Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 30:5
Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
5. pure ] Heb. purified. The image “hinted at” here is “expanded” (Bp Perowne) on Psa 12:6 [Hebrews 7 ]: “The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried (same Hebrew word as here) in a furnace of (or, on the) earth, purified seven times.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Out of this consciousness of the impotence of all mans efforts after the knowledge of God rises the sense of the preciousness of every living word that God has Himself revealed, whether through the Law and the prophets or through wise men and scribes.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. Every word of God is pure] col imrath eloah tseruphah, “Every oracle of God is purified.” A metaphor taken from the purifying of metals. Every thing that God has pronounced, every inspiration which the prophets have received, is pure, without mixture of error, without dross. Whatever trials it may be exposed to, it is always like gold: it bears the fire, and comes out with the same lustre, the same purity, and the same weight.
He is a shield unto them] And this oracle among the rest. “He is the defence of all them that put their trust in him.” lechol, to all, is added here by nineteen of Kennicott’s and De Rossi’s MSS.; for instead of lachosim, to the trusters, they read lechol hachosim, “to EVERY ONE of them that trust.” Where the preposition and adjective are not only added, but the noun is written more full, and more emphatic: but a translation cannot well express it without paraphrase.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Every word of God is pure; and therefore you, Ithiel and Ucal, must not expect the full knowledge of Divine mysteries from me, nor from any man, but from the word of God, which is a certain rule, both of your belief and practice, because every part and parcel of it is holy, and true, and good, and there is not the least mixture of falsehood and folly in it, as there is in all the words and writings of men.
That put their trust in him; which supposeth their knowledge of him by his word, Psa 9:10; and contains their reliance upon his promises, joined with obedience to his commands.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5. (Compare Psa 12:6;Psa 119:140).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Every word of God [is] pure,…. The whole word of God. “All Scripture”, given by inspiration of God, to which Agur directs, as giving the best account of God, of his name, nature, and perfections; of his Son, person, offices, and grace; being pure, very pure, “purified” z like silver, purified in a furnace of earth. The whole of Scripture is pure, free from all falsehood and error; coming from the God of truth, who cannot lie, and therefore called “the Scriptures of truth”: every promise is pure as well as precious, made without dissimulation, faithfully performed, and all yea and amen in Christ; every doctrine is pure, free from the mixtures and inventions of men; the sincere milk of the word; consistent and all of a piece, not yea and nay; and tending to promote purity of heart and life; wholesome words, and doctrines according to godliness; see
Ps 12:6;
he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him; not the word, but God, whose the word is; and which represents him as a proper object of trust, both with respect to things temporal and spiritual, at all times; and as a shield to protect such, by his power and grace, from all their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, and also from all errors and false doctrines; see Ps 3:3.
z “purgatus”, Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Gejerus; “purgatissimus”, Junius Tremellius Heb. “conflatus”, Piscator, Mercerus, Cocceius, Schultens.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
5 Every word of Eloah is pure;
A shield is He for those who hide themselves in Him.
6 Add thou not to His words,
Lest He convict thee and thou becomest a liar.
Although the tetrastich is an independent proverb, yet it is connected to the foregoing N e um [utterance, Pro 30:1]. The more limited a man is in his knowledge of God – viz. in that which presents itself to him lumine naturae , – so much the more thankful must he be that God has revealed Himself in history, and so much the more firmly has he to hold fast by the pure word of the divine revelation. In the dependent relation of Pro 30:5 to Psa 18:31 (2Sa 22:31), and of Pro 30:6 to Deu 4:2, there is no doubt the self-testimony of God given to Israel, and recorded in the book of the Tora , is here meant. is to be judged after , 2Ti 3:16, not: every declaration of God, wherever promulgated, but: every declaration within the revelation lying before us. The primary passage Psa 18:31 has not here, but, instead of it, , and instead of it has ‘ ; his change of the name of Jahve is also not favourable to the opinion that Pro 30:5. is a part of the N e um , viz., that it is the answer thereto. The proverb in this contains traces of the Book of Job, with which in many respects that N e um harmonizes; in the Book of Job, (with ) is the prevailing name of God; whereas in the Book of Proverbs it occurs only in the passage before us. Mhlau, p. 41, notes it as an Arabism. (Arab. saraf , to turn, to change) is the usual word for the changing process of smelting; signifies solid, pure, i.e., purified by separating: God’s word is, without exception, like pure, massive gold. Regarding , to hide oneself, vid., under Psa 2:12;: God is a shield for those who make Him, as revealed in His word, their refuge. The part. occurs, according to the Masora, three times written defectively, – Pro 14:32; 2Sa 22:31; Neh 1:7; in the passage before us it is to be written ; the proverbs of Agur and Lemuel have frequently the plena scriptio of the part. act. Kal, as well as of the fut. Kal, common to the Book of Job ( vid., Mhlau, p. 65).
In 6a, after Aben Ezra’s Moznajim 2b (11b of Heidenheim’s edition), and Zachoth 53a (cf. Lipmann’s ed.), and other witnesses ( vid., Norzi), t sp (the with dagesh) is to be written, – the Cod. Jaman. and others defect. without , – not tosf ; for, since (Exo 10:28) is yet further abbreviated in this way, it necessarily loses
(Note: That both Shevas in tosp are quiesc., vid., Kimchi, Michlol 155 a b, who is finally decided as to this. That the word should be read tosp e ‘al is the opinion of Chagg in ‘ (regarding the quiesc. letters), p. 6 of the Ed. by Dukes-Ewald.)
the aspiration of the tenuis, as in (= ). The words of God are the announcements of His holy will, measured by His wisdom; they are then to be accepted as they are, and to be recognised and obeyed. He who adds anything to them, either by an overstraining of them or by repressing them, will not escape the righteous judgment of God: God will convict him of falsifying His word ( , Psa 50:21; only here with of the obj.), and expose him as a liar – viz. by the dispensations which unmask the falsifier as such, and make manifest the falsehood of his doctrines as dangerous to souls and destructive to society. An example of this is found in the kingdom of Israel, in the destruction of which the curse of the human institution of its state religion, set up by Jeroboam, had no little share. Also the Jewish traditional law, although in itself necessary for the carrying over of the law into the praxis of private and public life, falls under the Deuteron. prohibition – which the poet here repeats – so far as it claimed for itself the same divine authority as that of the written law, and so far as it hindered obedience to the law – by the straining-at-a-gnat policy – and was hostile to piety. Or, to adduce an example of an addition more dogmatic than legal, what a fearful impulse was given to fleshly security by that overstraining of the promises in Gen 17, which were connected with circumcision by the tradition, “the circumcised come not into hell,” or by the overstraining of the prerogative attributed by Paul, Rom 9:4., to his people according to the Scriptures, in the principle, “All Israelites have a part in the future world!” Regarding the accentuation of the perf. consec. after , vid., at Psa 28:1. The penultima accent is always in pausa (cf. Pro 30:9 and Pro 30:10).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Agur’s Praise of God’s Word
Verses 5 and 6 reveal Agur’s great regard for God’s Word of which he had some knowledge. He affirms that every word is pure and can be trusted. It is the Word of the Almighty, the shield to them that put their trust in Him, Psa 19:7-8; Isa 40:8; Job 23:12; Psa 119:9; Rom 1:16; 1Jn 5:13.
Verse 6 also warns against adding to or altering the Word, an offense for which there is a severe penalty, Deu 4:2; Rev 22:18-19.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(5) Every word of God is pure.Comp. Psalms 19, where first (Pro. 30:1-6) the glories of God as revealed in nature are described, and then (Pro. 30:7 sqq.) the excellence of the revelation of Himself in His word is extolled. Every word of God is pure, i.e., tested and proved in the furnace of experience; e.g., His promise to be a shield (Gen. 15:1) to those that trust in Him. (Comp. Psa. 18:30.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. Every word of God is pure , ( eloah,) God. In the unquestioned Solomonic portions of this book, the word JEHOVAH, (Authorized Version, LORD,) is used almost invariably; , elohim, the plural form, only a few times; eloah, a form of the singular, never. Agur uses all three as the name of the divine Being.
Is pure Like refined gold; so in Psa 119:140, “Thy word is very pure;” and in Psa 12:6, “the words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, seven times.” From the consciousness of man’s ignorance (Pro 30:4) comes a sense of the preciousness of the revealed word.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 30:5 Every word of God [is] pure: he [is] a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Ver. 5. Every word of God is pure: he is a shield.] Albeit all the sacred sentences contained in this blessed book are pure, precious, and profitable; yet as one star in heaven outshineth another, so doth one proverb another, and this is among the rest, velut inter stellas luna minores, an eminent sentence often recorded in Scripture, and far better worthy than ever Pindar’s seventh ode was to be written in letters of gold. a Every word of God is pure, purer than “gold tried in the fire,” Rev 3:18 purer than “silver tried in a furnace, and seven times purified.” Psa 12:6 Julian, therefore, that odious apostate, is not to be hearkened to, who said there was as good stuff in Phocylides as in Solomon, in Pindar’s odes as in David’s psalms. Nor is that brawling dog Porphyry to be regarded, who blasphemously accuseth Daniel the prophet, and Matthew the evangelist, as writers of lies, Os durum! harsh speech. The Jesuits, some of them, say little less of St Paul’s epistles, which they could wish by some means censured and reformed, as dangerous to be read, and savouring of heresy in some places. b Traditions they commonly account the touchstone of doctrine and foundation of faith; the Scriptures to be rather a Commonitorium , as Bellarmine calls it, a kind of storehouse for advice, than cor et animam Dei, the heart and soul of God, as Gregory c calls them, – a fortress against errors, as Augustine. d The apostle calleth concupiscence sin – at non licet nobis ita loqui; but we may not call it so, saith Possevine, the Jesuit e The author to the Hebrews saith, “Marriage is honourable among all men”; but the Rhemists, on 1Co 7:9 , say that the marriage of priests is the worst sort of incontinence. Christ saith the sin against the Holy Ghost hath no remission. Bellarmine f saith that it may be forgiven. The Council of Constance comes in with a non obstante against Christ’s institution, withholding the cup from the people at the sacrament. And a Parisian doctor g tells us, that although the apostle would have sermons and service celebrated in a known tongue, yet the Church, for very good cause, hath otherwise ordered it. Bishop Bonner’s chaplain called the Bible, in scorn, ‘his little pretty God’s book,’ and judged it worthy to be burnt, tanquam doctrina peregrina, as strange doctrine. Gilford and Raynolds said it contained some things profane and apocryphal. Others have styled it the ‘mother of heresy,’ and therefore not fit to be read by the common people, lest they suck poison out of it. Prodigious blasphemy! Of the purity and perennity of the holy Scriptures, see more in my True Treasure, pp. 85, 139.
He is a shield to them that put their trust in him.
a Oda septima Pind. tantae fuit admirationis apud Rhodios ut fuerit scripta in templo aureis literis, &c. – Joh. Manl., Loc. Com., 414.
b Spec. Europae.
c Greg., in iii. Reg.
d Firmamentum contra errores. – Aug. in Johan., i. Tract. 2.
e Possevin, Appar. sac. Verbo Pat. Antiq.
f Lib. ii. De Poenit., cap. 16.
g Montan. in 1 Cor. xiv.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
word = saying or utterance. Hebrew. imrah. App-73. The only occurrence of this word in Proverbs.
GOD. Hebrew Eloah. App-4. The only occurrence of this title in Proverbs. Occurs forty-one times in Job, four times in Psalms, twelve times in the other books.
pure = tried [in a furnace]. Compare Psa 12:6.
unto them. Some codices read “unto all them”.
put their trust = flee for refuge. Hebrew. hasah. App-69.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 30:5-6
Pro 30:5-6
AN EXHORTATION TO TRUST GOD
“Every Word of God is tried:
He is a shield to them that take refuge in him.
Add thou not unto his words,
Lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.”
“All of the revelation of God is free from error. As originally given, the Bible was free of any error. The alleged mistakes, errors, etc. in ancient manuscripts are insignificant. They do not affect even one percent of the text”; and they are of no more consequence than a flyspeck on the Washington Monument!
“Add thou not unto his words” (Pro 30:6). This commandment is expanded and made a part of the New Testament. “If any man shall add unto the words of the prophecy of this book, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in the book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book” (Rev 22:18-19).
Pro 30:5. As the light of nature and metaphysical speculation are of no avail in obtaining the perfect knowledge of God which the seeker craves, he must be all the more thankful for the revealed Word of God, which teaches him as much as he is capable of learning (Pulpit Commentary). The message that Agur is bringing is the Word of God, and every word of it is true for it is tried: The words of Jehovah are pure words; As silver tried in a furnace of the earth, Purified seven times (Psa 12:6); Thy word is very pure (Psa 119:140). Psa 19:8 again states its purity and what it does for mankind: The precepts of Jehovah are right, rejoicing the heart: The commandment of Jehovah is pure, enlightening the eyes. God and His Word are spokes of as a shield to those who take refuge in Him: The word of Jehovah is tried; He is a shield unto all them that take refuge in him Psa 18:30); Jehovah God is a sun and a shield (Psa 84:11); O Israel, trust thou in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust ye in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield. Ye that fear Jehovah, trust in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield (Psa 115:9-11)
Pro 30:6. Since Gods Word is pure (just like He wants it), true, and right, He does not want man tampering with it. Twice in Deut. did God sound the same warning: Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it (Deu 4:2); What thing soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it (Deu 12:32). And the last warning in the Bible says, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book (Rev 22:18-19). Anyone wrestling (twisting) the Scripture does so to his own destruction (2Pe 3:16). If we deny Gods Word, He will reprove us (prove us wrong, deal with us), and we will be found to be nothing less in His sight than a liar (absolutely wrong). Examples: 2Ki 6:24-31; 2Ki 7:1-17; Jer 27:2; Jer 27:6; Jer 27:8; Jer 28:1-4; Jer 28:10-17.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
trust
(See Scofield “Psa 2:12”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
word: Psa 12:6, Psa 18:30, Psa 19:8, Psa 119:140, Rom 7:12, Jam 3:17
pure: Heb. purified, Gen 15:1, Psa 84:11, Psa 91:2, Psa 115:9-11, Psa 144:2
Reciprocal: 2Sa 22:3 – shield 2Sa 22:31 – the word Psa 33:4 – the word Psa 47:9 – shields Psa 115:11 – General Psa 119:128 – I esteem Psa 119:160 – Thy word is true from the beginning Pro 2:7 – a buckler Pro 29:25 – whoso Isa 45:19 – speak righteousness Mat 15:9 – teaching Mat 24:35 – my Rom 7:14 – but
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 30:5. Every word of God is pure You must not expect the full knowledge of divine mysteries from me, nor from any man, but from the word of God, which is a certain rule, both for your faith and practice, because every part of it is holy, and true, and good, and there is not the least mixture of falsehood or folly in it, as there is in all the words and writings of men. He is a shield unto them that trust in him Which supposes their knowledge of him by his word, Psa 9:10, and implies their reliance on his promises, joined with obedience to his commands.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Agur treasured the revelation that God had given. "Tested" means "smelted," purified (cf. Psa 12:6). It was trustworthy. Agur correctly regarded the aim of revelation to be the promotion of trust in God, not just knowledge (Pro 30:5 b). Agur warned against adding to God’s revelation because that is a serious offense (Pro 30:6; cf. Deu 4:2; Rev 22:18).