PROV 30:18 Interlinear View

30:18 OSHB variant note: ו/ארבע: (x-qere) ’וְ֝/אַרְבָּעָ֗ה’: lemma_c/702 n_0.0 morph_HC/Acmsa id_20XRp וְ֝/אַרְבָּעָ֗ה

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 30:1–33: Here are the sayings of Agur

This section is a collection of verses that were written or organized by Agur the son of Jakeh.Some scholars think that Agur wrote or collected only verses 1–4, 1–6, 1–9, or 1–14. UBS (page 617), Toy (page 518), and Longman (page 513) are among those who list some of these possibilities. The GNT indicates with quotation marks that Agur’s words end after v.6. No other versions indicate that Agur’s words end before the end of the chapter. Waltke (volume I, page 26) strongly defends the entire chapter as the “oracle” of Agur on the basis of its structural unity. Kidner (page 178) divides the chapter into two sections (1–9) and (10–33), but identifies both as coming from “the sage.” The title of this section (30:1a) is the only place in Scripture that Agur is mentioned. The section is divided into paragraphs that vary from one to five verses. The Notes will suggest a paragraph heading for all paragraphs after 30:1a. It is suggested that you use similar headings in your translation to help the readers follow the changes of topic and audience.

The first nine verses contain Agur’s personal thoughts and prayers. Some are addressed to God, others to his audience. The rest of the chapter contains proverbs on various topics. Some are individual warnings or statements (30:10, 17, 20, 32–33). Others contain several kinds of lists of four items each. The lists in verses 15b–16, 18–19, 21–23, and 29–31 have the same form as the numerical proverb in 6:16–19. (See the paragraph summary for 6:16–19 and the notes on 6:16a–b.) The lists in verses 11–14 and 24–28 have different forms. These will be described in the paragraph summaries where they first occur.

Some other headings for this section are:

The Words of Agur (ESV)

Wise Words from Agur (NCV)

Words that the LORD caused Agur to make known

Paragraph 30:18–19 Four amazing things that I cannot understand

This is a numerical proverb that has the same form as 30:15b–16. It lists four things that the author considers to be too amazing or wonderful to understand. He cannot understand the way or manner in which each of the four things move toward their destinations or accomplish their goals.

30:18

The parallel structure here is similar to 30:15b–c, including the ellipsis in the second line.

^18a“There are three things too wonderful for me,

^18b four that I cannot understand:

30:18a

There are three things too wonderful for me,

¶ Here/These are three things that greatly amaze/astonish me.
¶ When I think about three things, I am extremely amazed.
¶ There are some things that cause me much astonishment.

There are three things too wonderful for me: In Hebrew, the word translated here as wonderful refers to things that astonish people because they are unusual. Some other ways to translate this line are:

There are three things that are too amazing for me (NIV)

Here/These are three things that astonish me.

30:18a–b

(combined/reordered)

There are four things that are too amazing/difficult for me to understand.
Here are four things that I cannot understand. They all amaze me.

30:18b

four that I cannot understand:

Four things are too difficult for me to understand.
In fact, four things are far higher than my understanding.
Four of them I cannot understand.

four that I cannot understand: See how you introduced the number four in 30:15c. Some other ways to translate this line are:

really four I don’t understand (NCV)

Four things are too hard for me to understand.

General Comment on 30:18a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts. For example:

There are four things that are too mysterious for me to understand (GNT)

uW Translation Notes:

[30:18](../30/18.md)–[19](../30/19.md) is the third of six numerical sayings in this chapter. See the discussion of numerical sayings in the Chapter Introduction.

Note 1 topic: writing-poetry

שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה הֵ֭מָּה נִפְלְא֣וּ מִמֶּ֑⁠נִּי וְ֝אַרְבָּעָ֗ה

three they(emph) wonderful for,me (Some words not found in UHB: three they(emph) wonderful for,me and,four_[things] not I,know_them )

This is poetic language. If your language has a way to indicate poetry, you could use it here. To make a comprehensive statement, Agur is using a rhetorical device in which the speaker names a number that should be sufficient to illustrate his point and then increases that number by one for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. See how you translated the similar use of Three things and four in [30:15](../30/15.md). Alternate translation: “These four things are absolutely too wonderful for me”

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

30:18 OSHB variant note: ו/ארבע: (x-qere) ’וְ֝/אַרְבָּעָ֗ה’: lemma_c/702 n_0.0 morph_HC/Acmsa id_20XRp וְ֝/אַרְבָּעָ֗ה

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.

OET interlinear PROV 30:18

Hebrew word order