Proverbs 30:9
in Proverbs 30Otherwise, I may have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the LORD?’ Or I may become poor and steal, profaning the name of my God.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is Jehovah? Or lest I be poor, and steal, And use profanely the name of my God.
KJV
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
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This verse in Proverbs 30
Commentary
9 notes on this verseTherefore, pay attention to yourself, poor man, pay attention, wealthy man; because there are trials in both poverty and riches. And therefore the Wise Man says: Do not give me riches or poverty, give me only what is sufficient for me. Because riches, like feasts, stretch the stomach and the mind with worries and anxieties. And therefore he asks to be established with what is necessary and sufficient: Lest, he says, being filled, I become a liar and say: Who sees me? But if I become poor, I will commit theft and swear in the name of the Lord (Ibid.).
This site's exposition
Two things I ask of You
on Proverbs 30:7-9
Agur asks two things before he dies: "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion." The reasons are stated, having too much and denying the LORD, or becoming poor and stealing. It stands beside the request for daily bread at Matthew 6:11.
This site's exposition
I may have too much and deny You
Albert Barnes names the danger at each end. Wealth tempts to pride, unbelief and a scorn like Pharaoh's. Poverty tempts to theft and then to perjury, which profanes the name of God.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
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. Sufficiency varies, however, according to physical condition and present need.… In every case, care must be taken for a good table, yet without overstepping the limits of the actual need.
The Medieval Church1 voice
A commentator
BonaventureDisputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 2 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
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. It can be said that those things …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He does not say, " Lest I be rich, and cumbered with care, and envied by my neighbours, and eaten up with a multitude of servants, or, lest I be poor and trampled on, and forced to work hard and fare hard;" but, " Lest I be rich and sin, or poor and sin." Sin is that which a good man is afraid of in every condition and under every event; witness Nehemiah ( ch. vi.
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Lest I be full, and deny thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
The special dangers of the two extremes. Wealth tempts to pride, unbelief, and a scorn like that of Pharaoh Exo 5:2; poverty to, dishonesty, and then to perjury, or to the hypocritical profession of religion which is practically identical with it.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
be full . . . deny--that is, puffed up by the pride of prosperity. take the name . . . vain--This is not (Hebrew) the form (compare Ex 20:7), but "take" rather denotes laying violent hold on any thing; that is, lest I assail God's name or attributes, as justice, mercy, &c., which the poor are tempted to do.
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The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פֶּ֥ן | pen | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| אֶשְׂבַּ֨ע׀ | ʾesba' | I should be satisfied | H7646 → | 97 times |
| וְכִחַשְׁתִּי֮ | vekhichashti | and I will deny | H3584 → | |
| וְאָמַ֗רְתִּי | veamarti | and I will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| מִ֥י | mi | who? | H4310 → | 423 times |
| יְה֫וָ֥ה | yahweh | [is] Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וּפֶֽן־ | ufen- | and lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| אִוָּרֵ֥שׁ | ʾivaresh | I should become impoverished | H3423 → | 231 times |
| וְגָנַ֑בְתִּי | veganavti | and I will steal | H1589 → | 40 times |
| וְ֝תָפַ֗שְׂתִּי | vetafasti | and I will seize | H8610 → | |
| שֵׁ֣ם | shem | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| אֱלֹהָֽי׃ פ | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
פֶּ֥ןlest
penH6435 →133 times
אֶשְׂבַּ֨ע׀I should be satisfied
ʾesba'H7646 →97 times
וְכִחַשְׁתִּי֮and I will deny
vekhichashtiH3584 →
וְאָמַ֗רְתִּיand I will say
veamartiH559 →5305 times
מִ֥יwho?
miH4310 →423 times
יְה֫וָ֥ה[is] Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וּפֶֽן־and lest
ufen-H6435 →133 times
אִוָּרֵ֥שׁI should become impoverished
ʾivareshH3423 →231 times
וְגָנַ֑בְתִּיand I will steal
veganavtiH1589 →40 times
וְ֝תָפַ֗שְׂתִּיand I will seize
vetafastiH8610 →
שֵׁ֣ם[the] name of
shemH8034 →864 times
אֱלֹהָֽי׃ פGod my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 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
Deuteronomy 32:15But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked—becoming fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
it leads to
- Hosea 13:6
When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Deuteronomy 31:20
When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to…
- Deuteronomy 33:5
So the LORD became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered, when the tribes of Israel came together.
- Acts 28:27
For this people’s heart has grown callous; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts,…
- Psalms 89:26
He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
- Hosea 13:6
Through
Deuteronomy 31:20When I have brought them into the land that I swore to give their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. Then they will turn to…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 6:10–12
And when the LORD your God brings you into the land He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that He would give you—a land with great and splendid cities that you…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nehemiah 9:25–26
They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat…
- Deuteronomy 6:10–12
Through
Hosea 13:6When they had pasture, they became satisfied; when they were satisfied, their hearts became proud, and as a result they forgot Me.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 32:13–15
He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,
- Deuteronomy 32:13–15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, The Six Days of Creation; Basil of Caesarea, THE LONG RULES 20; Bonaventure, Disputed Questions on Evangelical Perfection, Question 2; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.