Commentary: On Proverbs

Parable and Interpretation

Parables [meshalim] are metaphors, as the prophet [Ezekiel] said: Son of man, pose a riddle [ḥidah] and speak a parable [mashal] (Ezekiel 17:2). And so, the great eagles [mentioned in Ezekiel] are allegorical, as is The city is the cauldron and we are the meat (Ezekiel 11:3). The word parable [mashal] is from [the same root as] and compare me [ve-tamshiluni] (Isaiah 46:5), which means [the same thing as] liken me [tedamyuni] (ibid.).

Interpretation [melitsah] is from How sweet [nimletsu] are Your words to my tongue (Psalms 119:103), which refers to the clarification and explanation of a matter. The mem of melitsah is part of the root, and [the word] is in the same pattern as ‘akhilah and tsefirah. Another possibility is that it is from for the interpreter [ha-melits] was between them (Genesis 42:23), and the [vocalization] pattern of melitsah is [the same as] that of merivah. However, the first is correct.

The eagles [in Ezekiel] represent the king of Babylon and the king of Egypt, as explained later, and the cauldron is Jerusalem, and the meat is her residents.

This book [Proverbs] contains five parts, bound together with ethics [musar]. There are also commandments and laws in it, just as there are engraved in the Book of the Upright [i.e., the Torah]. I will make connections between related verses and will prepare way stations for single verses, so that he who seeks can understand the interpretation. I will make known the reasons behind the opinions, and I will also clarify the words that are pronounced differently from how they are written, in a logical manner. But words written partially or fully are simply shorter or longer versions of the word, and there is no need to explain them.

The seven verses at the beginning of the book until Hear, my son (Proverbs 1:8) are an introduction, like any introduction to a book we might write nowadays. [ . . . ]

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, his utterance: This man declared to Ithiel—to Ithiel and Ucal. (Proverbs 30:1)

Agur lived in the days of Solomon: a man of integrity, knowledge, respected by his peers. That is why King Solomon collected his words of wisdom in his book.

The words: this indicates that they are not to be understood as parables. [ . . . ]

His father’s name was Jakeh, as in [the phrase] “a book that has been erased [meḥukah],” but the reason is unknown. The same goes for Agur.

His utterance [masa’]: this is what prophecy is called because it bears [nose’] the word of God to man. [ . . . ]

Man [gever]: this is Agur, so-called because of his abounding [gavrah] wisdom.

To Ithiel—to Ithiel: sometimes sentences are written in a long-winded manner, as we find in the verse: I have given the Levites (Numbers 8:19), where the children of Israel are mentioned five times.

And Ucal: we can find a noun in the form of a verb.¹ Sometimes we know the reason why a person was given that name, as in the cases of Isaac and Jacob, [ . . . ] while on other occasions we don’t know, as in the cases of Jephthah and Nimrod. So is the case with Ucal. [ . . . ] There is another name similarly [in the form of a verb]: by the river Ulai (Daniel 8:2).

Ithiel and Ucal were wise men and either friends of Agur or his students.