Proverbs 30:2-3

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Proverbs 30:2 tn The particle כִּי (ki) functions in an asseverative sense, “surely; indeed; truly” (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 73, §449).
2. Proverbs 30:2 tn The noun בַּעַר (baʿar) means “brutishness”; here it functions as a predicate adjective. It is followed by מֵאִישׁ (meʾish) expressing comparative degree: “more than a man” or “more than any man,” with “man” used in a generic sense. He is saying that he has fallen beneath the level of mankind. Cf. NRSV “I am too stupid to be human.”
3. Proverbs 30:2 tn Heb “than man.” The verse is using hyperbole; this individual feels as if he has no intelligence at all, that he is more brutish than any other human. Of course this is not true, or he would not be able to speculate on the God of the universe at all. On the other hand he may simply be employing sarcasm. He says what others think, knowing that it is not true.
4. Proverbs 30:2 tn Heb “the understanding of a man,” with “man” used attributively here.
5. Proverbs 30:3 tn The verb אֵדָע (ʾedaʿ) is the imperfect form of the stative verb יָדָע (yadaʿ) “to know.” The imperfect form of a stative verb should be understood as future or modal and is translated here as an abilitive modal. By using a perfect verb for past time in the first half and in imperfect form in the second half, the verb is strongly negative, denying both learning in the past and the possibility of learning in the future.
6. Proverbs 30:3 sn The construction uses repetition to make the point emphatically: “I do not know the knowledge of the Holy One.” Agur’s claim to being “brutish” is here clarified—he is not one of those who has knowledge or understanding of God. C. H. Toy thinks the speaker is being sarcastic in reference to others who may have claimed such knowledge (Proverbs [ICC], 521).
7. Proverbs 30:3 tn The epithet “the Holy One” is the adjective “holy” put in the masculine plural (as in 9:10). This will harmonize with the plural of majesty used to explain the plural with titles for God. However, NRSV takes the plural as a reference to the “holy ones,” presumably referring to angelic beings.