Difference between revisions of "Agur"

<p> From agar , "to collect." "The collector," a symbolical name, like Ecclesiastes, "the preacher" or "assembler." Son of Jakeh ("obedience"); author of inspired counsels to [[Ithiel]] and [[Ucal]] (Proverbs 30). Called "the prophecy;" rather "the weighty utterance" (Hebrew massa ), "burden." Hitzig imaginatively makes him son of the queen of Massa, and brother of Lemuel. An unknown [[Hebrew]] collector of the wise sayings in Proverbs 30, and possibly as Ewald thinks in Proverbs 31:1-9; the three sections of this portion are mutually similar in style. Lemuel means "devoted to God" is probably an ideal name. The rabbis, according to [[Rashi]] and Jerome, interpreted the name as symbolizing Solomon the Koheleth. (See ECCLESIASTES.) </p>

<p> <strong> AGUR </strong> . Son of Jakeh; author of the whole or part of Proverbs 30:1-33 , one of the latest sections of the book. His name may signify ‘hireling’ or ‘assembler’; cf. Vulg. [Note: Vulgate.] ‘Verba <em> Congregantis filii Vomentis </em> .’ Some have thought that <em> massa </em> (AV [Note: Authorized Version.] ‘the prophecy,’ RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘the oracle’), which otherwise is out of place, is the name of his country ( [[Genesis]] 25:14 ). </p> <p> J. Taylor. </p>

<p> Son of Jakeh, and author of the sayings in Proverbs 30 : which he spake unto Ithiel and Ucal. It was thought by many of the [[Fathers]] that this was a symbolical name for Solomon; but this is very improbable, as his father's name is given, and Solomon is described in the same book as son of David. The above names are omitted by the LXX. </p>

<p> A'gur. (a gatherer, that is, together of wise men). The son of Jakeh, an unknown Hebrew sage who uttered or collected the sayings of wisdom recorded in Proverbs 30. </p>

Proverbs 30:1

Proverbs 30

<p> (Hebrew Agurs, אִָגוּר, gathered), the author of the sayings contained in Proverbs 30, which the inscription describes as composed of the precepts delivered by "Agur, the son of Jakeh," to his friends "Ithiel and Ucal." Some writers have regarded the name as an appellative, but differ as to its signification (Gesenius, Thes. Hebr. p. 22). The Vulg. has "Verba Congregantis filii Vomentis." Most of the rabbins and fathers think that Solomon himself is designated under this name, which they render collector, i.e. holder of a congregation (comp. Ecclesiastes 12:10); and if the word is to be understood as an appellative, it may be as well to look for its meaning in the Syriac, where, according to Bar Bahlui (in Castell. Lex.), agur means qui sapientioe studiis se applicat, a sense that aptly designates Solomon. Most copies of the Sept. omit the chapter ascribed to Agur, as well as the first nine verses of the following chapter; but insert Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 of this chap. between v. 23 and 24 of chap. 24. That version renders the present verse thus: Τοὺς δὲ ἐμοὺς λόγους, υἱέ, φοβήθητι, καὶ δεξάμενος αὐτοὺς μετανόει . Τάδε λέγει ὁ ἀνὴρ τοῖς πιστεύουσιν Θεῷ, καὶ παύομαι . Son, fear my words, and receive them with penitence. These things says the man to those that believe God, and I cease. Winer (Realwort. s.v.) argues that by Agur must be designated some otherwise unknown Israelite, since he is designated as the son of Jakeh (בַּןאּיָקֶה, a rarer form for בֶּןאּ ), and not Solomon, who, even in Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 1:1), is styled by his proper patronymic, "the son of David" (see Bertholdt, Einl. 5, 2193). (See [[Jakeh]]). This argument, however, especially the latter part of it, is not of much force, since Solomon is elsewhere designated in Proverbs by a symbolical name, in connection with his parentage (Proverbs 31:1). (See [[Lemuel]]). Prof. Stuart (Comment. in loc.) understands by Agur the son of a queen of Massa, a place which he locates near the head of the eastern fork of the Red Sea, and supposes to have been peopled by a Jewish colony. (See [[Massa]]). </p> <p> Also, (See [[Swallow]]). </p>

<p> '''''ā´gur''''' ( אגוּר( rug , <i> ''''''āghūr''''' </i> , seeming, from comparison with Arabic roots, to mean either "hireling," or "collector," "gatherer"): One of the contributors to Proverbs; his words being included in Prov 30. He takes an agnostic attitude toward God and transcendent things, and in general the range of his thought, as compared with that of other authors, is pedestrian. He shows, however, a tender reverence and awe. His most notable utterance, perhaps, is the celebrated [[Prayer]] of Agur (Proverbs 30:7-9 ), which gives expression to a charming golden mean of practical ideal. His sayings are constructed on a rather artificial plan; having the form of the so-called numerical proverb. See under Proverbs , Book Of , II, 6. </p>