Proverbs 30:2

Proverbs 30:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
• New International Version (NIV)Surely I am only a brute, not a man; I do not have human understanding.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Surely I am more stupid than any man, And do not have the understanding of a man.

Context of Proverbs 30:2

1The words of Agur the son of Jakeh; the prophecy uttered by the man unto Ithiel, [even] unto Ithiel and Ucal: Truly I am more stupid than any one; and I have not a man's intelligence. 3I have neither learned wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the Holy. 4Who hath ascended up into the heavens, and descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in a mantle? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou knowest?

Proverbs 30:2 word by word

כִּ֤י בַ֣עַר אָנֹכִ֣י מֵאִ֑ישׁ וְלֹֽא־בִינַ֖ת אָדָ֣ם לִֽי׃Read the interlinear

• stupidבַּ֫עַרba‛ar · stupidH1198
• oneאִישׁ'îysh · manH376

Cross-references for Proverbs 30:2

• Job 42:3Who is he that obscureth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered what I did not understand; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.
• Psalms 73:22Then I was brutish and knew nothing; I was [as] a beast with thee.
• Isaiah 6:5And I said, Woe unto me! for I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of hosts.
• Romans 11:25For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, of this mystery, that ye may not be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the nations be come in;
• 1 Corinthians 3:18Let no one deceive himself: if any one thinks himself to be wise among you in this world, let him become foolish, that he may be wise.
• 1 Corinthians 8:2If any one think he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know [it].
• James 1:5But if any one of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all freely and reproaches not, and it shall be given to him:
• Proverbs 5:12and thou say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof!
• Psalms 92:6A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand it.
• Jeremiah 10:14Every man is become brutish, bereft of knowledge; every founder is put to shame by the graven image, for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.
• 2 Peter 2:12But these, as natural animals without reason, made to be caught and destroyed, speaking injuriously in things they are ignorant of, shall also perish in their own corruption,

Commentaries on Proverbs 30:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2Surely I am more brutish - These words can in no sense, nor by any mode of speech, be true of Solomon: for while he was the wisest of men, he could not have said that he was more brutish than any man, and had not the understanding of a man. It is saying nothing to the purpose, to say he was so independently of the Divine teaching. Had he put this in, even by innuendo, it might be legitimate: but he does not; nor is it by fair implication to be understood…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2A confession of ignorance, with which compare the saying of Socrates that he was wise only so far as he knew that he knew nothing, or that of Asaph Psalm 73:22.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1-3Agur admits he does not know everything (compare Psalm 73:22, where the psalmist calls himself senseless). The first step toward wisdom is admitting our ignorance.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2-42-4. brutish--stupid, a strong term to denote his lowly self-estimation; or he may speak of such as his natural condition, as contrasted with God's all-seeing comprehensive knowledge and almighty power. The questions of this clause emphatically deny the attributes mentioned to be those of any creature, thus impressively strengthening the implied reference of the former to God (compare De 30:12-14; Is 40:12; Ep 4:8).Read the comment

Topics related to Proverbs 30:2

• Humility

In the dictionaries

• Agur
• Convenient
• Folk
• Food
• Brute; Brutish
• God
• Massa
• Proverbs, the Book of
• Zoology

Commentaries on Proverbs 30

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings