Meditationen am Gnadenstuhl: Proverbs 30:17-20 Agur’s List Proverbs, Part 3

Thursday, November 9, 2023

Proverbs 30:17–20

[17] The eye that mocks a father

and scorns to obey a mother

will be picked out by the ravens of the valley

and eaten by the vultures.

[18] Three things are too wonderful for me;

four I do not understand:

[19] the way of an eagle in the sky,

the way of a serpent on a rock,

the way of a ship on the high seas,

and the way of a man with a virgin.

[20] This is the way of an adulteress:

she eats and wipes her mouth

and says, “I have done no wrong.” (ESV)

Agur’s List Proverbs, Part 3

v.17-20: This section consists of three proverbs. The first (30:17) returns to the theme of disrespect for parents (see Proverbs 30:11). The mocking eye is probably meant to tie the haughty person of 30:13 with the disrespectful person of 30:11. To despise godly parents is to despise God himself because they are in the place of God in this life (see Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; & Leviticus 19:32). Such a person may consider himself pure (see Proverbs 30:12), but his judgment will be to have his carcass picked clean by unclean birds.

The next proverb (v.18–19) lists four things that Agur claims he cannot understand. The mystery common to the first three is locomotion without legs, which neither follows a visible path nor leaves footprints behind. The fourth element, however, is the climactic one. The focus of Agur's amazement is the mystery of human love. A man woos his virgin bride, and their love leads to betrothal and marriage, with the physical expression of their love at the consummation of the marriage. This great gift of God to humans is a source of pleasure and joy, comfort and companionship.

The last proverb in this section (v.20) stands in contrast. It comments on the adulteress who does not honor marriage as a gift from God but instead shows contempt for God's gift by denying that adultery is a sin.