Proverbs 30:4
in Proverbs 30Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son—surely you know!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in his garment? Who hath established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou knowest?
KJV
Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell?
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This verse in Proverbs 30
Commentary
4 notes on this verseWho ascended into heaven, and descended? This is the knowledge of the saints, which is considered foolishness by the wise of this world, because evidently the Son of God, in assumed flesh, after His death and resurrection, ascended into heaven, and at the time of …
This site's exposition
Who hath ascended up into heaven
Agur's four questions describe acts only God can do, gathering the wind, binding the waters, fixing the earth's ends, and the string builds toward the two names asked at the end: what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell. The plain reading holds the question as rhetorical, driving home that no creature can answer for God's works, which is how much of the bench states it. The older writers hear more in the second question, a son named specifically inside a book that otherwise never puts the word on God's lips, and read it as pointing toward Christ; that reading is theirs, named, and the text itself only asks.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
(1.) The glories of the kingdom of his grace are unsearchable and unparalleled; for who besides has ascended into heaven and descended? Who besides is perfectly acquainted with both worlds, and has himself a free correspondence with both, and is therefore fit to settle a correspondence between them, as Mediator, as Jacob's ladder?
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? - Calmet paraphrases this passage thus: “Who hath descended, etc. In order to show the truth of what he was about to say, he observes: I have not the science of the saints; for how could I have acquired it? Who is he who could attain to that? Who has ascended to heaven to learn that science, and who has descended in order to publish it? Is the science of salvation one of those things that can be apprehended only by study?
The words behind it
24 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מִ֤י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| עָלָֽה־ | ʾalah- | has he gone up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| שָׁמַ֨יִם׀ | shamayim | heaven | H8064 → | 421 times |
| וַיֵּרַ֡ד | vaiyerad | and has he come down? | H3381 → | 381 times |
| מִ֤י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| אָֽסַף־ | ʾasaf- | has he gathered | H622 → | |
| ר֨וּחַ׀ | ruach | [the] wind | H7307 → | 378 times |
| בְּחָפְנָ֡יו | bechafenav | in hands his | H2651 → | |
| מִ֤י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| צָֽרַר־ | tzarar- | has he wrapped | H6887 → | |
| מַ֨יִם׀ | mayim | [the] waters | H4325 → | 581 times |
| בַּשִּׂמְלָ֗ה | basimlah | in <the> cloak | H8071 → | |
| מִ֭י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| הֵקִ֣ים | hekim | has he set up | H6965 → | 628 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אַפְסֵי־ | ʾafsei- | [the] ends of | H657 → | 44 times |
| אָ֑רֶץ | ʾaretz | [the] earth | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מַה־ | mah- | what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| שְּׁמ֥וֹ | shemo | [is] name his | H8034 → | 864 times |
| וּמַֽה־ | umah- | and what? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| שֶּׁם־ | shem- | [is] [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| בְּ֝נ֗וֹ | beno | son his | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| כִּ֣י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תֵדָֽע׃ | teda' | you know | H3045 → | 945 times |
מִ֤יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
עָלָֽה־has he gone up
ʾalah-H5927 →890 times
שָׁמַ֨יִם׀heaven
shamayimH8064 →421 times
וַיֵּרַ֡דand has he come down?
vaiyeradH3381 →381 times
מִ֤יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
אָֽסַף־has he gathered
ʾasaf-H622 →
ר֨וּחַ׀[the] wind
ruachH7307 →378 times
בְּחָפְנָ֡יוin hands his
bechafenavH2651 →
מִ֤יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
צָֽרַר־has he wrapped
tzarar-H6887 →
מַ֨יִם׀[the] waters
mayimH4325 →581 times
בַּשִּׂמְלָ֗הin <the> cloak
basimlahH8071 →
מִ֭יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
הֵקִ֣יםhas he set up
hekimH6965 →628 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
אַפְסֵי־[the] ends of
ʾafsei-H657 →44 times
אָ֑רֶץ[the] earth
ʾaretzH776 →2504 times
מַה־what?
mah-H4100 →752 times
שְּׁמ֥וֹ[is] name his
shemoH8034 →864 times
וּמַֽה־and what?
umah-H4100 →752 times
שֶּׁם־[is] [the] name of
shem-H8034 →864 times
בְּ֝נ֗וֹson his
benoH1121 →4930 times
כִּ֣יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
תֵדָֽע׃you know
teda'H3045 →945 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 9:6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of…
it leads to
- Luke 2:11
Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!
- Matthew 28:18
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
- Jeremiah 23:5–6
Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
- Isaiah 7:14
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
- Matthew 1:23
“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
- Luke 2:11
Through
John 3:13No one has ascended into heaven except the One who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
it leads to
- John 6:38
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
- Acts 2:34
For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand
- John 1:18
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.
- John 6:38
Where this verse is studied
No study on the site is anchored to this verse yet.
Also on Proverbs 30: 2 studies that walk through this chapter ▾
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.