In examining and exploring the Bible, every pursuit holds the possibility of fascination. See where just looking into the authors of the 66 books of Scripture can lead us!
- Some of the authorship is “anonymous.” Wouldn’t it be interesting to know who they were or at least to speculate about it? Maybe a woman wrote Hebrews!
- Some books are titled with the name of the person described inside, but they were written by someone else. Some people wrote multiple books, but their name is not identified in any of them. Other books, Psalms and Proverbs, have multiple authors.
The collection of Psalms has at least five authors – with the possibility of more, because several are anonymous. David wrote most of them; Asaph and the sons of Korah had significant contributions. Solomon wrote two, and Moses one. But wait, Heman and Ethan – a couple of Ezrahites, also wrote one Psalm each. Who are these two guys, and what is an Ezrahite? Heman wrote Psalm 88, and his name means “faithful.” Ethan wrote Psalm 89, and his name means “strength.” Before we venture down this rabbit hole in the next post, let’s explore a curious path about Proverbs’ authors.
Solomon wrote nearly all of the book of Proverbs. Agur and King Lemuel each wrote one chapter. Most agree that King Lemuel probably refers to Soloman himself (ch31). So how did Agur find himself squeezed into the biblical narrative, and just what did he have to say? We’ll begin our pursuit in the first verse of Proverbs 30. We’ll dive deeper in the next post.
Agur was a student of wisdom during the time of Solomon. We’ll discover that his wisdom was permeated and saturated by humility. He despised arrogance. In our next post, we’ll see he had a keen theological mind.
The very first verse of Proverbs 30 validates his authorship, “The sayings of Agur, son of Jakeh – an oracle. This man declared to Ithiel and Ucal” Did you get all that? Hold on tight!
There’s Agur, his father Jakeh, and Agur’s two proteges, Ithiel and Ucal. Let’s look at the meanings of these four names. (This is always a good activity to do – especially in the Old Testament.)
Augur means “the gatherer”
Jakel means “blameless” and/or “obedient”
Ithiel means “God is with me” or “God has arrived”
Ucal means “over-comer” or “one who is consumed”
Let’s put those meanings together as Proverbs 30, verse1:
“The words of the gatherer [of wise sayings], the offspring of obedience, spoken by the Mighty One to ones who, in the presence of God are strengthened by God, resulting in their being so consumed by God as to be over-comers.”
Wait till you see what else he has to say!
His moment was brief but mighty and significant!