Proverbs 30 · The Lantern

The Words of Agur

The words of Agur son of Jakeh, the oracle. The utterance of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

For I am more brutish than a man, and I do not have the understanding of a human.

And I have not learned wisdom, that I should know the knowledge of the Holy One.

Indeed, that Will for whom everything is easy constrains these abundant fountains of paradise, confining them with land, like water channels; he summoned them to issue forth in our direction, just as he bound up the waters in the bosom of his clouds, ready to be sent forth into the atmosphere at the bidding of his Will.

Now, since it is not mere human wisdom that is claimed for himself by Solomon, who says, "God hath taught me wisdom," and who, where he says "all my words are spoken from God," refers to God all that is spoken by himself, it might be well in this part of the Proverbs to trace out the prophecy that is mingled with his wisdom.

I have not learned wisdom, etc. Solomon did not learn wisdom from man, but received it from God who freely offers, so that he might know the knowledge of the saints. But also the Apostle who says, We are fools for Christ's sake, he again says, We speak wisdom among the perfect; yet not the wisdom of this world, and the rest (1 Cor. II).

Who has gone up to the heavens and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has raised up all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son, if you know?

Every saying of God is refined; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

Two things I have asked of you; do not withhold them from me before I die:

Emptiness and a word of lying put far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me the bread of my portion,

Solomon says, "Give me neither beggary nor riches; give me only what is necessary and sufficient," lest being filled I should deny and say, Who sees me? Or being poor, I should steal and forswear the name of my God; thus representing riches as satiety, poverty as a complete lack of the necessities of life, and sufficiency as a state both free from want and without superfluity.

Surely you see that this sufficiency is not to be coveted for its own sake but to provide for health of body and for clothing which accords with one's personal dignity and which makes it possible for him to live with others honorably and respectably.

Furthermore, Proverbs thirty: Give me neither riches nor beggary; and afterward: Lest compelled by want I steal and perjure the name of my God; but nothing pertains to evangelical perfection which the Wise Man wisely refuses: therefore etc.

lest I be filled and deny, and say, “Who is the LORD?” — and lest I be dispossessed and steal, and seize the name of my God.

Do not slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you and you be found guilty.

There is a generation that curses its father and does not bless its mother.

There is a generation pure in its own eyes, and not washed from its filth.

There is a generation — how haughty are its eyes, and its eyelids are lifted up!

There is a generation whose teeth are swords and whose jaws are knives, to devour the afflicted from the earth and the needy from among men.

The leech has two daughters: “Give! Give!” Three are these that are not satisfied; four do not say, “Enough”:

As to the horse-leech. There were three daughters fondly loved by sin-fornication, murder, and idolatry. These three did not satisfy her, for she is not to be satisfied. In destroying man by these actions, sin never varies, but only grows continually. For the fourth, he continues, is never content to say "enough," meaning that it is universal lust.

Who can hide from himself what is thus enigmatically expressed? "The horseleech had three daughters, dearly loved, but they satisfied her not, and a fourth is not satisfied when you say Enough: the grave, and woman's love, and the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that does not say Enough." The horseleech is the devil, the daughters of the devil are dearly lo…

The leech has two daughters, etc. The leech is the devil, who is incessantly inflamed with the thirst for sinning and persuading to sin. He has two daughters because there are two special allurements of the human race; they imitate the ardor of this ancient enemy, namely lust and avarice.

Sheol, and a barren womb; a land not satisfied with water, and fire that does not say, “Enough.”

An eye that mocks a father and despises obedience to a mother — the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the sons of the eagle will eat it.

"The eye that mocketh at his father, and dishonours the old age of his mother." That is to say, one that blasphemes God and despises the mother of Christ, the wisdom of God,-his eyes may ravens from the caves tear out, i.e., him may unclean and wicked spirits deprive of the clear eye of gladness; and may the young eagles devour him: and such shall be trodden under the feet of t…

The eye that mocks a father, and despises the birth of his mother, etc. The perverse, while they reproach divine judgments, mock the Father; and any heretics, while despising the preaching of the holy Church with ridicule, despise the birth of the mother, because from her come those who speak against her. They went out from us, he says, but they were not of us (John ...).

Three are these that are too wonderful for me, and four that I do not know:

"There be three things which I cannot understand, and the fourth I know not: the tracks of an eagle flying," i.e., Christ's ascension; "and the ways of a serpent upon a rock," i.e., that the devil did not find a trace of sin in the body of Christ; "and the ways of a ship crossing the sea," i.e., the ways of the Church, which is in this life as in a sea, and which is directed by…

Three things are difficult for me, etc. As far as history is concerned, it is as it is written; but because he speaks through parables, the way of an eagle in the sky is difficult to find: that is, the subtlety of the enemy, which flies around the hearts of heavenly men, is discovered with great labor.

Most incomprehensible is wisdom that travels along roads that are beyond investigation. Concerning this, it is said in Proverbs: "Three things are too wonderful for me, yes, four I cannot understand: the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden." "The way of an eagle in the air" came abo…

the way of an eagle in the heavens, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship in the heart of the sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.

For as a serpent cannot mark its track upon a rock, so the devil could not find sin in the body of Christ. For the Lord says, "Behold, the prince of this world cometh, and will find nothing in me." -For as a ship, sailing in the sea, leaves no traces of her way behind her, so neither does the Church, which is situate in the world as in a sea, leave her hope upon the earth, beca…

Neither against the rock on which Christ builds the church nor against the church will the gates of hades prevail; just as the way of a serpent upon a rock, according to what is written in the Proverbs, cannot be found. Now, if the gates of hades prevail against any one, such cannot be a rock upon which Christ builds the church.

So is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I have done no iniquity.”

"Such is the way of an adulterous woman, who, when she has done the deed of sin, wipeth herself, and will say that no wickedness has been done." Such is the conduct of the Church that believes on Christ, when, after committing fornication with idols, she renounces these and the devil, and is cleansed of her sins and receives forgiveness, and then asserts that she has done no wi…

I will describe two persons who have sinned the same abominable sin of fornication, yet between these two who have fornicated, the one is not aggrieved nor feels pain nor is vexed but experiences what was said in Proverbs concerning the adulterous woman "who having washed herself, if she does something, says she has done nothing wrong." See with me the other who after the mista…

"Such is the way of a prostitute: when she has washed herself she says that she has done something wrong." Clearly this is said of her who, after having washed herself at the source, does not remember the vices of her sins, assumes the virtue of preaching, and, wiping away her stains with living water, has no more awareness of her sin but is urged on by the ardor of faith.

Under three the earth quakes, and under four it cannot bear up:

under a servant when he becomes king, and a senseless fool when he is filled with bread;

under a hated woman when she is married, and a maidservant when she dispossesses her mistress.

Four are these, the small of the earth, and they are wise, made wise:

the ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their bread in the summer;

"The ants have no strength, yet they prepare their meat in the summer." And in like manner, the Gentiles by faith in Christ prepare for themselves eternal life through good works.

Be prudent, and provide for yourself against the future in heaven. Be therefore prudent, copy the ant, as Scripture says, "Store in summer, lest you be hungry in winter." The winter is the last day, the day of tribulation; the winter is the day of offenses and bitterness. Gather what may be there for you in the future.

The ants, a people not strong, etc. And the people of the Church show themselves weak temporally amidst raging adversaries in order to maintain mental fortitude; with the Lord saying through the Gospel, "But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also" (Matt. V).

the rock badgers are a people not mighty, yet they set their house in the rock;

the locusts have no king, yet all of them go out in ranks;

the lizard you can seize with the hands, yet it is in the palaces of a king.

Three are these that do well in their stride, and four that do well in walking:

the lion, mighty among the animals, which does not turn back from anything;

the strutting rooster, or the he-goat, and a king whose army is with him.

If you have been foolish in lifting yourself up, or if you have schemed — hand to mouth!

For pressing milk brings out curds, and pressing the nose brings out blood, and pressing anger brings out a quarrel.

Proverbs30

The Words of Agur