Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Surely I am the most ignorant man, and don’t have a man’s understanding.
- KJV Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
- NKJV Surely I am more stupid than any man, And do not have the understanding of a man.
- NASB I am certainly more stupid than any man, And I do not have the understanding of a man;
- NLT I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Agur humbly confesses that, before God, he feels utterly without understanding.
Overview
Far from boasting in his wisdom, the sage opens with self-abasement, recognizing how small human insight is next to God's. This humility is itself the beginning of true knowledge, for the fear of the LORD requires acknowledging our limits. It echoes the posture every believer takes before the infinite God, casting us upon the One in whom all wisdom is hidden, Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 73:22I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.
- Prov 5:12and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
- 1 Cor 3:18Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in this age, he should become a fool, so that he may become wise.
- Ps 49:10For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.
- Ps 92:6A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand,
- Jer 10:14Every man is senseless and devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols. For his molten images are a fraud, and there is no breath in them.
- Job 42:3–6You asked, ‘Who is this who conceals My counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
- Jas 1:5Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.
- Rom 11:25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.
- Isa 6:5Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”
- 2 Pet 2:12–16These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed.
- 1 Cor 8:2The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 30:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.