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
14 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 has ascended to heaven and come down
Agur's questions name acts only God can do, and build to "What is His name, and what is the name of His Son". The plain reading takes the question as rhetorical. Older writers hear a son named and read it toward Christ, while the text only asks.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
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 …
The objector who has brought forward these questions from Porphyry has added this one in the next place: Will you have the goodness to instruct me as to whether Solomon said truly or not that God has no Son? The answer is brief: Solomon not only did not say this, but, on the contrary, expressly said that God hath a Son. For in one of his writings Wisdom saith: "Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was brought forth." And what is Christ but the Wisdom of God? Again, in another place in the book of Proverbs, he says: "God hath taught me wisdom, and I have learned the knowledge of the holy. Who hath ascended up into heaven and descended? who hath gathered the winds 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?" Of the two questions concluding this quotation, the one referred to the Father, namely, "What is His name?"—with allusion to the foregoing words, "God hath taught me wisdom,"—the other evidently to the Son, since he says, "or what is His Son's name?"—with allusion to the other statements, which are more properly understood as pertaining to the Son, viz. "Who hath ascended up into heaven and descended?"—a question brought to remembrance by the words of Paul: "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens;"—"Who hath gathered the winds in His fists?" i.e. […]
Raise your eyes to heaven, therefore, like him who said, "To you who lives in heaven, I lift my eyes." Look upon the sun of righteousness and, as you are directed by the commandments of the Lord, which resemble the most radiant of stars, have vigilant eyes. Do not allow the eyes [of the soul] to slumber or the eyelids to rest, that the commandments might lead you perpetually. "For, your law is a lamp to my feet," he says, "and a light to my path."
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.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Who has bound the waters as with a garment? Gathering the waters of the sea as it were in a bottle.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church3 voices
Who has established all the ends of the earth? The Lord, who now gives life and growth to all living things and plants. And on the day of judgment, He will raise the entire human race from the four winds of heaven from death.
What is his name, and what is the name of his son, if you know? He speaks of the name of God the Father and the Son, whose mystery secular wisdom cannot naturally know. Although one can understand that there is one God, who has …
Do you believe that God provides for His creatures, and is able to do all things? Let suitable labor, therefore, follow on your faith, and then He will hear you. Think not to grasp the winds in your fist, that is, faith without works.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(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?
Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended?.... That has been thither to fetch knowledge of God and divine things, and has returned to communicate it.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
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?
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Man is to be humbled to the dust by the thought of the glory of God as seen in the visible creation. Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? - The thought is obviously that of the all-embracing Providence of God, taking in at once the greatest and the least, the highest and the lowest. The mysteries of the winds and of the waters baffle men’s researches. What is his son’s name - The primary thought is that man knows so little of the divine nature that he cannot tell whether he may transfer to it the human relationships with which he is familiar, or must rest in the thought of a unity indivisible and incommunicable. If there is such an Only-begotten of the Father (compare Pro 8:30), then His nature, until revealed, must be as incomprehensible by us as that of the Father Himself.
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
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, LETTER 102:5; Basil of Caesarea, HOMILY ON THE BEGINNING OF PROVERBS 17; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Ephrem the Syrian, HYMNS ON PARADISE 9; Gregory of Nyssa, AGAINST EUNOMIUS 3:2; Isaac of Nineveh, ASCETICAL HOMILIES 7; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.