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From: Proverbs 30:5-9
The Words of Agur
[7] Two things I ask of thee;
deny them not to me before I die:
[8] Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
[9] lest I be full, and deny thee,
and say, “Who is the Lord?”
or lest I be poor, and steal,
and profane the name of my God.
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Commentary:
30:1-14. “The words of Agur son of Jakeh of Massa” is translated in the Vulgate
as “The words of Gatherer the son of Vomiter”, a reference, seemingly, to Solo-
mon. St Bede comments: “Immediately afterwards come some words of Solo-
mon, spoken by him in a different way. Perhaps because it is called ‘Ecclesias-
tes’ in Greek, the name in Latin is ‘He who gathers together’’’ (In proverbial Salo-
monis, 30, 1). Verses 2-6 are reminiscent of the style and theme of the book of
Job (cf. Job 17:6; 24:25), and after them comes a prayer (vv. 7-9) and some
counsels (vv. 10-14). On Massa, see the note on 31:1-9.
30:8-9. “Feed me with the bread that is needful to me’’ (v. 8). To have the neces-
sary space to develop a relationship with God and cope with the ordinary affairs
of life, a person needs a basic level of subsistence. Lack of the necessaries of
life, and having too much of the good things — both situations are an obstacle to
serving God and other people (cf. v. 9). Our Lord taught us to ask in the Our Fa-
ther, “Give us this day our daily bread’’ (cf. Mt 6:11; Lk 11:3). The Roman Cate-
chism sees these words as including ‘’the idea of a frugal and temperate life, for
we should seek only what is needed to meet our natural requirements and not
demand many, rich delicacies, […] In the same way, it says ‘daily bread’, for we
eat it to recover our strength and the energy that we use up every day. […] We
should often ask to be constant in our love and adoration of God, and to he whol-
ly convinced of the truth that our life and health depends on God’’ (4, 13, 13). The
opposite would be the attitude of the rich person who draws comfort from the fact
that he has wealth, yet it prevents him from seeking God and being concerned
about his neighbour. This teaching can he seen, too, in the parable of Lazarus
and the rich man (Lk 16:19-31).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.