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

1These are the words of Jakeh's son, Agur. It is an important message. The man says this to Ithiel: God, I am weak and tired. I cannot continue to stand. I feel more stupid than any other person. I do not understand things as other people do. 3I have never learned wisdom. I do not know anything about God, the Holy One. 4No one has gone up to heaven and then come back. No one has held the wind in his hands. No one has tied his coat around the seas. No one has fixed the borders of the earth. If anyone has done this, tell me his name. Tell me his son's name. Tell me, if you know.

Proverbs 30:2 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• more brutishבַּ֫עַרba‛ar · stupidH1198
• manאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
• and have not the understandingבִּינָהbîynâh · understandingH998
• of a manאָדָם'âdâm · manH120

Cross-references for Proverbs 30:2

• Job 42:3You asked me, “Why do you ask questions about my wisdom, when you do not understand anything?” It is true. I was speaking about things that I do not understand. They are things that are too wonderful for me to know.
• Psalms 73:22I was stupid, and I did not understand you properly. I was no better than an animal.
• Isaiah 6:5Then I said, ‘It is bad for me! My life is at an end! I have lips that are unclean. I live among people with lips that are unclean. With my own eyes I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’
• Romans 11:25My Christian friends, I want to help you to understand about Israel's people. It is a secret that God has shown to us. If you really understand it, you will not be proud that you are so clever. Many of Israel's people have refused to believe in Christ. They will continue to refuse him until the complete number of Gentiles have believed.
• 1 Corinthians 3:18Be careful! Do not think that you are better than you really are. Maybe you think that you are wise, like people today want to be wise. But if you want to become truly wise, be ready for other people to think that you are a fool.
• 1 Corinthians 8:2Some people may think that they know everything. People like that do not know as much as they ought to know.
• James 1:5But maybe you need to know how to be wise. Then ask God to help you. He is ready to give everyone what they need. And he never says that it is wrong to ask. So God will help you to be wise.
• Proverbs 5:12You will say, ‘I should have listened when people warned me that I was doing bad things.
• Psalms 92:6Here is something that stupid people do not know. Fools do not understand it.
• Jeremiah 10:14People who worship idols are stupid. They do not understand what they are doing. The men who make idols will be ashamed. They make images of gods that are false. None of their idols have the breath of life in them.
• 2 Peter 2:12But these false teachers speak against things that they do not understand. They are like wild animals. Their minds cannot think properly. They only do what their nature causes them to do. Wild animals are born so that people can catch them and kill them. In the same way, God will destroy the false teachers.

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