PROV 30:8 Parallel Verse View

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) Keep deceitfulness and lying far away from me,
⇔ and don’t give me either poverty or riches—
⇔ just give me the food that I need

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).

ULT Emptiness and the word of a lie put far away from me.
⇔ Do not give to me poverty or riches;
⇔ cause me to receive the bread of my portion.

UST Please prevent me from being dishonest or speaking what is not true.
⇔ Please do not let me become too poor or too rich,
⇔ but just provide the proper amount of food for me.

OEB No OEB PROV book available

WEBBE Remove far from me falsehood and lies.
⇔ Give me neither poverty nor riches.
⇔ Feed me with the food that is needful for me,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Remove falsehood and lies far from me;
⇔ do not give me poverty or riches,
⇔ feed me with my allotted portion of bread,

LSV Put vanity and a lying word far from me,
Do not give poverty or wealth to me,
Cause me to eat the bread of my portion,

FBV Keep me from being false, help me not to tell lies. Don't make me poor or rich; just provide me with the food I need.

T4T Help me never to lie or deceive people
⇔ and do not cause me to become poor or to become rich.
⇔ Just give me the food that I need;

LEB • Keep falsehood and a lying word[fn] far from me; do not give me poverty or wealth;
• provide me with food only for my need.

30:? Literally “word of a lie”

BBE Put far from me all false and foolish things: do not give me great wealth or let me be in need, but give me only enough food:

Moff put lies and falsehood far from me,
⇔ give neither wealth nor poverty,
⇔ but feed me with the food I need;

JPS Remove far from me falsehood and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with mine allotted bread;

ASV Remove far from me falsehood and lies;
⇔ Give me neither poverty nor riches;
⇔ Feed me with the food that is needful for me:

DRA Remove far from me vanity, and lying words. Give me neither beggary, nor riches: give me only the necessaries of life:

YLT Vanity and a lying word put far from me, Poverty or wealth give not to me, Cause me to eat the bread of my portion,

Drby Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread of my daily need:

RV Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me:

SLT Vanity and the word of falsehood remove far from me; thou wilt not give to me poverty and riches; feed me with bread of my allowance:

Wbstr Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:

KJB-1769 Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:[fn]

30.8 convenient…: Heb. of my allowance

KJB-1611 [fn]Remoue farre from mee vanity, and lyes; giue me neither pouerty, nor riches, feede me with food conuenient for me.
(Remove far from me vanity, and lyes; give me neither povertyy, nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me.)

30:8 Heb. of my allowance.

Bshps Remoue farre fro me vanitie and lyes, geue me neither pouertie nor riches, only graunt me a necessary lyuyng:
(Remove far from me vanity and lies, give me neither poverty nor riches, only grant me a necessary living:)

Gnva Remooue farre from me vanitie and lyes: giue me not pouertie, nor riches: feede me with foode conuenient for me,
(Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me not poverty, nor riches: feed me with food convenient for me, )

Cvdl Remoue fro me vanite and lyes: geue me nether pouerte ner riches, only graunte me a necessary lyuynge.
(Remove from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches, only grant me a necessary living.)

Wycl Make thou fer fro me vanyte and wordis of leesyng; yyue thou not to me beggery and richessis; yyue thou oneli necessaries to my lijflode;
(Make thou/you far from me vanity and words of falsehood; give thou/you not to me beggary and riches; give thou/you only necessaries to my lifelode;)

Luth Abgötterei und Lügen laß ferne von mir sein; Armut und Reichtum gib mir nicht; laß mich aber mein bescheiden Teil Speise dahinnehmen.
(idolatry and lie(s) let distant from to_me be; poverty and wealth/abundance give to_me not; let me but my bescheiden part/portion food gonenehmen.)

ClVg vanitatem et verba mendacia longe fac a me; mendicitatem et divitias ne dederis mihi: tribue tantum victui meo necessaria,
(vanity and words lies far_away do from me; mendicitatem and riches not you_give to_me: tribue only victui mine necessary, )

SOTN 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)

30:8

Agur’s two requests are for honesty (30:8a) and a moderate standard of living that meets his needs (30:8b–c).

^8aKeep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.

^8bGive me neither poverty nor riches;

^8cfeed me with the bread that is my portion.

30:8a

Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me.

My first request is that you^(sing) help me to never tell lies or deceive people.
First, please help me to always tell the truth.

Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me: The words falsehood and deceitful words are synonyms. They are used together here for emphasis.Fox (page 859). Waltke (page 479) mentions the possibility that the two expressions are a hendiadys that means “deceitful lies,” but no versions translate it that way. Longman (page 525) and Ross (page 1120) summarize this request as a desire to be honest. The first request is that the LORD will enable him to never say anything that deceives another person or to tell any lies. Some other ways to translate this line are:

Use two similar terms. For example:
Keep me from lying and being dishonest. (NCV)
Use one term and express the emphasis in a different way. For example:
First, help me never to tell a lie. (NLT)
Express the meaning positively. For example:
Make me absolutely honest (CEV)

30:8b–c

The second request has two parts. In both parts, Agur acknowledges the LORD’s control of his financial situation.

The first part (8b) is stated negatively. This part describes Agur’s desire to be neither poor nor rich. The second part (8c) is stated positively.Murphy (page 229) and Whybray (page 411) identify this prayer as a numerical proverb with three separate requests. Most scholars explicitly identify two requests. According to Fox (page 859), “verse 8c is a restatement of v8b, not a third request.” It describes his desire to have enough food and other resources to meet his needs, not less and not more.

30:8b

Give me neither poverty nor riches;

My second request is that you^(sing) do not allow me to be very poor or very rich.
And second, direct/control my situation/life so that I do not become poor or rich.

Give me neither poverty nor riches: Some other ways to translate this line are:

Do not make me poor or rich (Voice)

and don’t let me be too poor or too rich (CEV)

Direct what happens to me so that I do not become poor or rich.

30:8c

feed me with the bread that is my portion.

Just give me enough to eat each day.
I will be satisfied if you^(sing) allow me to have the food and other things that I need.

feed me with the bread that is my portion: Bread was the main food of the Jews. Here the phrase represents the food that he needs every day.

This line is parallel to his request for adequate resources (30:8b). So the need for adequate food also represents his overall material needs.

Some other ways to translate this line are:

Specify food, especially if it also implies other basic needs. For example:
but provide me with the food I need (REB)
So give me only as much food as I need. (GNT)
Translate in a general way that refers to any basic needs. For example:
Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. (NLT)
but give me each day what I need (Voice)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / imperative

שָׁ֤וְא ׀ וּֽ⁠דְבַר־כָּזָ֡ב הַרְחֵ֬ק מִמֶּ֗⁠נִּי

falsehood and,a_word_of lying keep_~_far from,me

This is an imperative clause, 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 put far away from me emptiness and the word of a lie”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

שָׁ֤וְא ׀ וּֽ⁠דְבַר־כָּזָ֡ב הַרְחֵ֬ק מִמֶּ֗⁠נִּי

falsehood and,a_word_of lying keep_~_far from,me

Here, Agur speaks of Emptiness and the word of a lie as if they were objects that could be put far away from a person. He means that he wants God to prevent him from acting or speaking with Emptiness and the word of a lie. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “Keep me from acting with emptiness and speaking the word of a lie”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

שָׁ֤וְא

falsehood

Emptiness here refers to dishonesty or deception. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “Dishonesty”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

וּֽ⁠דְבַר־כָּזָ֡ב

and,a_word_of lying

Here, Agur is using the possessive form to describe a word that is a lie. If your language would not use the possessive form for this, you could use a different expression. Alternate translation: “and a lying word”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

וּֽ⁠דְבַר

and,a_word_of

See how you translated the same use of word in [12:25](../12/25.md).

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / imperative

רֵ֣אשׁ וָ֭⁠עֹשֶׁר אַל־תִּֽתֶּן־לִ֑⁠י הַ֝טְרִיפֵ֗⁠נִי לֶ֣חֶם חֻקִּֽ⁠י

poverty and,wealth not give to=me let,me_devour food/grain/bread my_allotment_of,of

These two clauses are imperative clauses, but they communicate polite requests rather than commands. Use a form in your language that communicates polite requests. It may be helpful to add expressions such as “please” to make this clear. Alternate translation: “Please do not give to me poverty or riches; please cause me to receive the bread of my portion”

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor

רֵ֣אשׁ וָ֭⁠עֹשֶׁר אַל־תִּֽתֶּן־לִ֑⁠י

poverty and,wealth not give to=me

Here, Agur speaks of being poor or rich as if poverty and riches were physical objects that someone could give to someone else. If it would be helpful in your language, you could express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “Do not allow me to be poor or rich”

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / possession

לֶ֣חֶם חֻקִּֽ⁠י

food/grain/bread my_allotment_of,of

This could refer to: (1) an amount of bread that Yahweh has allotted for Agur. Alternate translation: “the bread you have apportioned for me” (2) the amount of bread Agur needs to live. Alternate translation: “the bread I need”

Note 9 topic: grammar-connect-logic-contrast

הַ֝טְרִיפֵ֗⁠נִי

let,me_devour

This clause is a strong contrast to the previous clause. Use the most natural way in your language to indicate a contrast. Alternate translation: “rather, cause me to receive” or “cause me to receive instead”

Note 10 topic: figures-of-speech / synecdoche

לֶ֣חֶם

food/grain/bread

See how you translated the same use of bread in [9:5](../09/05.md).