These are the words of Agur son of Jakeh—Agur is a relatively obscure figure in the Bible, mentioned only in this chapter of Proverbs. His name means "collector" or "gatherer," suggesting a role in gathering wisdom. The identity of Jakeh, Agur's father, is unknown, and there is no other biblical reference to him. This lack of information highlights the humility and ordinariness of Agur, emphasizing that wisdom can come from unexpected sources. The mention of Agur and Jakeh suggests a historical context where wisdom was passed down through family lines, a common practice in ancient Israelite culture.
the burden that this man declared to Ithiel:
The term "burden" often refers to a prophetic message or oracle, indicating that Agur's words carry significant weight and divine insight. The use of "burden" suggests a sense of responsibility in delivering a message from God. Ithiel, to whom the message is addressed, is also an obscure figure, possibly a student or disciple of Agur. This reflects the tradition of wisdom literature being shared in a teacher-student relationship, common in ancient Near Eastern cultures. The personal nature of the address implies a close relationship and a direct transmission of wisdom.
“I am weary, O God, and worn out.
Agur's admission of weariness and exhaustion is a profound expression of human limitation and dependence on God. This phrase captures the humility required to seek divine wisdom, acknowledging that human understanding is insufficient without God's guidance. The repetition of "weary" and "worn out" emphasizes the depth of Agur's struggle, resonating with the experiences of many biblical figures who faced their own limitations, such as Elijah (1 Kings 19:4) and David (Psalm 6:6). This acknowledgment of weakness is a precursor to receiving God's strength and wisdom, aligning with the biblical theme that God's power is made perfect in human weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Persons / Places / Events
1.
AgurThe author of
Proverbs 30, Agur is a relatively obscure figure in the Bible. His name means "collector" or "gatherer," suggesting he may have been a collector of wisdom or sayings.
2.
JakehThe father of Agur. Little is known about him, but his name means "pious" or "obedient," indicating a possible background of faithfulness or devotion.
3.
IthielThe recipient of Agur's oracle. The name Ithiel means "God is with me," which may imply a personal relationship or trust in God.
4.
OracleA divine message or revelation. In this context, it refers to the wisdom or insight that Agur is imparting.
5.
Weary and Worn OutAgur's expression of human frailty and dependence on God, highlighting a theme of humility and recognition of one's limitations.
Teaching Points
Humility in Seeking WisdomAgur's acknowledgment of weariness is a reminder of the importance of humility in our pursuit of wisdom. Recognizing our limitations opens us to God's guidance.
Dependence on GodAgur's cry to God underscores the necessity of relying on divine strength rather than our own. In moments of exhaustion, turning to God is crucial.
The Value of Honest ReflectionAgur's transparency about his state of mind encourages us to be honest with ourselves and God about our struggles, fostering a deeper relationship with Him.
The Role of Divine RevelationThe term "oracle" suggests that true wisdom comes from God. We should seek His revelation through prayer and Scripture.
Encouragement in WearinessWhile Agur expresses weariness, the broader biblical account assures us that God provides rest and renewal for the weary.
Bible Study Questions and Answers
1.What is the meaning of Proverbs 30:1?
2.What does Proverbs 30:1 teach about humility in seeking wisdom from God?
3.How can we apply Agur's acknowledgment of his limitations in our daily lives?
4.In what ways does Proverbs 30:1 connect with James 1:5 on seeking wisdom?
5.How does Agur's approach in Proverbs 30:1 guide our prayer life?
6.What role does humility play in understanding God's word, as seen in Proverbs 30:1?
7.Who is Agur, son of Jakeh, mentioned in Proverbs 30:1?
8.What is the significance of Agur's oracle in Proverbs 30:1?
9.How does Proverbs 30:1 fit into the overall theme of the Book of Proverbs?
10.What are the top 10 Lessons from Proverbs 30?
11.Who is Agur in the Book of Proverbs?
12.What defines a biblical proverb?
13.Proverbs 30:15–16 personifies a leech and lists things never satisfied; what evidence supports or refutes these claims scientifically?
14.What are common questions about proverbs?What Does Proverbs 30:1 Mean
These are the words of Agur son of Jakeh• Scripture introduces a new human author, Agur, reminding us that God used many voices while preserving one unified, Spirit-breathed message (2 Timothy 3:16;2 Peter 1:21).
• “Words” signals that what follows is intentional teaching, like the collected sayings of Solomon earlier in Proverbs (Proverbs 1:1–2).
• Agur’s name appears nowhere else in Scripture. His obscurity underscores that wisdom is not limited to famous figures; God delights to raise up unexpected servants (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
• “Son of Jakeh” anchors him in real history. By placing wisdom in a concrete family line, the text rejects the idea that biblical counsel is merely mythical or abstract (compareLuke 3:23-38 for similar historical rooting).
• Taken literally, this opening phrase invites us to receive Agur’s teaching with the same seriousness we grant to the better-known proverbs of Solomon, because the ultimate Author is the same (Psalm 12:6).
The burden that this man declared to Ithiel• The Berean Standard Bible renders the Hebrew word as “oracle,” but the older English “burden” captures the weight of the message (seeIsaiah 13:1;Nahum 1:1, where prophetic oracles are likewise called burdens).
• Calling his words a burden suggests three things:
– He has felt the message’s gravity in his own soul before sharing it (Jeremiah 20:9).
– The content may confront complacency, pressing listeners toward humility and dependence on the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-7).
– Delivering God’s truth is both privilege and responsibility; teachers will give account for every word (James 3:1).
• Agur directs the oracle “to Ithiel”—and, in the full text, “to Ithiel and Ucal.” These individuals, likely students or companions, represent every reader who longs for wisdom (Proverbs 2:1-5).
• Personal address hints at discipleship: truth is best conveyed in relationship, older to younger, friend to friend (2 Timothy 2:2). Just as Ithiel needed Agur’s burden, we need seasoned believers who speak God’s Word into our lives (Hebrews 10:24-25).
I am weary, O God, and worn out• Many manuscripts read, “I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out,” conveying Agur’s exhaustion. Other ancient traditions translate, “to Ithiel and to Ucal,” but the footnotes the alternate reading, preserving both ideas.
• Either way, Agur begins with humility, confessing limitation before imparting wisdom (Proverbs 30:2-3). His fatigue reminds us that even godly people reach the end of their own resources (Psalm 73:26).
• Honest admission of weakness is the doorway to true understanding; “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6;Proverbs 3:34).
• This weariness mirrors the psalmists’ cries (Psalm 6:6;Psalm 69:3) and foreshadows Jesus’ invitation, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened” (Matthew 11:28).
• When Agur turns his tiredness toward God rather than away from Him, he models faith. Our limits are not liabilities in God’s economy; they are opportunities to lean on His limitless wisdom (2 Corinthians 12:9-10;Isaiah 40:28-31).
summaryProverbs 30:1 introduces Agur as a trustworthy, Spirit-inspired voice. His “words” carry divine authority, his “burden” underscores the seriousness of the message, and his confession of weariness highlights the humble posture required to receive true wisdom. By tethering deep truth to real people, real relationships, and real human frailty, the verse invites every modern Ithiel to listen, learn, and rely wholly on the Lord who gives wisdom generously to those who ask.
XXX.8.THE PROVERBS OF SOLOMON END HERE. THE REST OF THE BOOK IS COMPOSED OF THREE APPENDICES: (a) THE WORDS OF AGUR; (b) THE WORDS OF KING LEMUEL; AND (C) THE PRAISE OF A GOOD WIFE (Proverbs 30, 31).
APPENDIX (a).
(1)The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy.--Jewish interpreters have seen in these titles (but apparently without a shadow of reason) a designation of Solomon himself, the "convener" and instructor of assemblies (Ecclesiastes 1:1;Ecclesiastes 12:11), son of the "obedient" man after God's own heart. But they in all probability belong to some otherwise unknown sage, whose utterances were thought not unworthy of being joined with those of the wise King of Israel himself. In support of this view1Kings 4:30 may be adduced as a proof of the estimation in which the wisdom of foreign nations was at this time held. The book of Job also, which possibly now was added to the canon of Scripture, is certainly of foreign, probably of Arabian, origin. Some light may be thrown upon the nationality of Agur by the words translated in the Authorised version "the prophecy" (massa).This is the term constantly employed to express the "utterance," or, more probably, the message which a prophet "bore"to his hearers, often one of gloomy import (Isaiah 13:1, etc.). But the term is not very appropriate to the contents of this chapter, nor to the "words of King Lemuel," in Proverbs 31, and the expression, "the prophecy," standing quite alone, with no other words to qualify it, is very singular. For these reasons it has been proposed to translate the beginning of the verse thus: "The words of Agur the son of Jakeh the Massan,"i.e.,a descendant of the Massa mentioned inGenesis 25:14 as a son of Ishmael. This would place his home probably in North Arabia, and Lemuel would be king of the same tribe. . . .
Verses 1-33. - Part VII. FIRST APPENDIX TO THE SECOND COLLECTION, containing "the words of Agur." A short introduction, teaching that the Word of God is the source of wisdom (vers. 1-6), is followed by apothegms on different subjects (vers. 7-33). Cornelius a Lapide offers the following opinion concerning this appendix, which no one can hesitate to say is well founded, if he attempts to give it a spiritual interpretation, and to discern mysteries under the literal meaning: "Quarta haec pars elegantissima est et pulcherrima, aeque ac difficillima et obscurissima: priores enim tres partes continent Proverbia et Paraemias claras, ac antithesibus et similitudinibus perspicuas et illustres; haec vero continet aenigmata et gryphos insignes, sed arcanos et perdifficiles, turn ex phrasi quae involute est et aenigmatica, tum ex sensu et materia, quae sublimis est et profunda."
Verse 1. -
The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy. This seems to be the correct rendering of the passage, though it has been made to bear very different interpretations. It is plainly the tide of the treatise which follows Wire Agur and Jakeh were is utterly unknown. The Jewish interpreters considered that "Agur son of Jakeh" was an allegorical designation of Solomon -
Agur meaning "Gatherer," or "Convener" (see
Ecclesiastes 1:1;
Ecclesiastes 12:11);
Jakeh, "Obedient," or "Pious," which thus would indicate David. St. Jerome somewhat countenances the alle gorical interpretation by translating,
Verba Congregantis,
filii Vomentis, "The words of the Collector, son of the Utterer." But what follows could not apply to Solomon; he could not say, "I have not learned wisdom" (ver. 3), or ask blindly after the Creator (ver. 4). Many have endeavoured to find Agur's nationality in the word that follows, translated "the prophecy" (
חַמַשָּׂא,
hamassa).
Massa "burden," is usually applied to a solemn prophetical speech or oracle, a Divine utterance (
Isaiah 13:1;
Isaiah 15:1, etc.), and as this designation was deemed inappropriate to the character of this appendix, it has been thought that allusion is here made to a land of Massa, so called after a son of Ishmael (
Genesis 25:14), who dwelt in the country of Edom or Seir, and whose inhabitants were among those children of the East whose wisdom had become proverbial (
1 Kings 4:30). Others find Massa in the Hauran, or on the north of the Persian Gulf. The Venetian Version gives,
Λόγοι Ἀγούρου υἱέωςἸακέως τοῦ Μασάου. But we have no satisfactory account of a country thus called, and its existence is quite problematical; therefore the ingenious explanations founded on the reality of this
terra ignota need not be specified (see Introduction, pp. 21, etc.). Gratz has suggested that in place of
hamassa should be read
hammoshel, "the proverb writer;" but this is a mere conjecture, unsupported by any ancient authority. If, as seems necessary, we are compelled to resign the rendering, "of Masse," or "the Massan," we must fall back on the Authorized Version, and consider the term "oracle" as applied loosely and abnormally to these utterances of wisdom which follow. That they are not of the nature of Divine communications can be seen at once by consideration of their contents, which are mainly of human, and not of the highest type, and, though capable of spiritual interpretation, do not possess that uniqueness of purpose, that religious character and elevation of subject, which one expects in the enunciations of an inspired prophet. This view does not militate against their claim to be regarded as Holy Scripture; their place in the canon is secured by other considerations, and is not affected by our suspicion of the inappropriateness of the term applied to them; and, indeed, it may be that the very human element in these utterances is meant to be unsatisfying, and to lead one to look for the deep spiritual truths which underlie the secular surroundings. Agur is some poet or moralist, well known in Solomon's time, probably one of the wise men referred to in
Proverbs 24:23 (see below). The rest of the paragraph is of greater obscurity than the former portion.
The man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal. According to this rendering, the man is Agur, who is introduced as uttering what follows in ver. 2, etc., to Ithiel and Ucal, two of his sons, pupils, or companions. The name Ucal occurs nowhere else in the Old Testament; Ithiel is found once, in
Nehemiah 11:7, as the name of a Benjamite. Wordsworth regards the names as symbolical of the moral character of those whom the author designs to address, explaining the former as equivalent to "God with me," and the latter as denoting "consumed" with zeal, or "strong," "perfect." It is as if the writer said, "You must have God with you; yea, you must have God with you, if you are to be strong. You must be Ithiels, if you are to be Ucals." He refers to
1 Corinthians 15:10;
2 Corinthians 3:5;
Philippians 4:13. That the Masorites regarded these words as proper names is evident;
אֻכָל, indeed, can have no other application. The Syriac takes this view of the words; to the same opinion lean, more or less, the Jewish translators Aquila and Theodotion, Aben Ezra, Vatablus, Pagninus, and others, and it is the simplest and easiest solution of the difficulties which have been seen in the clause. But many modern commentators have declared against it;
e.g., Hitzig, Zockler, Detitzsch, Bottcher, Nowack. The repetition of
Ithiel seems unmeaning; one sees no reason why it should be repeated more than
Ucal. The second verse begins with
כִּי, which, as Hebraists agree, cannot stand abruptly at the commencement of a discourse, but rather establishes something that has preceded. But if we take the words in dispute as proper names, no statement to be confirmed has been made. We are, then, constrained to take them in another sense. St. Jerome translates them, writing,
Visio quam locutus est vir,
cum quo est Deus,
et qui Deo secum morante confortatus. The LXX. (which in troduces vers. 1-14 of this chapter after
Proverbs 24:23) gives, "Those things saith the man to those who believe God, and I cease;"
τοῖς πιστεύουσι Θεῷ being the translation of the doubled
Ithiel, equivalent to "God with me," and
ואכל (
παύομαι) being considered to be a formation from the root
כלה. Ewald takes the two words to be the name of one man, equivalent to "God with me, so I am strong;" in his own language,
Mitmirgott -
sobinich stark; but his idea of a dialogue between the rich mocker (vers. 2-4) and the humble believer (ver. 5-14) is not well founded, though a late editor, Strack, agreeing, considers that the only possible interpretation of these verses (2-4) is to make the speaker utter them as the outcome of his unbelief and scoffing, to which Agur answers in ver. 5. Under all circumstances, it has seemed to many scholars best to surrender the notion of proper names, and, altering the vocalization, to interpret, "The oracle of the man, 'I have wearied myself, O God, I have wearied myself, O God,'" or, as others say, "about God." The utterance commences here, and not at ver. 2. The repetition forcibly expresses the laborious and painful investigation of the seeker after truth. The final word, vocalized
וָאֵכִל, is rendered, "And I have withdrawn;" or, as Bickell, quoted by Cheyne, gives,
v'lo ukal, "I have not prevailed." We arrive thus at this interpretation: first comes the superscription, "The words of Agur," etc., "the oracle of the man;" then begins the utterance, which opens with the melancholy avowal that, though he had longed and striven to know God, his nature, his attributes, his working, he had failed in this object, and expended his labour in vain. Both Agur, and Lemuel who is named in
Proverbs 31:1, seem to have been persons not of Israelitish nationality, but dwelling in the neighbourhood of Palestine, and acquainted with the religion and sacred literature of the chosen people (see ver. 5). It is by no means unlikely that they were of the race of Ishmael, from which stock many wise men had risen, and where wisdom was so cultivated as to have become proverbial (see
Jeremiah 49:7;
Obadiah 1:8). In what follows Agur shows himself as a philosopher and a critic, but at the same time a firm believer.
Parallel Commentaries ...
Hebrew
The wordsדִּבְרֵ֤י ׀(diḇ·rê)Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 1697:A word, a matter, thing, a causeof Agurאָג֥וּר(’ā·ḡūr)Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 94:Agur -- 'hired', an author of proverbssonבִּן־(bin-)Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1121:A sonof Jakeh,יָקֶ֗ה(yā·qeh)Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3348:Jakeh -- father of Agurthe oracleהַמַּ֫שָּׂ֥א(ham·maś·śā)Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4853:A burden, tribute, porterage, an utterance, chiefly a, doom, singing, mental, desirethat this manהַ֭גֶּבֶר(hag·ge·ḇer)Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1397:A valiant man, warrior, a person simplydeclaresנְאֻ֣ם(nə·’um)Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5002:An oracleto Ithiel—לְאִֽיתִיאֵ֑ל(lə·’î·ṯî·’êl)Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 384:with me is God', an Israelite nameto Ithielלְאִ֖יתִיאֵ֣ל(lə·’î·ṯî·’êl)Preposition-l | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 384:with me is God', an Israelite nameand Ucal:וְאֻכָֽל׃(wə·’u·ḵāl)Conjunctive waw | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 401:Ucal -- an Israelite name
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OT Poetry: Proverbs 30:1 The words of Agur the son (Prov. Pro Pr) 
