Agur

Overview

• Testament: Old
• Role: Sage and contributor to the book of Proverbs; author of Proverbs 30
• Family: Son of Jakeh; identity otherwise unknown
• Key Books: Proverbs

Biography

Agur son of Jakeh is identified in Proverbs 30:1 as the author of the “prophecy” or “oracle” that forms the thirtieth chapter. His identity is unknown outside this single passage; his name and his father’s name do not appear elsewhere in the Old Testament. Some ancient translators and commentators took “Agur” and “Jakeh” as symbolic names (for Solomon), but the plain reading treats him as a distinct wisdom teacher.

Agur’s chapter is marked by extraordinary intellectual humility. He opens by questioning whether he has wisdom at all: “Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man” (30:2). He challenges the reader with questions about creation and the divine name, pointing away from human knowledge toward God’s transcendence. The rhetorical questions echo the divine speech to Job from the whirlwind.

His oracle includes memorable numerical sayings (the pattern “three things… four things”), observations on natural phenomena, warnings against pride and dishonesty, and a prayer asking God to give him neither poverty nor riches — only enough food for the day — lest abundance tempt him to deny God or poverty tempt him to steal.

Key Events

• Authorship of Proverbs 30 — His contribution to Israel’s wisdom literature

Important Verses

• Proverbs 30:1-9 — The oracle and the prayer
• Proverbs 30:8-9 — The famous petition for neither poverty nor riches

Cross-References

• Proverbs 30 — His full chapter
• King Lemuel — The other non-Solomonic contributor to Proverbs (chapter 31)
• Job — Comparable humility before divine transcendence

Notes

• Agur’s prayer in 30:8-9 is one of the most theologically nuanced petitions in Proverbs, recognizing that both wealth and poverty carry spiritual dangers.
• The numerical sayings (30:15-31) are a distinctive literary form connecting Proverbs to wider ancient Near Eastern wisdom traditions.
• His rhetorical questions in 30:4 are quoted in a messianic context in John 3:13 by some interpreters.