"Lies," in like manner, denotes every species of deception, falsehood, and treachery. This petition relates to the mind, or spiritual state; the other, to the outward condition, or situation of life. Give me neither poverty nor riches]—“ We must not so conceive it as if he prayed absolutely against riches, or absolutely against poverty; (for so the prayer were unlawful, poverty and riches being of themselves things indifferent, and the blessing of God may go with both;) but it is a prayer of choice, or a comparative prayer; as if he had said, Rather than either poverty or riches, give me, O Lord, if it be thy will, the mean between both.”—Mede's Disc. 28. "Auream quisquis mediocritatem Sordibus tecti, caret invidenda Sobrius aula."-Horace, Carm. l. ii. 10. food convenient for me]-pn ons, literally, "panis dimensi mei," i. e. a sufficiency, a competent allowance of bread. In the term "bread" the Hebrews comprehended every kind of provision, all things needful for the sustenance of life.-(Glassii Phil. Sac. p. 1256.) The meaning, then, of this part of the petition is, Give me, O Lord, a competency of those things which are necessary in the situation of life in which I am placed. This competency will vary according to the various circumstances and conditions of men: what is sufficient for one rank of life, is absolute want in another more elevated. It does not merely denote a sufficiency "to support a man in his natural life and health, as the learned and judicious Mede observes, but that which is sufficient to support and maintain him in that condition, order, degree, and calling wherein God hath placed him." This prayer of Agur exactly corresponds with the petition in the Lord's prayer, "Give us this day, тоv apтov nμuvv tov eπlovalov,” not “our daily bread," but "bread or food sufficient for us;" for εnlovσios seems properly derived from ɛmɩ and ovσia, being, or substance, i. e. food necessary for our being and subsistence. -See Parkhurst's Gr. Lex. and Hales's New Analysis, vol. ii, p. 1028. For other explanations of the word, see Wetstein, Schleusner, and Suiceri Thesaurus. 9. Lest I be full, &c.]-The sum and substance of Agur's prayer is, O Lord, remove far from me all sin and error, all falsehood and deception: give me neither a superfluity, nor a deficiency of those things which befit my station, but a competency adapted to my rank and condition of life: lest, if I have more than enough, my heart may be tempted, through luxury, or the pride of wealth, to forget thee; or lest, if I have not a sufficiency, I should be induced to steal, or to arraign the equity of the divine government, and profane the name of my God, by perjury and blasphemy. profane]-on to lay hold on, here evidently means to lay on violently, to violate, i. e. to profane. I can see no reason for restricting it to false swearing; it seems to me to denote every kind of profanation of God's name. 10. Accuse not, &c.]-This is to be understood cum grano salis. Be cautious in accusing a servant to his master, lest he, in return, revile thy character, and lest thou shouldest be guilty of a false accusation. Schultens inclines to interpret this of God and his worshippers; but of this there is no proof. It is not enough to show that a text may be applied in a particular sense; it must be shown that it ought to be so applied. occurs, as a verb, Ps. ci. 5, in the sense of accusing, reviling, speaking against. 11. There is a generation]—Namely, there is a race of men, there are some who, &c, 15. The horse-leech, &c.]-The most simple interpretation of this difficult passage is that proposed by Dr. Hodgson, namely, by inserting the particle of similitude: "As the horse-leech hath two daughters, crying, Give, give; so are there three things which are never satisfied, yea, four, which," &c.: yet, even in this way of translating it, the end and scope of these apophthegms are not apparent; I, therefore, propose another interpretation. If this and the following verse be taken in connexion with the preceding one, they will yield a more consistent meaning than in any other way they seem capable of affording. Verse 14 describes those cruel and rapacious tyrants, who are restrained by no motives of humanity and virtue from gratifying their lust, their pride, and their avarice. People of such insatiable desires are like the horse-leech, which perpetually craves for more blood; they resemble the grave, the barren womb, &c. which are never satisfied, nor say, "It is enough." In this view, verses 14, 15, 16, form an admirably finished picture of merciless and avaricious tyrants; and the version should be, "They are like the horse-leech which hath two daughters, crying, Give, give; they are like three things that," &c. horse-leech]-The arag λey. пpy is explained, by Bochart, (Hieroz. par. 2, lib. v. cap. 19,) to mean fate or destiny, and her two daughters, Sheol and destruction, or, perhaps, Sheol and the grave; an explanation completely overset by the learned Hunt. Schultens, agreeing with Bochart in discarding the common interpretation, explains it by monstrum malum et fatale, with whom Doederlein and Dathe agree. Notwithstanding these high authorities, we have all the evidence for the received acceptation of p which the nature of the subject affords; for, 1. It denotes the horse-leech in Arabic, Syriac, and Chaldee. 2. The ancient versions confirm it. 3. It suits the context, as appears from the expositions given above. hath two daughters, &c.]—A figurative manner of expressing the eager desire and continual craving of the horseleech for blood. The sense will be the same, if we render it, with Targum, Sym. Castell, Tig.' Hunt, Durell, "The horse-leech hath two daughters, Give, give," i. e. hath an insatiable desire for blood. - it is enough]-See Noldius, M. וחם 16. the barren womb] is rendered, by Hodgson, "the ravenous gier-eagle," that is, the vulture-eagle. certainly means a bird of prey Levit. ii. 18; Deut. xiv. 17; but never signifies ravenous or voracious; and it occurs in the sense of barren Gen. xvi. 2, xx. 18; Isaiah, lxvi. 9. Besides, the common translation is sanctioned by the ancient versions. 17. obedience]-The LXX, Syriac, and Targum render nnp, "the old-age of his mother;" but this sense by no means suits Gen. xlix. 10, the only other place where it occurs, whereas it may there signify obedience. In Arabic it means obedivit. But see Hunt and Castelli Lex. -The ravens, &c.]-See a very learned and entertaining explication of this passage in Bochart, Hieroz. par. 2, lib. ii. cap. 10. 19. The way of an eagle, &c.]-The particle clearly shows that verses 19 and 20 are to be taken in connexion; consequently, it is a comparison between the way of an adulterous woman and the way of the things here described. The adulterous woman gads about in search of her deluded victim, like as the "eagle" takes its flight into the air to spy 66 out its prey; she uses every species of blandishment and insinuation to allure and beguile, as the "serpent" employs its winding and sinuous motions to pass along the rocks; she pursues a course surrounded with danger, as a ship in the midst of the sea" is continually exposed to the fury of the tempest, and the hazard of shipwreck; and she tries every means and exercises all her sagacity to prevent the discovery of her illicit enjoyments, as a man attempts to conceal his clandestine intercourse "with a maid." Such is the conduct of a lewd woman, marked by specious dissimulation and traitorous blandishment; "she eateth and wipeth her mouth," she indulges her adulterous lust; yet artfully endeavours to conceal it, and, with unblushing countenance, asserts her innocence, exclaiming, "I have done no wickedness!" Such is the interpretation which I have been led to adopt, after a careful examination of the critics and commentators. For a review of other expositions, I refer the reader, who has patience to toil through a prolix note, consisting of twelve closely printed quarto pages, to the Commentary of Schultens. the way]-That is, the mode or manner of acting, the manner of operation. 777 "via sexcentis in locis designat institutum, intentionem, actionem, molitionem bonam, malam." -Schultens. - with a maid]-Schultens renders nya" in virginitate," in his virgin state: " in adolescentia," Vulgate; so LXX, Syriac, Sym. I cannot accede to this, because, to use the words of Parkhurst, "by nowhere else signifies youth or virgin state, but, in the six other texts where it occurs, a virgin or maid. Besides, a man's conduct in his virgin state does not seem anything very unsearchable, nor to suit the other subjects mentioned." Some interpret this verse allegorically of the Messiah, and this clause, of his Incarnation; but, in my judgment, with more ingenuity than truth. |