Proverbs 30:9

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) Lest I be full, and deny thee.—For “pride and fulness of bread” were among the sins which brought destruction on Sodom (Ezekiel 16:49). (Comp. Job 21:14-15.)

And take the name of my God in vain.—Literally, handle it roughly, irreverently; particularly in finding fault with His providence.

Benson Commentary

Proverbs 30:9. Lest I be full, and deny thee — By trusting to riches, which is a denial of God, and by un-thankfulness for, and the abuse of his mercies. And say, Who is the Lord — That I should obey or serve him? I do not need him: I can live without him. Lest by degrees, I should arrive at downright atheism or infidelity, which is most incident to rich and great men, as is manifest from experience. Or lest I be poor and steal — Lest, being in a state of poverty, I be under a strong temptation to dishonesty, and become injurious to others for my own relief; and take the name of my God in vain — Use false oaths, either to vindicate myself when I am suspected or accused of theft, and my oath is required according to the law, Exodus 22:8-11; or to gratify others for filthy lucre, as poor men frequently do.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

30:7-9 Agur wisely prayed for a middle state, that he might be kept at a distance from temptations; he asked daily bread suited to his station, his family, and his real good. There is a remarkable similarity between this prayer and several clauses of the Lord's prayer. If we are removed from vanity and lies; if we are interested in the pardoning love of Christ, and have him for our portion; if we walk with God, then we shall have all we can ask or think, as to spiritual things. When we consider how those who have abundance are prone to abuse the gift, and what it is to suffer want, Agur's prayer will ever be found a wise one, though seldom offered. Food convenient; what is so for one, may not be so for another; but we may be sure that our heavenly Father will supply all our need, and not suffer us to want anything good for us; and why should we wish for more?

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The special dangers of the two extremes. Wealth tempts to pride, unbelief, and a scorn like that of Pharaoh Exodus 5:2; poverty to, dishonesty, and then to perjury, or to the hypocritical profession of religion which is practically identical with it.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. 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.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Deny thee, by trusting to riches, which is a denial of God, Job 31:24-28, by unthankfulness for and abuse of his mercies, and by rebellion against him, and divers other courses and common practices of rich men, whereby God is denied in truth and in works, even when he is owned in words and in show.

Who is the Lord, that I should obey or serve him? I do not need him, I can live of my own without him. Lest by degrees I should arrive at downright atheism or infidelity, which is most incident to rich and great men, as is manifest from experience.

Take the name of my God in vain; use false oaths, either to vindictate myself when I am suspected or accused of theft, and my oath is required according to the law, Exodus 22:8-11, or to gratify others for filthy lucre, as poor men frequently do.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Lest I be full, and deny thee,.... This is the dangerous consequence of riches, and the temptation they expose men unto; who, being full of the things of this world, are tempted to deny the Lord; not his being and perfections directly, but chiefly his providence; to deny that what they have, they have received of him, but attribute it to their own care, diligence, and industry; and now think they can live without him, without any dependence on his providence, having a large affluence of the things of life: yea, they may be said to deny him, when they forget the bounties of his providence; are not thankful to him for them; that flatter themselves with a continuance of them, without any regard to him, as if he had no concern in the affairs of life; see Deuteronomy 32:15;

and say, Who is the Lord? as Pharaoh did, Exodus 5:2. I am not obliged to him; I can live without him, I have enough of my own;

or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain; this is the snare that attends poverty; men, for want of food and raiment, are tempted to steal from their neighbours, which is a sin against the law of God, the eighth command; and then to cover the theft, when an oath is offered to purge them from the charge and suspicion of it, they take it, and so are guilty of false swearing, or taking the name of God not only in vain, but falsely, and so become guilty of the breach of the third command. Agur, a good man, is desirous he might not be exposed to temptations to such evils, and especially which so affected the honour and glory of God.

Geneva Study Bible

Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, {f} Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

(f) Meaning, that they who put their trust in their riches forget God and that by too much wealth men have an opportunity to the same.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. take … in vain] use profanely, R.V. Lit. take hold of, or handle, sc. lightly or profanely. Lest I be moved in the bitterness of distress to blaspheme, or charge God foolishly. Comp. Job 1:22; Job 2:9; Isaiah 8:11.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - The reason for the latter prayer follows, unless, as some consider, the prayer is one, as if Agur asked, "Take from me riches which lead to vanity, and poverty which leads to lying and deceit." In this case the ground of the request would embrace both parts of the petition. Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord (Jehovah)? Great wealth and temporal prosperity tempt to forgetfulness of God, to self-confidence and practical unbelief in Divine providence. Like Pharaoh, the haughty rich man asks with scorn, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?" (Exodus 5:2; comp. Deuteronomy 8:12, etc.; Job 21:14, etc.; Psalm 14:1). Septuagint, "Lest being filled I become false, and say, Who seeth me?" Or lest I be poor, and steal; lest my necessities lead to dishonesty. And take the name of my God in vain. The verb taphas means "to grasp at, seize violently, handle roughly," and the sin intended may be either false swearing in denial of his theft and to escape punishment, or the arraignment of God's providence which has allowed him to fall into such distress. Titus Isaiah 8:21, "They shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry; and it shall come to pass that, when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God." In view of the proverbs that follow, the clause seems to be best taken of the blasphemy attending on impatience and want of resignation to God's will (comp. Proverbs 19:3). Proverbs 30:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In what now follows, the key-note struck in Proverbs 30:1 is continued. There follows a prayer to be kept in the truth, and to be preserved in the middle state, between poverty and riches. It is a Mashal-ode, vid., vol. i. p. 12. By the first prayer, "vanity and lies keep far from me," it is connected with the warning of Proverbs 30:6.

7 Two things I entreat from Thee,

   Refuse them not to me before Idie.

8 Vanity and lies keep far away from me

   Poverty and riches give me not:

   Cause me to eat the bread which is allotted to me,

9 Lest in satiety Ideny,

   And say: Who is Jahve?

   And lest, in becoming poor, Isteal,

   And profane the name of my God.

We begin with the settlement and explanation of the traditional punctuation. A monosyllable like שׁוא receives, if Legarmeh, always Mehuppach Legarmeh, while, on the contrary, the poly-syllable אשׂבּע has Asla Legarmeh. אל־תּתּן־לי, with double Makkeph and with Gaja in the third syllable before the tone (after the Metheg-Setzung, 28), is Ben-Asher's; whereas Ben-Naphtali prefers the punctuation אל־תּתּן לי (vid., Baer's Genesis, p. 79, note 3). Also פּן־אשׂבּע has (cf. פּן־ישׁתּה, Proverbs 31:5) Makkeph, and on the antepenultima Gaja (vid., Thorath Emeth, p. 32). The perf. consec. וכחשׁתּי has on the ult. the disjunctive Zinnor (Sarka), which always stands over the final letter; but that the ult. is also to be accented, is shown by the counter-tone Metheg, which is to be given to the first syllable. Also ואמרתּי has in correct Codd., e.g., Cod. 1294, the correct ultima toning of a perf. consec.; Kimchi in the Michlol 6b, as well as Aben Ezra in both of his Grammars, quotes only וגנבתּי ותפשׂתּי as toned on the penult. That וגנבתּי cannot be otherwise toned on account of the pausal accent, has been already remarked under 6b; the word, besides, belongs to the סף''פתתין בא, i.e., to those which preserve their Pathach unlengthened by one of the greater disjunctives; the Athnach has certainly in the three so-called metrical books only the disjunctive form of the Zakeph of the prose books. So much as to the form of the text.

continued...