Proverbs 30 — Agur’s words and numbered sayings — Hebrew and Greek compared
Disparate in this chapter: H 30:3
Each card keeps the independently rendered source readings above their shared comparison and reception notes. The badge records the source’s governing classification; disparate readings are marked in red. Each reading retains its original reference.
Proverbs 30 — Agur’s words and numbered sayings
The online publisher presents source 30:1–33 on one chapter page. The larger Greek collection order is separately documented from NETS’s Rahlfs1935-based edition: 30:1–14 follows 24:22e; 30:15–33 follows 24:23–34. The Hebrew navigation here does not claim to reproduce physical Rahlfs-Hanhart2006 order.
30:1–30:6 — Wisdom, divine words, and human limits
Verse H 30:1 Divergent
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:1
The words of Agur son of Jakeh, the oracle.
The utterance of the man to Ithiel,
to Ithiel and Ucal:
Greek–English (G)
G 30:1
Fear my words, son,
and receive them and repent.
Thus says the man to those who trust in God, and I cease:
Comparison and reception
Divergent. Text: H is read as a heading with proper names; alternative divisions of its difficult final words are not adopted without textual evidence. G has no Agur or Jakeh, addressing a son and those trusting God instead.
Verse H 30:2 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:2
For I am more brutish than a man,
and human understanding is not mine.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:2
For I am the most foolish of all people,
and human understanding is not in me.
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: G explicitly makes the comparison superlative; H’s more brutish than a man is a compressed self-deprecation.
Verse H 30:3 Disparate
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:3
And I have not learned wisdom,
and knowledge of holy ones I know.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:3
God has taught me wisdom,
and knowledge of holy ones I have known.
Comparison and reception
Disparate. Text: H explicitly negates learning wisdom but does not repeat the negative before I know; extending the first negative to the second clause is a possible interpretation, not a written second negative. G positively names God as teacher. Holy ones is grammatically plural in both; a divine singular interpretation is not silently imposed.
Verse H 30:4 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:4
Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered wind in his cupped hands?
Who has bound water in a garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?
Greek–English (G)
G 30:4
Who went up to heaven and came down?
Who gathered winds in a fold of his garment?
Who wrapped water in a cloak?
Who took hold of all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, or what is his children’s name, so that you may know?
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G has plural children where H has singular son, winds rather than wind, and a garment-fold rather than cupped hands. The interrogative wording does not itself name the son or identify the children; later reception must remain distinct from translation.
Verse H 30:5 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:5
Every saying of God is refined;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:5
All God’s words have been refined by fire,
and He shields those who revere Him.
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: G describes reverence where H describes refuge, while both retain the refining and shielding images.
Verse H 30:6 Same
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:6
Do not add to His words,
lest He reprove you and you be found false.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:6
Do not add to His words,
so that He may not reprove you and you become false.
Comparison and reception
Same. Text: Both warn against adding to God’s words, with reproof and exposure as false as the consequence.
30:7–30:14 — Enough to live and destructive generations
Verse H 30:7 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:7
Two things I have asked of You;
do not withhold them from me before I die:
Greek–English (G)
G 30:7
Two things I ask from You;
do not take favor away from me before I die:
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G explicitly names favor as what must not be removed; H leaves the requested two things as the understood object.
Verse H 30:8 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:8
Keep emptiness and a lying word far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me the bread allotted to me,
Greek–English (G)
G 30:8
Put a vain and false word far from me;
give me neither wealth nor poverty;
assign me what is needed and sufficient,
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: H expresses sufficient provision through an allotted bread ration; G makes need and sufficiency explicit.
Verse H 30:9 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:9
lest I be full and deny, saying, ‘Who is YHWH?’
or lest I become poor and steal
and seize upon the name of my God.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:9
so that I may not become full and false and say, ‘Who sees me?’
or become poor and steal
and swear by the name of God.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G asks who sees the speaker rather than who YHWH is, and explicitly names swearing. H’s seizing/taking hold of God’s name is a difficult idiom; profanation or a false oath is a contextual interpretation, not a separately written verb.
Verse H 30:10 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:10
Do not slander a servant to his master,
lest he curse you and you incur guilt.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:10
Do not hand a household servant over into a master’s hands,
lest he curse you and you be destroyed.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: H prohibits slander and names guilt; G prohibits handing over and names destruction.
Verse H 30:11 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:11
A generation curses its father
and does not bless its mother.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:11
Evil offspring curse a father
and do not bless the mother.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G explicitly characterizes the offspring as evil; H’s generation introduces the succeeding character descriptions.
Verse H 30:12 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:12
A generation is pure in its own eyes,
but has not been washed from its filth.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:12
Evil offspring judge themselves righteous,
but have not washed away their discharge.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G has righteous self-judgment and exodos, literally what goes out; discharge is a contextual rendering beside washing, not the ordinary narrative sense departure.
Verse H 30:13 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:13
A generation—how lofty its eyes are,
and its eyelids are lifted!
Greek–English (G)
G 30:13
Evil offspring have lofty eyes
and exalt themselves with their eyelids.
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: Both depict arrogance through eyes and eyelids; G repeats the designation evil offspring.
Verse H 30:14 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:14
A generation whose teeth are swords
and whose jaws are knives,
to devour the poor from the earth
and the needy from humanity.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:14
Evil offspring have swords for teeth
and cutting blades for molars,
to consume and devour the lowly from the earth
and their poor from among people.
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: G specifies molars and adds consume alongside devour; both retain the image of predatory oppression.
30:15–30:23 — Things never satisfied and ways beyond understanding
Verse H 30:15 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:15
The leech has two daughters: ‘Give! Give!’
Three things are not satisfied;
four have not said, ‘Enough!’
Greek–English (G)
G 30:15
The leech had three daughters, dearly loved,
and these three did not fill her,
and the fourth was not content to say, ‘Enough!’
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G has three daughters, not two, and says they did not fill the leech, not that the daughters themselves were unsatisfied. The numerical incongruity is not repaired.
Verse H 30:16 Divergent
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:16
Sheol, a closed womb,
a land not satisfied with water,
and fire that has not said, ‘Enough!’
Greek–English (G)
G 30:16
Hades and a woman’s desire,
and Tartarus and land not filled with water,
and water and fire will certainly not say, ‘It is enough.’
Comparison and reception
Divergent. Text: G’s list includes Tartarus and water as additional named items and has a woman’s desire rather than a closed womb. Its list is not compressed to match H’s four.
Verse H 30:17 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:17
An eye that mocks a father
and scorns obedience to a mother—
ravens of the valley will peck it out,
and young eagles will eat it.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:17
An eye mocking a father and dishonoring a mother’s old age—
may ravens from the ravines peck it out,
and may young eagles devour it.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G names the mother’s old age where H’s rare expression is provisionally obedience to a mother. G’s optatives express a wish; H has imperfect verbs.
Verse H 30:18 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:18
Three things are too wonderful for me,
and four I do not know:
Greek–English (G)
G 30:18
Three things are impossible for me to understand,
and the fourth I do not comprehend:
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: Both introduce a numbered list of incomprehensible ways; G specifies understanding.
Verse H 30:19 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:19
the way of an eagle in the heavens,
the way of a snake upon a rock,
the way of a ship in the heart of the sea,
and the way of a man with a young woman.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:19
the tracks of a flying eagle,
and the ways of a snake upon a rock,
and the paths of a seagoing ship,
and the ways of a man in youth.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G’s final phrase is in youth, not H’s with/in a young woman. H’s almah denotes a young woman here without an inserted claim about sexual history.
Verse H 30:20 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:20
Such is the way of an adulterous woman:
she eats and wipes her mouth
and says, ‘I have done no wrong.’
Greek–English (G)
G 30:20
Such is the way of an adulterous woman:
when she has acted, she washes herself
and says she has done nothing improper.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G removes the explicit eating and mouth images and describes washing after acting.
Verse H 30:21 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:21
Under three things the earth trembles,
and under four it cannot bear up:
Greek–English (G)
G 30:21
Through three things the earth is shaken,
and it cannot bear the fourth:
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: Both introduce social reversals with the numbered saying.
Verse H 30:22 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:22
under a servant when he becomes king,
and a fool when he is filled with bread,
Greek–English (G)
G 30:22
if a household servant becomes king,
and a fool is filled with food,
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: G uses a condition where H repeats under; the two examples correspond.
Verse H 30:23 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:23
under an unloved woman when she is married,
and a maidservant when she inherits from her mistress.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:23
and if a maidservant casts out her own mistress,
and if a hated woman obtains a good husband.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G reverses the examples, makes displacement an expulsion, and qualifies the husband as good. H’s inherits her mistress can denote succeeding to her position or property; the close rendering does not add an expulsion.
30:24–30:33 — Small creatures, stately movement, and restraint
Verse H 30:24 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:24
Four things are small on the earth,
yet they are exceedingly wise:
Greek–English (G)
G 30:24
Four things are smallest upon the earth,
yet these are wiser than the wise:
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G uses explicit superlative smallness and comparative wisdom; H intensifies wisdom through wise made-wise.
Verse H 30:25 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:25
the ants are a people without strength,
yet they prepare their bread in summer;
Greek–English (G)
G 30:25
the ants, which have no strength,
yet prepare their food in summer;
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: H personifies ants as a people; G does not repeat that noun here.
Verse H 30:26 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:26
the rock badgers are a people without might,
yet they make their house in the crag;
Greek–English (G)
G 30:26
and the rock badgers, a nation without strength,
which made their own houses in rocks;
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: Rock badgers provisionally represents H shephannim and G choirogryllioi in their rock-dwelling setting; exact zoological equivalence has not been independently established here.
Verse H 30:27 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:27
the locust has no king,
yet all of it goes out in ranks;
Greek–English (G)
G 30:27
the locust is without a king,
yet marches out in good order at one command;
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G adds the explicit single command; H has the collective going out in ordered divisions.
Verse H 30:28 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:28
The lizard you can grasp with your hands,
yet it is in kings’ palaces.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:28
And the lizard, bracing itself with its hands and being easily caught,
lives in a king’s fortifications.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: H’s titappes can be construed as you grasp or she grasps; the first is provisionally used. Identification of semamit as lizard is also provisional. G explicitly describes support on hands and easy capture, with fortifications rather than palaces.
Verse H 30:29 Similar
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:29
Three things are stately in their stride,
and four are stately in walking:
Greek–English (G)
G 30:29
Three things go on their way well,
and the fourth moves beautifully:
Comparison and reception
Similar. Text: Both introduce the final numbered list of impressive movement.
Verse H 30:30 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:30
the lion, mighty among beasts,
which does not turn back before anything;
Greek–English (G)
G 30:30
a lion’s cub, stronger than beasts,
which does not turn back or shrink from a beast;
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: G specifies a lion’s cub and adds not shrinking back; H names the lion without the cub qualification.
Verse H 30:31 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:31
the one girded at the loins, or the male goat,
and a king against whom none rises.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:31
and a spirited rooster walking among hens,
and a male goat leading a flock,
and a king addressing a nation.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: H’s zarzir motnayim, literally girded at the loins, has uncertain animal identification and is left descriptive. Its alqum immo is provisionally construed none rises against him; competing readings remain unresolved. G explicitly names a rooster, adds the goat’s leadership, and describes a royal public address.
Verse H 30:32 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:32
If you have acted foolishly by exalting yourself,
or if you have schemed—put a hand to your mouth.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:32
If you give yourself over to merriment
and stretch out your hand with fighting, you will be dishonored.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: H calls for silence after self-exaltation or scheming; G warns of dishonor from merriment accompanied by fighting.
Verse H 30:33 Different
Hebrew–English (H)
H 30:33
For pressing milk brings out curds,
and pressing the nose brings out blood,
and pressing anger brings out strife.
Greek–English (G)
G 30:33
Milk out milk, and there will be butter;
but if you squeeze nostrils, blood will come out;
and if you drag out words, disputes and battles will come out.
Comparison and reception
Different. Text: H repeats pressing and plays on nose/anger; G begins with milking, explicitly names words in the final clause, and adds battles.