Proverbs 30:2
New International Version
Surely I am only a brute, not a man; I do not have human understanding.

New Living Translation
I am too stupid to be human, and I lack common sense.

English Standard Version
Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man.

Berean Standard Bible
Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man.

King James Bible
Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.

New King James Version
Surely I am more stupid than any man, And do not have the understanding of a man.

New American Standard Bible
I am certainly more stupid than any man, And I do not have the understanding of a man;

NASB 1995
Surely I am more stupid than any man, And I do not have the understanding of a man.

NASB 1977
Surely I am more stupid than any man, And I do not have the understanding of a man.

Legacy Standard Bible
Surely I am more senseless than any man, And I do not have the understanding of mankind.

Amplified Bible
Surely I am more brutish and stupid than any man, And I do not have the understanding of a man [for I do not know what I do not know].

Christian Standard Bible
I am more stupid than any other person, and I lack a human’s ability to understand.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
I am more stupid than any other man, and I lack man’s ability to understand.

American Standard Version
Surely I am more brutish than any man, And have not the understanding of a man;

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because my thoughts are deficient and I do not have the understanding of the children of men,

Brenton Septuagint Translation
For I am the most simple of all men, and there is not in me the wisdom of men.

Contemporary English Version
I am far too stupid to be considered human.

Douay-Rheims Bible
I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not with me.

English Revised Version
Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I'm more [like] a dumb animal than a human being. I don't [even] have human understanding.

Good News Translation
I am more like an animal than a human being; I do not have the sense we humans should have.

International Standard Version
Surely I am beyond the senselessness of any man; I do not perceive things the way human beings do.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Surely I am brutish, unlike a man, And have not the understanding of a man;

Literal Standard Version
For I am more brutish than anyone, | And do not have the understanding of a man.

Majority Standard Bible
Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man.

New American Bible
I am more brute than human being, without even human intelligence;

NET Bible
Surely I am more brutish than any other human being, and I do not have human understanding;

New Revised Standard Version
Surely I am too stupid to be human; I do not have human understanding.

New Heart English Bible
"Surely I am the most ignorant man, and do not have a man's understanding.

Webster's Bible Translation
Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.

World English Bible
“Surely I am the most ignorant man, and don’t have a man’s understanding.

Young's Literal Translation
For I am more brutish than any one, And have not the understanding of a man.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Words of Agur
1These are the words of Agur son of Jakeh—the burden that this man declared to Ithiel: “I am weary, O God, and worn out. 2Surely I am the most ignorant of men, and I lack the understanding of a man. 3I have not learned wisdom, and I have no knowledge of the Holy One.…

Cross References
Psalm 49:10
For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others.

Psalm 73:22
I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.

Proverbs 12:1
Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.

Proverbs 30:1
These are the words of Agur son of Jakeh--the burden that this man declared to Ithiel: "I am weary, O God, and worn out.


Treasury of Scripture

Surely I am more brutish than any man, and have not the understanding of a man.

i am

Job 42:3-6
Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not…

Psalm 73:22
So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.

Isaiah 6:5
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

brutish

Proverbs 5:12
And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

Psalm 92:6
A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

Jeremiah 10:14
Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them.

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Proverbs 30
1. Agur's confession of his faith
7. The two points of his prayer
10. The meanest are not to be wronged
11. Four wicked generations
15. Four things insatiable
24. four things exceeding wise
29. Four things stately
32. Wrath is to be prevented














(2) Surely I am more brutish than any man.--Rather, than that I can be called a man, one "formed in the image of God." (Comp. Psalm 73:22.)

Verses 2 and 3 confirm what is said in ver. 1 concerning the fruitlessness of the investigation there mentioned; the more he sought and studied, the more conscious he became of his own ignorance and of God's incomreprehensibility. Verse 2. - Surely I am more brutish than any man "Surely" (ki) should be "for" (see note on ver. l). Cheyne, "I am too stupid for a man;" I am a mere irrational beast (comp. Proverbs 12:1; Psalm 73:22). And have not the understanding of a man. I am not worthy to be called a man, as I possess not the intellectual faculty which a man ought to have. This is not ironical, as if he did not desire the statement to be taken in its full sense, and meant to say, "Of course it is my own stupidity that is in fault;" but it is a genuine confession of incompetence to investigate the subject matter, which is too mysterious for his mental powers to penetrate. Thus Solomon acknowledges that he is but a little child, nod prays for an understanding heart (1 Kings 3:7, 9; comp. Wisd. 9:5; Matthew 11:25).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
“Surely
כִּ֤י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

I [am]
אָנֹכִ֣י (’ā·nō·ḵî)
Pronoun - first person common singular
Strong's 595: I

the most ignorant
בַ֣עַר (ḇa·‘ar)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 1198: Foot, of cattle brutishness, stupid

of men,
מֵאִ֑ישׁ (mê·’îš)
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

and I lack
וְלֹֽא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

the understanding
בִינַ֖ת (ḇî·naṯ)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 998: An understanding

of a man.
אָדָ֣ם (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 30:2 Surely I am the most ignorant man (Prov. Pro Pr)
Proverbs 30:1
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