Abstract

Abstract Proverbs 30:1b presents one of the most intractable text-critical dilemmas in the HB. Following Ronald Troxel’s suggestion that text criticism be reimagined as “a commentary on the life of the text,” I suggest the way forward in reading Prov 30:1b lies in carefully engaging with the versions as a window on its history. Emerging from this process, I argue that Prov 30:1b may have once read *לָאִיתִי וְלֹא אוּכָל, “I am weary and powerless.” Early on, however, this text was conflated with another textual tradition that read a proper name thus producing a double reading. In time, scribes harmonized this double reading which then calcified in MT. The versions and analogous biblical passages suggest the proposed text, while documented scribal practice and lexical usage support it.

Highlights

  • The Obscurity of Prov 30:1bProverbs 30:1 contains one of the most inscrutable text-critical dilemmas in the HB: via free access Kirk‫ִּד ְב ֵרי ָאגּור ִּבן־ ָי ֶקה‬ ‫ַהַּמּ ָׂשא ְנ ֻאם ַהֶּג ֶבר ְל ִאי ִתי ֵאל‬‫ְל ִאי ִתי ֵאל ְו ֻא ָכל׃‬The words of Agur son of Jakeh, [man of] Massa; The speech of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: (JPSV)The simplest approach to the second half of the verse, illustrated by the JPSV, is to read three proper names identifying the addressees of this collection

  • Following Ronald Troxel’s suggestion that text criticism be reimagined as “a commentary on the life of the text,” I suggest the way forward in reading Prov 30:1b lies in carefully engaging with the versions as a window on its history

  • Masoretic Text (MT)’s baffling reading calcified as the distinctions between these two interpretive options were lost. How might this have occurred and what could the original text have been? Building on Barthélemy’s approach, I will suggest a reading for Prov 30:1b that produces a plausible history of the transformation of the text grounded in both the evidence of the versions and emerging text-critical methodology

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Summary

Introduction

The Obscurity of Prov 30:1bProverbs 30:1 contains one of the most inscrutable text-critical dilemmas in the HB: via free access Kirk‫ִּד ְב ֵרי ָאגּור ִּבן־ ָי ֶקה‬ ‫ַהַּמּ ָׂשא ְנ ֻאם ַהֶּג ֶבר ְל ִאי ִתי ֵאל‬‫ְל ִאי ִתי ֵאל ְו ֻא ָכל׃‬The words of Agur son of Jakeh, [man of] Massa; The speech of the man to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: (JPSV)The simplest approach to the second half of the verse, illustrated by the JPSV, is to read three proper names identifying the addressees of this collection. Emerging from this process, I argue that Prov 30:1b may have once read *‫ ָל ִאי ִתי ְול ֹא אּו ָכל‬, “I am weary and powerless.” This challenging text appears to have been understood to contain a name by at least one reading tradition.

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