This verse highlights the pursuit of faithful reliance on God, rejecting both prideful self-reliance and desperate lawlessness.
Agur, the son of Jakeh, is the otherwise unknown writer credited with Proverbs 30, who likely lived sometime after the era of King Solomon (around 970-931 BC) but before the final compilation of Proverbs. Speaking from a humble posture, he petitions God to guard his mind and life from falsehood and from the polar extremes of wealth and poverty. He prays, asking the Lord, “That I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God” (v.9). In this request, Agur demonstrates a profound awareness of how unbridled riches might breed complacency or arrogance, while dire need could lead to desperation and dishonesty.
By placing an emphasis on God as the true provider, Agur signals that neither wealth nor poverty holds ultimate security. Instead, he leans on the Lord for daily sustenance, seeking a wise balance in life. Proverbs elsewhere notes how material prosperity or severe hardship can warp a person’s thinking, leading to pride, anxiety, or sinful actions in order to survive. Agur’s words stand against these temptations by highlighting how each extreme can distort relationship with the Creator and sabotage the worship of His name.
In the scope of the broader biblical narrative, this passage foreshadows Jesus’s own concerns about dependence on worldly wealth or despair in times of need. His teaching to seek first the Kingdom of God reminds believers that true contentment rests in divine provision, not in the fleeting security of possessions or the panic of financial want (Matthew 6:33). Agur’s earnest prayer in Proverbs 30:9 thus invites believers to a humble dependence on God, asking to be spared of circumstances that would tempt them away from sincere worship.
Set to dark mode
Proverbs 30:9 meaning
Agur, the son of Jakeh, is the otherwise unknown writer credited with Proverbs 30, who likely lived sometime after the era of King Solomon (around 970-931 BC) but before the final compilation of Proverbs. Speaking from a humble posture, he petitions God to guard his mind and life from falsehood and from the polar extremes of wealth and poverty. He prays, asking the Lord, “That I not be full and deny You and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or that I not be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God” (v.9). In this request, Agur demonstrates a profound awareness of how unbridled riches might breed complacency or arrogance, while dire need could lead to desperation and dishonesty.
By placing an emphasis on God as the true provider, Agur signals that neither wealth nor poverty holds ultimate security. Instead, he leans on the Lord for daily sustenance, seeking a wise balance in life. Proverbs elsewhere notes how material prosperity or severe hardship can warp a person’s thinking, leading to pride, anxiety, or sinful actions in order to survive. Agur’s words stand against these temptations by highlighting how each extreme can distort relationship with the Creator and sabotage the worship of His name.
In the scope of the broader biblical narrative, this passage foreshadows Jesus’s own concerns about dependence on worldly wealth or despair in times of need. His teaching to seek first the Kingdom of God reminds believers that true contentment rests in divine provision, not in the fleeting security of possessions or the panic of financial want (Matthew 6:33). Agur’s earnest prayer in Proverbs 30:9 thus invites believers to a humble dependence on God, asking to be spared of circumstances that would tempt them away from sincere worship.