I hope that you’re all well today. Welcome to another episode of NachDaily, Mishlei Perek 30. This is very exciting because we have only one more perek left in Mishlei.
This perek opens with the words, “Divrei Agur ben Yakeh hamasah, n’um hagever l’Easi’el, l’Easi’el v’Uchal - These are the words of Agur son of Yakeh, the prophecy, the words of this man Easi’el v’uchal.”
There are many levels contained in this verse. As we’ve seen in previous perakim, the Gr’a explains that this was actually written by Agur who was a contemporary of Shlomo Hamelech, and was added in by the Anshei Knessess Hagadola, the Men of the Great Assembly.
Rashi and the Meiri explain that Shlomo really did write this perek. Agur comes from the word l’agur, to gather. Ben means bina, insight, indicating that Shlomo gathered up more bina and wisdom than any other human being. Yakeh means vomit, because Shlomo in a sense spit out and shared all the wisdom he had gathered.
The Metsudos and others explain that Yakeh means vomit in a negative context. Shlomo was forced to spit out and lose all of the wisdom he gathered. It refers to the prophecy of a man to indicate that Shlomo was a man and lost his wisdom.
The Ramad Walli reminds us that Shlomo was given his wisdom as a total gift from Above. He was 12 years old when he sat on his father's throne. Hashem had totally opened up his mind, which is why the passuk refers to it as a prophecy, ne’um hagever. The hint to this idea is the word ne’um - nun, aleph, mem equal the gematria of 91. This is the same numerical value as the combination of Hashem’s names of Hey, Vav, Yud, Hey and Aleph, Daled, Nun, Yud, which also equal 91.
The Meforshim explain that there are 3 things which a king is forbidden to do. 1) Not have too many horses because he’ll wind up going back to Egypt to purchase more. 2) A king can't have too many wives because they will sway his heart. 3) He should not possess too much money.
Rashi explains that Shlomo felt confident that in his wisdom he wouldn't fail these tests, as the name Easi’el can be read as easi El God is with me, v’uchal, and I will prevail.
We find in Melachim Aleph chapter 11 that Shlomo indeed failed these tests. Listen to the NachDaily archives in Melachim for a further discussion on what Shlomo was thinking.
This sets the tone for the perek. As Shlomo succumbed to these tests, the chapter is written in a heartfelt way, as if he is lamenting the fact that he erred on his level. Shlomo laments that he’s a “boor with no wisdom.” Men speculate about Heaven when they don’t even understand all of Hashem’s wonders on earth.
In verse 5 Shlomo declares that “Every statement of God is pure,” and it is not fitting to add words onto the Torah. Shlomo asks Hashem to keep him away from lies, and asks for bread instead of lavish meals.
Shlomo spends the rest of the perek reflecting on the creation and things you can learn from it. Some of these are eagles, snakes, waters, ants, rabbits, locusts, spiders, bears and greyhounds.
Stay tuned to the next episode of NachDaily when we’ll learn the last perek in Mishlei, the famous song that we sing every Friday night, the Eishes Chayil.
After Mishlei we’ll be moving on to Sefer Iyov as we cover the entire Tanach one perek at a time. We’re actually almost done with Tanach, with over 600 classes at this point.
Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.
