PROV 30:7 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 30:7–9 Agur made requests to the LORD

This prayer has the following structure:Whybray (page 411).

Introduction to Agur’s two requests (30:7a–b)
The two requests (30:8a–c)
Agur’s motives or reasons for making these requests (30:9a–d)

30:7

These two lines use a positive and negative clause to introduce Agur’s requests. The second line emphasizes the speaker’s desire that the LORD grant his requests as long as he lives.

^7a“Two things I ask of You—

^7bdo not refuse me before I die:

30:7a

Two things I ask of You—

¶ O Yahweh, I ask you^(sing) for two things.
¶ O Yahweh, I request that two things be fulfilled in my life.

Two things I ask of You: Agur finished teaching the people (30:5–6) and is now starting to pray. You may use any of following options in your translation:

Leave implicit the one to whom the prayer is addressed as in the BSB. For example:
Two things I ask of you (NRSV)
Make the LORD explicit as the addressee. This personal name of God occurs in verse 9b. For example:
I ask two things from you, Lord. (NCV)
Make God explicit as the addressee. This common term for God (‘elohim) occurs in verse 9d. For example:
O God, I beg two favors from you (NLT)

30:7a–b

(combined/reordered)

¶ O Yahweh, there are two things that I want to experience for the rest of my life. Please do not deny what I request.
¶ I plead with you, O Yahweh, that two things will be true/fulfilled in my life until the day I die.

30:7b

do not refuse me before I die:

Please do not deny what I ask, but rather give them to me for my entire life.
Please allow/cause them to be true until I die. Please do not say no.

do not refuse me before I die: This line means that Agur wants the LORD to grant his requests during the rest of his life and not deny or withhold what he wants the Lord to give him. It should not imply that Agur is close to death. Some other ways to translate this line are:

do not withhold them in my lifetime (REB)

Please do not deny what I request. Allow me to experience them from now until I die.

General Comment on 30:7a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder these lines. See 30:7a–b (combined/reordered) in the Display.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / youformal

מֵ⁠אִתָּ֑⁠ךְ

from,with,you

If your language has a formal form of you that it uses to address a superior respectfully, you may wish to use that form for you. Alternatively, it might be more appropriate in your culture to address God using a familiar form, such as friends would use with one another. Use your best judgment about which form to use.

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / imperative

אַל־תִּמְנַ֥ע

not deny

This phrase is an imperative, but it communicates a polite request rather than a command. Use a form in your language that communicates a polite request. It may be helpful to add an expression such as “please” to make this clear. Alternate translation: “please do not withhold”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

אַל־תִּמְנַ֥ע

not deny

Agur is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You could supply these words from the context if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “do not withhold these two things I request”

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 30:7

Hebrew word order