Proverbs 30 is the 30th chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The book is a compilation of several wisdom literature collections, with the heading in 1:1 may be intended to regard Solomon as the traditional author of the whole book, but the dates of the individual collections are difficult to determine, and the book probably obtained its final shape in the post-exilic period. This chapter specifically records "the sayings of Agur", followed by a collection of epigrams and aphorisms.
This collection is ascribed to an unknown non-Israelite sage. It could be appended to Proverbs because of its valuable cautionary comments and the exaltation of Torah. The closeness 'in word and spirit' to Psalm 73 is noted as Agur, like the psalmist, combines confession of ignorance with a profession of faith and exultation in the insight that comes from God alone, while urging people to turn directly to God as a safeguard against temptation.
Verse 1
"The oracle" translates the Hebrew word massa, which could describe the sayings as a prophetic type 'revelation', but here may designate 'the tribe or place of Massa in northern Arabia' to which Agur could belong.
"To Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ukal" : these names can presumably be Agur's sons or disciples.
Verse 2
"Brutish" this Hebrew word is also used in and translated as "foolish".
Verse 4
Like those in Job 38–41, these rhetorical questions emphasize' the inscrutability of God's ways'.
Epigrams and Aphorisms (30:10–33)
This part contains various epigrams and three short aphorisms in the midst. Most of the epigrams take the form of lists. Epigrams i and vii contain unnumbered lists whose items are grouped by theme and anaphora. Epigram v is a single-number list with four items. Epigrams ii, iii, iv, and vi are graded numerical sayings, in the form "Three things… and four". The final item in the series is usually the climax and focal point.
Verse 14
"Knives": from Hebrew: ma'akhelet, "meat-cleavers", also used in the story of the Binding of Isaac, are 'not ordinary knives but the kind used to butcher meat'.
Verse 15
"The leech has two daughters": implying a greedy person, or likely 'a greedy woman', because the Hebrew word for "leech" is a feminine noun. The "two daughters" is seen as 'a reference to the two suckers of the leech'.
"Three things...four": Compare to : "For three crimes of Damascus /and for four, I will not revoke it."
Verse 16
"The grave": or "Sheol" is 'never sated with the dead, always wanting more' ; is placed in a parallelism with a blocked womb, which is 'never satisfied with its condition of barrenness, always hungry to produce life' also like the desire of the earth for water, and the fire for fuel.
Verse 31
"A greyhound": or "strutting rooster" ; is literally 'one girt of loins' or 'girded of waist', i.e. 'the strutter', usually taken with the LXX as referring to the cock, though other animals such as the warhorse have been proposed.
"A king against whom there is no uprising": according to a Jewish tradition, or "a king whose troops are with him" in NKJV.
