Bird's-eye view
Agur, the author of this section of Proverbs, presents us with a numerical proverb, a common form of wisdom literature that builds anticipation. He lists four things that are too wonderful for him, four mysteries that leave him in a state of awe. Three of these are from the natural world, illustrating realities that operate according to a logic we can observe but never fully replicate or exhaust. They are patterns of God's created order that are seamless, leaving no trace. The fourth wonder, climactically, is from the world of human relations, and it is the most profound of all. This sets the stage for a stark contrast with the fifth and final "way," that of the adulterous woman, which is not presented as a wonder but as a grotesque parody of the fourth. The structure here is designed to make us marvel at the glory of God's design for covenantal union and to be utterly repulsed by its counterfeit.
The passage moves from the inscrutable wonders of nature to the profound mystery of marital love, and then pivots sharply to the brazen self-deception of the adulteress. The first four "ways" are glorious because they operate within their God-given design, leaving no ugly trail behind them. The final "way" is a portrait of corruption precisely because it seeks to mimic this tracelessness in the moral realm, attempting to erase its sin as though it never happened. This is a lesson in discerning true wonder from false innocence, a lesson in seeing the profound difference between a clean path and a path that has been wiped clean.
Outline
- 1. Four Inscrutable Wonders (Prov 30:18-19)
- a. The Author's Stated Awe (v. 18)
- b. The Wonder of the Eagle (v. 19a)
- c. The Wonder of the Serpent (v. 19b)
- d. The Wonder of the Ship (v. 19c)
- e. The Wonder of a Man with a Virgin (v. 19d)
- 2. A Counterfeit Wonder: The Way of the Adulteress (Prov 30:20)
- a. The Brazen Act (v. 20a)
- b. The False Cleansing (v. 20b)
- c. The Declaration of Innocence (v. 20c)
Context In Proverbs
This passage sits within the "sayings of Agur," a section of Proverbs (chapter 30) distinct for its unique style and humility. Agur's approach is often to confess his own limitations in understanding the vastness of God's creation and wisdom. The numerical pattern of "three things...four" is a classic Hebrew poetic device used elsewhere in Proverbs (e.g., Prov 6:16) and in the prophets (e.g., Amos 1:3). It serves to create emphasis on the final item in the list. Here, the first three natural wonders build a cumulative sense of awe at the seamless, traceless paths found in creation. This crescendo leads to the fourth wonder, "the way of a man with a virgin," elevating the covenant of marriage to a place of profound, God-ordained mystery. The subsequent verse about the adulteress is not part of the numbered list; it is a jarring contrast, a fifth column that serves as a foil to the true wonder, showing us what it is not.
Key Issues
- The Nature of True Wonder
- Traceless Paths in Creation and Covenant
- The Mystery of Marital Union
- The Self-Deceit of Adultery
- Contrasting Innocence and Shamelessness
Verse by Verse Commentary
v. 18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me, Four which I do not understand:
Agur begins with a confession of intellectual humility. This is the proper starting point for all true wisdom. Before we can understand anything, we must first understand that we do not understand everything. The modern mind wants to master, to dissect, to have the final word. The wise man, the godly man, is content to stand in awe. He sees the works of God and knows he is in the presence of a mind infinitely greater than his own. The word "wonderful" here is from the Hebrew word pala, which often refers to the miraculous or marvelous acts of God. These are not just puzzles to be solved; they are glories to be admired. The structure, moving from three to four, tells us to pay special attention to the fourth item. It is the capstone of his wonder.
v. 19 The way of an eagle in the sky,
The first wonder is the flight of an eagle. An eagle soars in the vastness of the heavens, riding the currents of the air with a mastery that is breathtaking. But once it has passed, it leaves no trace. There is no path, no wake, no sign that it was ever there. The sky remains as it was. The wonder is in this effortless, traceless movement through a medium. It is a picture of dominion and freedom within a created sphere. God has given the sky to the eagle, and the eagle moves within it according to its nature, and the result is a kind of perfection that leaves no mess.
v. 19 The way of a serpent on a rock,
The second wonder moves from the heavens to the earth. A serpent moves across the surface of a solid rock. It has no legs, no wings, no visible means of propulsion, and yet it glides over the stone. And like the eagle, it leaves no trace. There is no footprint, no furrow, no slime trail on the bare rock. The rock is unchanged by its passing. This is another picture of a creature moving perfectly within its ordained element, leaving no scar, no evidence of its journey. It is a silent, seamless, and mysterious progress.
v. 19 The way of a ship in the heart of the sea,
The third wonder takes us to the mighty waters. A ship, a great human artifact, moves through the midst of the sea. It plows a furrow through the waves, and for a moment there is a wake, a visible path. But the sea is relentless. In moments, the waters close in, and the path is gone. The sea is as it was before the ship passed. Like the eagle in the air and the serpent on the rock, the ship's way is ultimately traceless. The sea swallows up its path completely. Man's mightiest vessel cannot leave a permanent mark on the face of the deep. This is a picture of movement through chaos, ordered for a time, but leaving no lasting trace.
v. 19 And the way of a man with a virgin.
Here is the fourth and climactic wonder. After the eagle, the serpent, and the ship, we come to the profound mystery of the marriage bed. The language is delicate and respectful: "the way of a man with a virgin." This refers to the first sexual union within the covenant of marriage. Why is this numbered among the traceless wonders? Because in God's design, this union is a holy mystery that creates a new reality, a one-flesh bond, without leaving a scar or a stain. It is a consummation that, within the covenant, is clean, pure, and leaves no trail of guilt or shame. It is a path that is covered by covenantal grace. The two become one, and the former state of virginity is not so much destroyed as it is fulfilled and transformed into a new and glorious reality. The world sees the loss of something, but God sees the glorious creation of something new: a marriage. This is a wonder that reflects the union of Christ and His Church. It is a deep and glorious mystery.
v. 20 This is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, And says, “I have done no wrong.”
Now comes the jarring contrast. This verse is not the fifth wonder. It is the anti-wonder. The adulteress seeks to imitate the tracelessness of the true wonders, but she does so through deceit and shamelessness. The "way" of the adulteress is a wicked parody of the "way" of a man with a virgin. She "eats," a euphemism for her illicit sexual act. It is a base appetite, a consumption, not a covenantal union. And what does she do afterward? "She wipes her mouth." This is a graphic image of her attempt to remove the evidence, to clean up the mess. She wants her sin to be traceless, just like the eagle, the serpent, the ship, and the married couple. But her path is not inherently clean; it is a filthy path that she tries to sanitize after the fact.
And the culmination of her way is the lie. She says, "I have done no wrong." This is the pinnacle of her corruption. She has not just sinned; she has redefined sin as righteousness. She has seared her conscience. The wonder of the covenant union is its inherent purity before God. The horror of the adulteress is her manufactured innocence before herself. She wipes her mouth and declares herself clean, but the stain is on her soul. She mistakes a lack of evidence for a lack of guilt. This is the essence of a hardened heart, and it is the opposite of the humble awe with which the passage began.
Application
The central application for us is to cultivate a heart that is rightly attuned to wonder. We live in a jaded age that has forgotten how to be amazed by purity and is no longer shocked by depravity. We must ask God to give us Agur's eyes, to see the glory in the simple, traceless paths of His creation, and to see the profound mystery and beauty in the covenant of marriage. Marriage is not merely a social contract; it is a divine wonder, a living portrait of the gospel. We must treat it as such, with reverence and awe.
Secondly, we must be keenly aware of the difference between true innocence and a wiped mouth. Our culture is filled with adulterous reasoning. It commits its sins, wipes its mouth, and declares that it has done no wickedness. It rebrands sin as self-expression and shame as a psychological disorder. We must not be taken in. Sin leaves a trail. It leaves a stain. The only thing that can make us truly traceless before a holy God is not wiping our own mouths, but the blood of Jesus Christ which cleanses us from all unrighteousness. The adulteress tries to create her own righteousness by denying her sin. The Christian receives true righteousness by confessing his sin and clinging to the Savior.
Therefore, let us marvel at the way of Christ with His bride, the Church. He came to her when she was stained and defiled, and He did not wipe His mouth and pretend there was no issue. He went to the cross to wash her clean, to make a holy and pure union possible. That is the ultimate wonder, the gospel reality to which all these proverbs point.