New King James Version
Proverbs 30:2
2Surely I am more stupid than any man, And do not have the understanding of a man.
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 Living Translation (NLT)I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense.
Context of Proverbs 30:2
1The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his utterance. This man declared to Ithiel—to Ithiel and Ucal: Surely I am more stupid than any man, And do not have the understanding of a man. 3I neither learned wisdom Nor have knowledge of the Holy One. 4Who has ascended into heaven, or descended? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son’s name, If you know?
Read all of Proverbs 30Proverbs 30:2 word by word
כִּ֤י בַ֣עַר אָנֹכִ֣י מֵאִ֑ישׁ וְלֹֽא־בִינַ֖ת אָדָ֣ם לִֽי׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 30:2
- Job 42:3You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
- Psalms 73:22I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.
- Isaiah 6:5So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
- Romans 11:25For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
- 1 Corinthians 3:18Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
- 1 Corinthians 8:2And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know.
- James 1:5If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
- Proverbs 5:12And say: “How I have hated instruction, And my heart despised correction!
- Psalms 92:6A senseless man does not know, Nor does a fool understand this.
- Jeremiah 10:14Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image; For his molded image is falsehood, And there is no breath in them.
- 2 Peter 2:12But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly 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
In the dictionaries
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries