ing with
him, said:

Gatherer, etc... Or, as it is in the Latin, Congregans the son of
Vomens. The Latin interpreter has given us in this place the
signification of the Hebrew names, instead of the names themselves,
which are in the Hebrew, Agur the son of Jakeh. But whether this Agur be
the same person as Solomon, as many think, or a different person, whose
doctrine was adopted by Solomon, and inserted among his parables or
proverbs, is uncertain.

30:2. I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not with
me.

30:3. I have not learned wisdom, and have not known the science of
saints.

30:4. Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended? who hath held
the wind in his hands? who hath bound up the waters together as in a
garment? who hath raised up all the borders of the earth? what is his
name, and what is the name of his son, if thou knowest?

30:5. Every word of God is fire tried: he is a buckler to them that hope
in him.

Is fire tried... That is, most pure, like gold purified by fire.

30:6. Add not any thing to his words, lest thou be reproved and found a
liar:

30:7. Two things I have asked of thee, deny them not to me before I die.

30:8. Remove far from me vanity, and lying words. Give me neither
beggary, nor riches: give me only the necessaries of life:

30:9. Lest perhaps being filled, I should be tempted to deny, and say:
Who is the Lord? or being compelled by poverty, I should steal, and
forswear the name of my God.

30:10. Accuse not a servant to his master, lest he curse thee, and thou
fall.

30:11. There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not
bless their mother.

30:12. A generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not
washed from their filthiness.

30:13. A generation, whose eyes are lofty, and their eyelids lifted up
on high.

30:14. A generation that for teeth hath swords, and grindeth with their
jaw teeth, to devour the needy from off the earth, and the poor from
among men.

30:15. The horseleech hath two daughters that say: Bring, bring. There
are three things that never are satisfied, and the fourth never saith:
It is enough.

The horseleech... Concupiscence, which hath two daughters that are never
satisfied, viz., lust and avarice.

30:16. Hell and the mouth of the womb, and the earth which is not
satisfied with water: and the fire never saith: It is enough.

30:17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and that despiseth the la