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Prov 30 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) There’s two things that I want from you—
⇔ don’t keep them from me before I die:![]()
OET-LV two_things I_ask from_with_you do_not withhold_them from_me before I_will_die.
![]()
UHB שְׁ֭תַּיִם שָׁאַ֣לְתִּי מֵאִתָּ֑ךְ אַל־תִּמְנַ֥ע מִ֝מֶּ֗נִּי בְּטֶ֣רֶם אָמֽוּת׃ ‡
(shəttayim shāʼaltī mēʼittāk ʼal-timnaˊ mimmennī bəţerem ʼāmūt.)
Key: khaki:verbs.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXX No BrLXX PROV 30:7 verse available
BrTr No BrTr PROV 30:7 verse available
ULT Two things I ask from with you,
⇔ do not withhold from me before I die:
UST God, I ask you to do two things;
⇔ please do them for me before I die:
BSB Two things I ask of You—
⇔ do not refuse me before I die:
MSB (Same as BSB above)
OEB No OEB PROV book available
WEBBE ⇔ “Two things I have asked of you.
⇔ Don’t deny me before I die.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET Two things I ask from you;
⇔ do not refuse me before I die:
LSV Two things I have asked from You,
Do not withhold from me before I die.
FBV God, I want to request two things from you. Please don't refuse to let me have them before I come to die.
T4T ⇔ God, I ask you to do two things for me;
⇔ please do them before I die:
LEB • Two things I ask from you; do not deny me before I die:
BBE I have made request to you for two things; do not keep them from me before my death:
Moff For two boons from thy hand I cry
⇔ (deny me not, before I die)
JPS Two things have I asked of Thee; deny me them not before I die:
ASV ⇔ Two things have I asked of thee;
⇔ Deny me them not before I die:
DRA Two things I have asked of thee, deny them not to me before I die.
YLT Two things I have asked from Thee, Withhold not from me before I die.
Drby Two things do I ask of thee; deny me [them] not before I die:
RV Two things have I asked of thee; deny me them not before I die:
(Two things have I asked of thee/you; deny me them not before I die: )
SLT Two things I asked from thee, thou wilt not withhold from me before I shall die:
Wbstr Two things have I required of thee; deny them not to me before I die:
KJB-1769 Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:[fn]
(Two things have I required of thee/you; deny me them not before I die: )
30.7 deny…: Heb. withhold not from me
KJB-1611 [fn]Two things haue I required of thee, deny me them not before I die.
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)
30:7 Heb. withhold not from me.
Bshps Two thinges haue I required of thee, denie me them not before I dye:
(Two things have I required of thee/you, deny me them not before I dye:)
Gnva Two things haue I required of thee: denie me them not before I die.
(Two things have I required of thee/you: deny me them not before I die. )
Cvdl Two thinges I requyre of the, that thou wilt not denye me before I dye.
(Two things I require of them, that thou/you wilt/will not denye me before I die.)
Wycl I preiede thee twei thingis; denye not thou to me, bifor that Y die.
(I prayed thee/you twain/two_or_both things; denye not thou/you to me, before that I die.)
Luth Zweierlei bitte ich von dir, die wollest du mir nicht weigern, ehe denn ich sterbe;
(Zweierlei please I from you/to_you(sg), the want you(sg) to_me not weigern, before because/than I die;)
ClVg Duo rogavi te: ne deneges mihi antequam moriar:[fn]
(Duo rogavi you(sg): not deneges to_me before to_diear: )
30.7 Duo rogavi te. Hæc adhuc vir, etc., usque ad in oblivionem decidat æternorum.
30.7 Duo rogavi you(sg). This still man, etc., until to in/into/on oblivion let_him_decide eternalrum.
30:7-9 Agur requests two favors from God: that God will help him not to lie (cp. 6:16-19; 14:5, 25; 25:18; 26:18-19) and that he not be given too much or too little. It is not sinful to be rich (3:9-10, 15-16; 10:15, 22) or poor (3:27; 11:24; 28:27; 29:7, 14), but Agur wisely wanted to avoid the pitfalls of both.
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
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)
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:
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)
(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.
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.
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder these lines. See 30:7a–b (combined/reordered) in the Display.
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”