Limitless Word
I have not learned wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.
Proverbs 30:3 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB I have not learned wisdom, neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.
  • KJV I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.
  • NKJV I neither learned wisdom Nor have knowledge of the Holy One.
  • NASB Nor have I learned wisdom, Nor do I have the knowledge of the Holy One.
  • NLT I have not mastered human wisdom, nor do I know the Holy One.

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 admits he has not attained wisdom or the knowledge of the Holy One on his own.

Overview

Continuing his confession, the sage disclaims any self-made mastery of divine truth, recognizing that knowledge of God is a gift, not an achievement. Such humility guards against the pride that masquerades as wisdom. It prepares the reader to receive revelation gratefully, for true knowledge of the Holy One comes through God's self-disclosure, climaxing in His Son.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Rev 3:7To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.
  • Rom 11:33O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
  • Eph 3:18–19will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth
  • Prov 9:10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
  • Job 11:7–9Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
  • Matt 11:27All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.
  • Isa 6:10Make the hearts of this people calloused; deafen their ears and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”
  • Amos 7:14–15“I was not a prophet,” Amos replied, “nor was I the son of a prophet; rather, I was a herdsman and a tender of sycamore-fig trees.
  • John 17:3Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.
  • Isa 30:11Get out of the way; turn off the road. Rid us of the Holy One of Israel!”
  • Isa 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
  • Isa 6:3And they were calling out to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.”
  • Rev 4:8And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
  • Matt 16:17Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 30:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 30:3 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.