Proverbs 30 · Verse 2

Proverbs 30:2

Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.
Proverbs 30:2, King James Version

Proverbs 30:2 in other translations

BSBSurely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man.
WEB“Surely I am the most ignorant man, and don’t have a man’s understanding.
ASVSurely I am more brutish than any man, And have not the understanding of a man;
YLTFor I am more brutish than any one, And have not the understanding of a man.
DARBYTruly I am more stupid than any one; and I have not a man's intelligence.
BBEFor I am more like a beast than any man, I have no power of reasoning like a man:
WebsterSurely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.

What does Proverbs 30:2 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 30:2-4
2-4. brutish--stupid, a strong term to denote his lowly self-estimation; or he may speak of such as his natural condition, as contrasted with God's all-seeing comprehensive knowledge and almighty power. The questions of this clause emphatically deny the attributes mentioned to be those of any creature, thus impressively strengthening the implied reference of the former to God (compare De 30:12-14; Is 40:12; Ep 4:8).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 2 Surely I am more brutish - These words can in no sense, nor by any mode of speech, be true of Solomon: for while he was the wisest of men, he could not have said that he was more brutish than any man, and had not the understanding of a man. It is saying nothing to the purpose, to say he was so independently of the Divine teaching. Had he put this in, even by innuendo, it might be legitimate: but he does not; nor is it by fair implication to be understood. Solomon is not supposed to have written the Proverbs after he fell from God. Then indeed he might have said he had been more brutish than any man. But Agur might have used these words with strict propriety, for aught we know; for it is very probable that he was a rustic, without education, and without any human help, as was the prophet Amos; and that all that he knew now was by the inspiration of the Almighty, independently of which he was rustic and uneducated.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Proverbs 30:1-6

Agur speaks of himself as wanting a righteousness, and having done very foolishly. And it becomes us all to have low thoughts of ourselves. He speaks of himself as wanting revelation to guide him in the ways of truth and wisdom. The more enlightened people are, the more they lament their ignorance; the more they pray for clearer, still clearer discoveries of God, and his rich grace in Christ Jesus. In ver.#(4)…

Read the full comment on Proverbs 30:1-6 →

Proverbs 30:2 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

כִּ֤יkithatH3588
בַ֣עַרVa.'ar[am] stupidH1198
אָנֹכִ֣י'a.no.KhiIH595
מֵאִ֑ישׁme.'Ishmore than anyoneH376
וְלֹֽא\־ve.lo'-and notH3808
בִינַ֖תvi.Nat[the] understanding ofH998
אָדָ֣ם'a.Dama personH120
לִֽי\׃Li[belongs] to me

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 30:2

  • Psalms 73:22

    So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

  • 1 Corinthians 3:18

    Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

  • Proverbs 5:12

    And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

  • 1 Corinthians 8:2

    And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.

  • Isaiah 6:5

    Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.

  • Psalms 92:6

    A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

  • Romans 11:25

    For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

  • Jeremiah 10:14

    Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

  • James 1:5

    If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

  • Psalms 49:10

    For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.

  • 2 Peter 2:12-16

    But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; …

  • Job 42:3-6

    Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
I am.
Job 42:3-6; Ps 73:22; Isa 6:5; Ro 11:25; 1Co 3:18; 8:2; Jas 1:5
brutish.
5:12; Ps 92:6; Jer 10:14; 2Pe 2:12-16

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Proverbs 30:1

    The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, even the prophecy: the man spake unto Ithiel, even unto Ithiel and Ucal,

  • Proverbs 30:2

    Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.

  • Proverbs 30:3

    I neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy.

Read all of Proverbs 30

Proverbs 30:2 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Ciertamente más rudo soy yo que ninguno, ni tengo entendimiento de hombre.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Certes, moi je suis plus stupide que personne, et je n’ai pas l’intelligence d’un homme;
German
Elberfelder 1871		Fürwahr, ich bin unvernünftiger als irgend einer, und Menschenverstand habe ich nicht.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Stultissimus sum virorum, et sapientia hominum non est mecum.