Give Me Neither Poverty Nor Riches

THE WORDS of Agur son of Jakeh include a prayer to be given just enough to get by, since too much can lead one to forget the source of one’s blessings and too little can drive the desperate to steal from others. The identity of Agur, who is mentioned only once in the Bible, is still unknown. It may be an epithet of Solomon, but the writing style differs from the rest of Proverbs. Some scholars have speculated that Agur should be translated “the assembler,” while others have suggested that Agur and Lemuel, to whom Proverbs 31 is attributed, were Arab sages. In any case, the chapter contains more words of wisdom, especially the warning against adding to the Word of God. One interesting note: In verse 15, the Hebrew word translated “leech” (ʿălûqâ), is an Aramaic loanword that means “vampire.”