teach their children moderation and the emotional control that accompanies it. However, many young people are scornful of adult advice, and despise those who seek to curb their excesses.
In due time, however, they will reap the appropriate penalties -- even death, from violence, alcohol and drug abuse and sexually transmitted diseases, as we read in our newspapers daily. Many of them lack the emotional stability to cope with the vicissitudes of life and even take their own lives.
When we pay attention, we normally look at the person speaking, and Solomon uses the dead and vacant eye that will be pecked out by the birds as a metaphor for the youthful and arrogant mind’s unwillingness to listen and learn. Now it is too late, and the eye serves no useful purpose other than as carrion for the wild birds to feed to their young, perhaps implying that the young person’s demise may at least provide food for thought for other youngsters.
The young birds Solomon describes sit in the nest waiting for their parent to feed them, and eagerly consume what is on offer, and so build up the strength they need to grow and develop and then venture out in the world. Metaphorically speaking, they are attentive, receptive and teachable. How sad that so many children refuse the spiritual food their parents offer, and become emotionally undernourished and unfit to survive. Do we ponder the fate of others and learn from their mistakes?
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30.18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yes, four which I do not understand:
The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship on the high seas; and the way of a man with a maid.
Perhaps the theme continues. Human conduct often defies logic and understanding, which is, perhaps, why psychology can never become a proper science. People do foolish things, even when they know better. Why?
Solomon describes three wondrous sights in order to point up a fourth even more mysterious one. One of the most amazing sights on earth, he says, is the way even the strongest, worldly wise and most powerful of men can become as weak as water, like putty in the hands of girl, and easily twisted around her little finger. In that irrational state of mind, he cannot and will not listen to reason, and may be influenced to do all manner of foolish things.
Are you conscious of the way your thinking is often shaped by your emotions, desires and appetites, rather than by a cool and logical consideration of the facts of a situation? Do you sometimes go ahead even when common sense tells you not to? Does your heart rule your head? Do you have too many weak moments?
Do you sometimes close your mind to reason – and suffer for it later? Although something may actually be killing you, such as smoking, overeating or excessive drinking, does the warm glow of anticipation for your next encounter overwhelm you and block out all logical thought as to the consequences?
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30.20 Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eats, and wipes her mouth, and says, I have done no wickedness.
The theme continues. The adulterous woman satisfies her desire, her hunger, and feels no qualms of guilt. For her, sexual intercourse has become simply a physical matter, like eating a meal when hungry. She finds excuses to justify her sinful behavior, and somehow convinces herself that wrong is right, that black is white..
Husband and wife argue and blame each another. Both convince themselves that they are right. Like the adulterous woman, each one finds excuses to justify whatever it was they said or did to upset the other.
How logical are you in making decisions? Do you make up your mind first, then look around for reasons to support the position you have taken? Do you act first without thinking, then look for ways to justify what you have done?
How conscious are you of the way your mind works? Can you step back and monitor your own thinking, and spot where you go wrong, where you deceive yourself? Are you a dreamer? Are your feet still on the ground, or do you live in cloud cuckoo land?
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30.21 Under three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear:
Under a servant when he reigns; and a fool when he is filled with meat;
Under an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
The so-called "numerical" proverbs continue, as Solomon describes four situations in which a person’s latent tiresomeness may manifest itself due to a change of circumstance.
First comes the servant who may have seemed quite servile until given a bit of authority that goes to his head, and he becomes a petty tyrant.
The needy fool appears docile and adopts a begging attitude when he is seeking help, but full of food and drink he displays quite a different side to his character. How good a judge of human nature are you, how discerning of a person’s basic temperament?
The odious woman and the handmaid described here also find themselves with new powers to exercise, due to changing circumstances. Once again, it goes to their head and dramatically changes the way they treat other people.
How much authority, or fame, or fortune could you handle if it came your way? How would it change you – or, more precisely perhaps, what would it reveal about the true character you have always kept carefully hidden?
Perhaps the theme has continued from the previous proverbs. How well do you know yourself and understand your own basic attitudes? What are you really like inside? Might you already have been passed over for promotion because people have somehow caught glimpses of your real character in certain situations?
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30.24 There are four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:
The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer;
The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks;
The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands;
The spider takes hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.
Even the lowly ant can teach us useful lessons. For example, by the way they make provision for future needs, and make hay, so to speak, while the sun shines. Ants are tiny creatures, yet by sheer diligence they build up their stores of food, bit by bit, hour by hour, day by day. Do we appreciate the power of diligent repetitive effort and the patient accumulation of small amounts of money? Do we save for emergencies, for a rainy day? Do we grasp passing opportunities before it is too late? How effectively do we use our time?
Conies are little rabbit-like creatures that do not make burrows in the ground but have the creative wisdom to make their homes between rocks, for protection. What lesson can we learn from them? What dangers should we be anticipating? What predators might try to hunt us down – and how can we make ourselves inaccessible to them? Where are the metaphorical rocks in which we could be hiding? For example, would we find more security working inside a big corporation with good benefits, rather than struggling along as lone operators?
Locusts somehow sense a common purpose and cooperate with one another to carry it out with devastating effectiveness. They have no king, no central authority telling them what to do and what needs doing. How might this principle apply to your life? Are you a self-starter? Do you rally round when you see a need and work with others to sort things out – or are you a loner, looking out for only your own individual interests? What problems could you help solve in your community? What small contribution could you make? Are you a good team player? Do you value the power of synergy?
In contrast to the armies of locusts, the spider usually works alone -- silently, diligently and unnoticed, in order to carry out a specific plan of action. Do you? Are you casual or methodical? Do you know what you want to accomplish? Do you have a plan, or are you a muddler? Do you keep a low profile and get on with things?
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30.29 There are three things that are stately in their stride, yes, four are stately in their bearing:
A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turns not away for any;
A greyhound; an he goat also; and a king, against whom there is no rising up.
Solomon points to three animals that impress by the way they move and carry themselves. A lion, king of the jungle, that walks with a majestic bearing, a greyhound that impresses with it graceful stride and speed, and a he goat that apparently adopts an authoritative pose that clearly marks him out as leader of his flock.
The king who also impresses by his bearing and manner has may have learned a lesson from nature that we can also learn – namely, that our physiology not only affects our thinking and our emotions, and vice versa, but also the impact we have on other people. The way we dress is important, but so is the way we hold our body, how we stand, how we carry ourselves. Do we droop with lack of confidence, or stand up straight? Is our head down in dejection, or held up? Does resolution reflect in our face, and shine out by the way we purse our lips, narrow the eyes, and clench a fist and strike it into the palm of the other hand? What kind of impression do we convey by the way we walk even?
Your physiology communicates a message about you to other people. What is that message? What is "presence" and how can you develop more of it, in a natural way? What lessons, both positive and negative, can you learn by observing the bearing, gestures and mannerisms of other people, or even from animals – a dog, a cat, a mouse, a race horse, a sheep, an eagle? Would more exercise help you improve your physiology?
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30.32 If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself, or if you have thought evil, lay your hand upon your mouth.
Have you ever said something very stupid, then suddenly realized it some time later and held your hand to your mouth in horror? Perhaps Solomon’s lesson here is that it is time for us to wake up to our stupidity, to the foolish way we may have lived our life, to the golden opportunties we have missed, to the way we have wasted our time and talents, and, perhaps, hurt other people.
Wake up! Many inspirational writers insist that most people on the face of this planet are sleepwalking their way through life. When you are asleep you keep on breathing and your heart keeps beating – you are alive, but doing nothing and going nowhere. As we near the end of Solomon’s course in wisdom, has he succeeded in waking us up yet? Are we really thinking? Are we making changes? Are we refocusing our lives?
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30.33 Surely the churning of cream brings forth butter, and the wringing of the nose brings forth blood: so the stirring up anger brings forth strife.
The theme continues as Solomon concludes this section with a starkly simple yet powerful lesson of life -- What you do makes a difference. Although you may choose to try to ignore it, the law of cause and effect is working relentlessly in your life – for better or worse, depending on what you choose to do. His point is simply illustrated by the fact that if you churn cream long enough, it invariably turns to butter. You can be sure of it – because that’s the way things work.
Butter is one of life’s little luxuries and is used in cooking and to make other foods, such as toast, more enjoyable. However, cream does not turn to butter of its own accord. You have to work at it, and keep churning it for quite a while. For quite a long time it looks as if nothing is happening, nothing is going to change, and perhaps you are wasting your time – then suddenly yellow lumps of butter start to form, and something of value has been created. You then feel encouraged and churn faster to get the job finished.
On the other hand, foolish actions also produce results – usually painful ones. Although nobody would deliberately twist their own nose until it started bleeding, that is what many people are doing, metaphorically speaking, a bit like banging their head against the proverbial brick wall. At first it might seem quite a harmless activity, but if they persist blood will suddenly start to flow and make a horrible mess. The point is that what you do or choose not do makes a difference. Think Cause and Effect.
There is an emotional dimension to success. If you persist in saying and doing annoying things you can soon stir someone to anger – but can you stir up your own emotions for a constructive purpose – for example, to undertake a carefully planned project to improve your life? Perhaps Solomon is suggesting, as modern psychology has apparently re-discovered, that our emotions and even those of other people respond to our actions. To become enthusiastic, act enthusiastically, and the feeling will surely follow.