This chapter begins with a prophecy of Elijah, that there should be want of rain for some years to come, and he is directed to go first to the brook Cherith, where he should be fed by ravens, 1 Kings 17:1–7, and afterwards he is sent to a widow at Zarephath, where he, she, and her son, were…

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh Here begins, according to Aben Ezra, the fourth part of this book; though, according to others, it is the fifth; (See Gill on Prov.

Surely I am more brutish than any man “Every man is become brutish in his knowledge”; man in his original state was a knowing creature but sinning lost his knowledge, and “became like the beasts that perish”; hence we read of the “brutish among the people”: but Agur thought himself not only brutish…

I neither learned wisdom Natural wisdom or philosophy, so as to understand the nature of things, and reason about them in a philosophical manner; or political wisdom, so as to know how to govern states, and manage the affairs of kingdoms; or in a lower sphere to transact the affairs of life to any…

Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? &c.] That has been thither to fetch knowledge of God and divine things, and has returned to communicate it.

Every word of God is pure The whole word of God. “All Scripture”, given by inspiration of God, to which Agur directs, as giving the best account of God, of his name, nature, and perfections; of his Son, person, offices, and grace; being pure, very pure, “purified” [[24]] like silver, purified in a…

Add thou not unto his words To the words of God; as the Jews did, by joining their oral law, or the traditions of the elders, to the written word, and preferring them before it; and as the Papists, by making their unwritten traditions, and the sense and determinations of their church, equal to the…

Two things have I required of thee Or, “have asked of thee [[0]], O God”; as may be supplied, for the words are addressed to him. The following is a prayer made unto him, which contains the two requests here referred to; his requests are not many, his words are few; he did not make long prayers, or…

Remove far from me vanity and lies This is the “first” request, to be preserved from sin, in general; which is a vain, lying, and deceitful thing; promising pleasure, profit, liberty, and impunity, which it does not give.

Lest I be full, and deny thee This is the dangerous consequence of riches, and the temptation they expose men unto; who, being full of the things of this world, are tempted to deny the Lord; not his being and perfections directly, but chiefly his providence; to deny that what they have, they have…

Accuse not a servant unto his master Wrongly, rashly, and without any foundation, nor for any trifling thing; unless it be in a case of moment and importance, when his master’s business is sadly neglected, or he is injured in his property by him: especially care should be taken not to calumniate a…

There is a generation that curseth their father A sort of men that neither fear God nor regard men; and are so inhuman as to be without natural affections to their parents; have no reverence of them, love to them, nor give them any honour or obedience; so far from it, that they curse their father…

There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, &c.] Not in the eyes of God, who sees the heart, and all the impurities of it, as well as of life and conversation; nor in the eyes of others, though such may appear outwardly righteous before men; but in their own eyes, in their own conceit…

There is a generation, O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up. ] Above others, on whom they look with scorn and contempt; as those do who have more riches than others, and boast of them; they despise their poor neighbours, and disdain to look upon them: and such also who have…

There is a generation whose teeth are as swords As sharp as swords; like such the beasts of prey have; cruel, barbarous, and inhuman creatures; see ; and their jaw teeth as knives; exceeding sharp and biting: to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men: by their tyranny,…

The horse leech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give Or “the blood sucker” [[10]]; so it began to be called in the times of Pliny [[11]], to which the last generation of men may well be compared; blood thirsty creatures, that never have enough, and are not satisfied with the flesh of men, nor…

The grave Which is the first of the four daughters, or insatiable things, which resemble the horse leech: the grave is the house appointed for all living; it stands ready for them, it is open to receive them when dead; and though such multitudes have been put into it, since death reigned in the…

The eye that mocketh at his father At his advice, admonitions, and instructions; looks upon him with scorn and disdain, and treats him as a weak, silly, old man: here Agur returns to the first generation he had observed; and despiseth to obey his mother; her orders and commands: or, “the obedience…

There be three things which are too wonderful for me Which were above his reach and comprehension; what he could not find out, nor account for, nor sufficiently admire; yea, four things which I know not; the way of them; as follows.

The way of an eagle in the air And so of any other bird; but this is mentioned, because it flies swiftest, and soars highest: but the way in which it goes is not known, nor can it be seen with the eye; it cuts the air, and passes through it, but leaves no track behind it which may be pointed to,…

Such is the way of an adulterous woman It is equally unknown as the way of a man with a maid; it is difficult to detect her, she takes so much care and caution, and uses so many artful methods to conceal her wickedness from her husband; though she lives in adultery, it is in a most private manner,…

For three things the earth is disquieted The inhabitants of it are made very uneasy; and for four which it cannot bear; they are a load and burden upon it, and are intolerable to those that dwell on it, and make them very uncomfortable.

For a servant, when he reigneth Being unfit for it through his education, not having been trained up in and learned the arts of government and maxims of it; and through the disposition of his mind, which is mean, abject, and servile; and as he has been used himself when a servant, so he will use…

For an odious woman, when she is married Odious for her person, her ugliness, and the deformity of her body; or rather for the ill qualities of her mind, which, while single, she endeavours to conceal, but, being married, hides them no longer; but becomes imperious, proud, scornful, and malicious,…

There be four things which are little upon the earth Small in bulk, that have little bodies, are the lesser sort of animals; but they are exceeding wise; show a great deal of art and wisdom in what they do; or “but they are wise, made wise” [[4]] by the instinct of nature, by the direction of…

The ants are a people not strong Far from it; what is weaker than an ant? a multitude of them may be destroyed at once, with the crush of a foot. Pliny calls it “minimum animal”, the least animal; and the Arabians use it as a proverb, to call a weak man one weaker than an ant: and there is one sort…

The coneys are but a feeble folk Or “rabbits”; though some think these creatures are not intended, because they are not so little as those with which they are ranked, the ant, the locust, and spider; and because of the places in which they burrow and make their houses, which though in holes and…

The locusts have no king These are small creatures also, yet very devouring ones; and consume the fruits of the earth, wherever they come and light; see ; they are very numerous, and move in large bodies, and yet with great regularity and order; which shows the wisdom there is in them by natural…

The spider taketh hold with her hands On the thread she spins, or on the flies and bees she catches in her web. This is a small creature, yet very wise; what a curious thread does she spin! what a fine web does she weave! with what exactness and proportion is it framed! as if she understood the…

There be three things which go well In a very orderly and composed manner; with constancy and cheerfulness, with great stateliness and majesty, intrepidly, and without fear; yea, four are comely in going; very beautiful and lovely to look at as they walk.

A lion, which is strongest among beasts For what is stronger than a lion, or more courageous and undaunted? it walks with great majesty, very slowly, step by step, the left foot first; shaking its shoulders as it goes, as the philosopher [[7]] describes its going, and as here intended, and this…

A greyhound So Gersom interprets the word; but Jarchi owns he does not know what is meant; and Aben Ezra only says, it is the name of a living creature, but does not say what; but observes, that some interpret it of the “bee”, and others of the “eagle”.

If thou hast done foolishly in lifting up thyself Against a king, against whom there is no rising up; by speaking evil of him, or rebelling against him; which is acting a foolish part, since it brings a man into troubles and difficulties inextricable; or by self-commendation, which is the height of…

Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth butter Or the pressing of it. This is a thing well known and certain, that of milk, when pressed out of the udder, and put into a churn, and there is shook together, by a constant violent agitation or motion, called churning, butter is produced; and cheese…