Agur, son of Jakeh, is the author behind Proverbs chapter 30, one of the most distinctive chapters in biblical wisdom literature. His background is unknown and debated – he may have been a non-Israelite sage from Massa, an area in northwestern Arabia associated with the descendants of Ishmael. The chapter begins with a moving confession of humility where Agur acknowledges human limitation before the Almighty God, followed by a powerful affirmation that God's word is pure and reliable. Central to the text is his famous prayer to be kept from falsehood and given neither wealth nor poverty – only the daily bread. Agur's use of numerical proverbs, drawing insight from nature's small creatures and the mysteries of creation, reveals a keen observer who unites reverence for God, intellectual humility, and deep wonder at the order of existence.
Agur acknowledges his own limitations and asks rhetorical questions about God's incomprehensible greatness, with parallels to the questions God asks Job.
4Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!
Agur asks God to keep him from falsehood and give him neither poverty nor riches, but only the daily bread he needs – one of the most well-known personal prayers in wisdom literature.
Agur uses numerical proverbs to describe four things that are too wonderful to understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.
Agur concludes his numerical proverbs with four creatures that move with proud bearing: the lion, the rooster, the male goat, and a king leading his people.