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'''Agur ben Jakeh''' ([[Hebrew]]: '''אגור בן יקה''') was the compiler of a collection of proverbs found in {{bibleverse-lb||Proverbs|30|He}}, which is sometimes known as the ''Book of Agur'' or ''Sayings of Agur''. The initial text of the chapter runs as follows ([[JPS]] translation), and bears great similarity to verses 40:12–14 in [[Book of Isaiah]]. |
'''Agur ben Jakeh''' ([[Hebrew]]: '''אגור בן יקה''') was the compiler of a collection of proverbs found in {{bibleverse-lb||Proverbs|30|He}}, which is sometimes known as the ''Book of Agur'' or ''Sayings of Agur''. The initial text of the chapter runs as follows ([[JPS]] translation), and bears great similarity to verses 40:12–14 in [[Book of Isaiah]]. |
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{{quotation|The words of Agur son of Jakeh, [man of] Massa (המשא); The speech of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: "I am brutish, less than a man; I lack common sense. I have not learned wisdom, Nor do I possess knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hand? Who has wrapped the waters in his garment? Who has established all the extremities of the earth? What is his name or his son's name, if you know it?"|Proverbs 30:1–4}} |
{{quotation|The words of Agur son of Jakeh, [man of] Massa (המשא); The speech of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: "I am brutish, less than a man; I lack common sense. I have not learned wisdom, Nor do I possess knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hand? Who has wrapped the waters in his garment? Who has established all the extremities of the earth? What is his name or his son's name, if you know it?"|Proverbs 30:1–4}} |
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Revision as of 15:02, 29 July 2007
Agur ben Jakeh (Hebrew: אגור בן יקה) was the compiler of a collection of proverbs found in Proverbs 30, which is sometimes known as the Book of Agur or Sayings of Agur. The initial text of the chapter runs as follows (JPS translation), and bears great similarity to verses Isaiah 40 40:12–14 in Book of Isaiah.
The words of Agur son of Jakeh, [man of] Massa (המשא); The speech of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: "I am brutish, less than a man; I lack common sense. I have not learned wisdom, Nor do I possess knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hand? Who has wrapped the waters in his garment? Who has established all the extremities of the earth? What is his name or his son's name, if you know it?"
— Proverbs 30:1–4
The text (ver. 1) seems to say that he was a "Massaite," the gentilic termination not being indicated in the traditional writing "Ha-Massa."[1] This place has been identified by some Assyriologists with the land of Mash, a district between Judea and Babylonia, and the traces of nomadic or seminomadic life and thought found in Gen. 31 and 32 give some support to the hypothesis. Heinrich Graetz, followed by Bickell and Cheyne, conjectures that the original reading is המשל ("Ha-Moshel," = "the collector of proverbs"). The true explanation is still uncertain.
In Rabbinical Literature
"Agur," and the enigmatical names and words which follow in Prov. 30:1, are interpreted by the Aggadah as epithets of Solomon, playing upon the words as follows: "Agur" denotes "the compiler; the one who first gathered maxims together." "The son of Jakeh" denotes "the one who spat out," that is, "despised" (from קוא, "to spit"), le-Ithiel, "the words of God" (ot, "word"; El, "God"), exclaiming, "I can [ukal] transgress the law against marrying many wives without fear of being misled by them."
Another exposition is that "Agur" means "the one who is brave in the pursuit of wisdom"; "the son of Jakeh" signifies "he who is free from sin" (from naki, "pure"); ha-massa ("the burden"), "he who bore the yoke of God"; le-Ithiel, "he who understood the signs" (ot, "sign") and deeds of God, or he who understood the alphabet of God, that is the creative "letters" (ot, "letter")[2]; we-Ukal, "the master"[3].
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)- Template:Harvard reference.