The Meaning of Proverbs 30:9 Explained

Proverbs 30:9

KJV: Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

YLT: Lest I become satiated, and have denied, And have said, 'Who is Jehovah?' And lest I be poor, and have stolen, And have laid hold of the name of my God.

Darby: lest I be full and deny thee, and say, Who is Jehovah? or lest I be poor and steal, and outrage the name of my God.

ASV: Lest I be full, and deny thee , and say, Who is Jehovah? Or lest I be poor, and steal, And use profanely the name of my God.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Lest I be full,  and deny  [thee], and say,  Who [is] the LORD?  or lest I be poor,  and steal,  and take  the name  of my God  [in vain]. 

What does Proverbs 30:9 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 30:1-17 - The Advice Of A Shrewd Observer
This chapter contains a collection of sayings of one person, Agur, of whom we know nothing further. It is supposed that he lived after the return from the Exile. The opening verses of the chapter may be thus rendered: "The utterance of the man who has questioned and thought." I have wearied after God, I have wearied after God, and am faint; for I am too stupid for a man, and am without reason, and I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the All-Holy."
Agur answers his complaint in Proverbs 30:5-9. You cannot know God by your own discovery, but He will make Himself known to you through the written Word, to which no addition may be made, Proverbs 30:6. See also John 1:18, which shows our clearest revelation of Him. But there are two conditions: We must put away vanity and lies; and we must be satisfied with God's arrangement of our daily food. Notice the following quatrain, Proverbs 30:11-14, which is descriptive of four kinds of evil men: the unfilial, the self-righteous, the haughty, and the rapacious. The next quatrain, Proverbs 30:15-16, treats of "the insatiable;" and this is followed by a further description of the doom of the disobedient: strong, wise, shrewd, and sanctified sense. [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 30

1  Agur's confession of his faith
7  The two points of his prayer
10  The meanest are not to be wronged
11  Four wicked generations
15  Four things insatiable
24  four things exceeding wise
29  Four things stately
32  Wrath is to be prevented

What do the individual words in Proverbs 30:9 mean?

Lest I be full and deny [You] and say who [is] Yahweh Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God -
פֶּ֥ן אֶשְׂבַּ֨ע ׀ וְכִחַשְׁתִּי֮ וְאָמַ֗רְתִּי מִ֥י יְה֫וָ֥ה וּפֶֽן־ אִוָּרֵ֥שׁ וְגָנַ֑בְתִּי וְ֝תָפַ֗שְׂתִּי שֵׁ֣ם אֱלֹהָֽי פ

פֶּ֥ן  Lest 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: פֶּן  
Sense: lest, not, beware lest adv.
אֶשְׂבַּ֨ע ׀  I  be  full 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: שָׂבַע  
Sense: to be satisfied, be sated, be fulfilled, be surfeited.
וְכִחַשְׁתִּי֮  and  deny  [You] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: כָּחַשׁ  
Sense: to deceive, lie, fail, grow lean, be disappointing, be untrue, be insufficient, be found liars, belie, deny, dissemble, deal falsely.
וְאָמַ֗רְתִּי  and  say 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: אָמַר 
Sense: to say, speak, utter.
מִ֥י  who  [is] 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: מִי  
Sense: who?, whose?, whom?, would that, whoever, whosoever.
יְה֫וָ֥ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: Jehovah—used primarily in the combination ‘Lord Jehovah’.
וּפֶֽן־  Or  lest 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Conjunction
Root: פֶּן  
Sense: lest, not, beware lest adv.
אִוָּרֵ֥שׁ  I  be  poor 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Imperfect, first person common singular
Root: יָרַשׁ  
Sense: to seize, dispossess, take possession off, inherit, disinherit, occupy, impoverish, be an heir.
וְגָנַ֑בְתִּי  and  steal 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: גָּנַב  
Sense: to steal, steal away, carry away.
וְ֝תָפַ֗שְׂתִּי  and  profane 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Conjunctive perfect, first person common singular
Root: תָּפַשׂ  
Sense: to catch, handle, lay hold, take hold of, seize, wield.
שֵׁ֣ם  the  name 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: שֵׁם  
Sense: name.
אֱלֹהָֽי  of  my  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural construct, first person common singular
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
פ  - 
Parse: Punctuation