PROV 30:29 Interlinear View

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 30:29–31 Four things that walk like leaders

This is a numerical proverb that has the same form as 30:18–19. The author lists three animals and a person that walk in a way that shows their pride and status as leaders.

30:29

The parallel structure here is similar to 30:18–19, including the ellipsis.

^29a“There are three things that are stately in their stride,

^29band four that are impressive in their walk:

30:29a–b

(combined/reordered)

¶ There are four things that strut/walk in a way that shows their authority/confidence.
¶ Here are four things that show their pride/dignity when they walk.

stately in their stride…impressive in their walk: In Hebrew, these phrases are more literally “stride/step well…walk/move well.”Whybray (page 420). In this context, they describe the confident and dignified way that the four things stride along as they move from place to place. Some other ways to translate these phrases are:

walk with stately stride…strut about (NLT)

walk with dignity…march with dignity (GW)

strut proudly…walk as if they were important (NCV)

General Comment on 30:29a–b

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

There are four things that are impressive to watch as they walk: (GNT)

30:29a

There are three things that are stately in their stride,

¶ Here/These are three things that walk in a proud/dignified way.
¶ Three things step/strut forward in a way that shows their high status.

30:29b

and four that are impressive in their walk:

Yes, the way that four things walk/move shows that they are confident/leaders.
In fact, four things walk as if they were important.

uW Translation Notes:

[30:29](../30/29.md)–[31](../30/31.md) is the sixth of six numerical sayings in this chapter. See the discussion of numerical sayings in the Chapter Introduction.

Note 1 topic: writing-poetry

שְׁלֹשָׁ֣ה הֵ֭מָּה מֵיטִ֣יבֵי צָ֑עַד וְ֝⁠אַרְבָּעָ֗ה מֵיטִ֥בֵי לָֽכֶת

three they(emph) stately_of stride and,four_[things] stately_of walk

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. Since the meaning of both clauses is the same, you could also combine them into one clause. See how you translated the similar use of Three things and four in [30:15](../30/15.md). Alternate translation: “These four things truly walk well”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

מֵיטִ֣יבֵי צָ֑עַד & מֵיטִ֥בֵי לָֽכֶת

stately_of stride & stately_of walk

The phrases doing well of step and doing well of walking both refer to animals or people who walk impressively. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. Alternate translation: “walk in an impressive manner … stride in a stately manner”

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

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 30:29

Hebrew word order