(11) Tetrad Three: Four amazing things (verses 18,19), and one more amazing thing (verse 20)

“There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden.

“This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’ ”

Many things in nature are amazing but incomprehensible. The adjective “amazing” (“pala”) basically describes what inspires wonder or awe, but not necessarily what is good or admirable in a moral sense. This last point needs to be kept in mind as we consider these “wonders” of nature. The verb for “do not understand” (the negative of “yada”, to know) describes what is unknowable or incomprehensible.

The wise man Agur can only observe with awe the wonders of nature; he is at a loss to explain them all. Observant and wise as he is (v 1), he must confess that he is but a brute beast (vv 2-4) when it comes to truly knowing how the LORD has made certain things as they are, and why those things act as they do.

We should have seen by now that there can be riddles embedded in the proverbs of Agur, and there is plainly one here. If we are to understand, then we need to ask the proper question: ‘What do these four things have in common?’

As we begin, we ought to do two things:

1. First, we should note the fact that the four things in verse 19 are all linked by the use of the word “way”. This translates the Hebrew “derek”, meaning liter­ally a road or path, but metaphorically a course of action in general. It is how they do what they do and how those four described actions are alike that will lead us to an understanding of Agur’s third tetrad.
2.  Secondly, we must note that the first four are also closely linked with the fifth “wonderful” thing, in verse 20: “This is the way [‘derek’ for the fifth time] of an adulteress!” There is “wonder” in this fifth thing, truly, but it ought to be the wonder of disgust and revulsion, akin to what we felt when contemplating leeches (v 15) and vultures (v 17) — in their own unique ways consuming human beings.

So now it should be obvious that the right question is: ‘What do these five things (not just the first four things) have in common?’ And also that we should start with some preliminary questions: ‘What is the way (the path or course) that is described in each case?’ And then, ‘What does the way in each case have in common with all the others?’ Answer this riddle, and we should be on our way to understand­ing the lesson that God was teaching Agur, and that Agur wants in turn to teach us. So we must examine Proverbs 30:20 at this point, and not leave it until later.

Verse 20

This is the way of an adulteress: She eats and wipes her mouth and says, “I’ve done nothing wrong”: Should the student and expositor deal with this verse, or tiptoe around it? Should he use precise language, or resort to euphemisms? It is plain that verse 20 is the key to understanding verses 18 and 19; it cannot be avoided. However, we can still be prudent about the words we use, while assuming the language will be plain enough to get the message across.

It would be ridiculous in the extreme to think that what the adulterous woman physically consumes, that is, what she puts in her actual mouth, concerns the wise man Agur here. There is, however, a sufficient likeness between two very different actions by the adulteress that allows Agur to speak of the one action, and trust that his listeners or readers will readily make the connection to the other action — which he refuses, presumably out of propriety, to speak of in precise detail.

We shall speak this plainly enough, it is hoped: The imagery of the woman eat­ing and then wiping her mouth when finished is a euphemism for enjoying illicit sexual relations and then washing herself afterward, so as to leave no external evidence of her sin.

The truly wonderful or amazing thing (but most certainly not in a good or pleasant sense) is this: A woman on a strict diet can consume a forbidden dessert, wipe her mouth afterwards, and then tell herself, ‘I didn’t eat anything.’ Quite an act of self-deception, but a relatively minor one. In like fashion, the practiced adulteress can engage in a morally reprehensible act, nonchalantly wipe away all telltale signs of that abominable sin after she is finished, and then tell herself, ‘I never committed adultery.’ To her the act of adultery is as unremarkable as having a meal, so far has she destroyed what is left of her conscience.

Earlier proverbs have used similar euphemisms to describe illicit sexual relations, ones that prostitute the marriage relationship:

At the end of Proverbs 5, which has warned the young man of the dangers of sexual promiscuity, the lesson is summarized in these words:

“Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well. Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares? Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strang­ers. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth” (vv 15-18).

Here, in an elaborate allegory, the images of a cistern, well or fountain are used for the man’s wife (an example of similar language is found in Song 4:15). She is ordained by God to satisfy his sexual desires, like clear, clean water satisfies thirst, even as he is ordained to satisfy her desires. The apostle Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 7:2-5.

Thus, by euphemism, these verses teach that a man should find sexual fulfillment in his wife only (i.e., “Drink waters from your own cistern”). Otherwise, his ‘waters’ (her own sexual favors) may flow out into the streets for anyone and everyone to enjoy. She may turn to other men for sex (in the language of Proverbs, sharing her ‘waters’ with strangers) due to his unfaithfulness or neglect. So in verse 15 the ‘waters’ of one’s own ‘cistern’ signify the legitimate joys of pure marital relations; but in verse 16 the ‘waters’ that ‘overflow in the streets’ and ‘the public squares’ signify illicit sexual pleasures indulged in outside of marriage.

The same figure of speech, seen from the other perspective, appears in Proverbs 9:17,18. There the young man who is tempted to stray into sinful liaisons is warned:

“Stolen water is sweet… But little do they know [i.e., those who ‘steal’ such ‘waters’] that the dead are there.”

In effect, he is told that the man who has sex with an adulteress or a prostitute is drinking from a ‘poisoned well’. It is in fact the bloated and putrefying corpses of previous victims, scattered all around him, that smell so ‘sweet’, if he will only open his eyes and see them! In the end the ‘waters’ that poisoned them will poison him too.

In both these cases, it is drink and not food that represents the stolen, secretly enjoyed sexual pleasure being consumed by the sinner. Nevertheless, the points, lessons and warnings are the same.

The totally self-deceiving adulteress is the most odious and revolting image we have seen, or that we will see, in the proverbs of Agur. More repulsive than sucking leeches bloated with blood. Uglier than vultures pecking out the eyes of rotting corpses (perhaps like the ones around the poisoned well mentioned above). This needs to be added, though: If, somehow, we are not absolutely disgusted with this last detestable picture, even more than with ghoulish leeches and carrion-feeding vultures, then it must be because we have allowed our own consciences to become seared — if not by what we have done, then by what we have seen or read! If so, then we really ought to think about that seriously, and seek help from the Scriptures and righteous advisers as to the remedy, before it is too late.

With this background of verse 20 in our minds, we can now outline Tetrad Three (vv 18,19), along with its appendix (v 20). There are four (and even five) amazing, incomprehensible things:

• an eagle flying across the sky;
• a snake slithering across the rock;
• a ship coursing its way through the sea;
• a man having his “way” with a maiden; and
• an adulteress, hardened in her sin, hiding the evidence of that sin, and then brazenly lying to herself (and to her husband?).

Perhaps now we are better prepared to answer the question posed by Agur’s riddle: ‘What do these five things have in common?’ Obviously, it is the “way” (the course of action) each follows.

‘How are the “ways” alike?’

The first three things are easy: Plainly, they are “wonderful” in that God has cre­ated them all, and made them in a certain way, so that they do certain things by instinct, or act in a certain way by the laws of nature. (He did not make the ship, at least directly, but He did create water, and thus the seas, to possess certain physical properties.) But the “amazing” part, the part that is more difficult to understand, with which we wrestle now, is this: they all, the first three for certain, leave no trail giving clues of their “way” after they have gone past:

• Birds flying through the air leave no trace in the sky to follow. (Nobody in Agur’s day had seen the vapor trails of supersonic jets!)
• Snakes making their way across sand or dirt may leave distinctive trails, but not when they travel across the rock.
• A small boat traversing a pond or lake will leave ripples in its wake, briefly, but the wake of a ship in the sea is gone as soon as the ship passes.

We now come to the fourth amazing, incomprehensible thing. It must be admitted that, taken alone, there is an ambiguity about “the way of a man with a maid”. It may seem like a mysterious and wonderful thing in the most innocent of ways: the stirrings of feelings in a young man, and in a young woman, pleasant but a bit unsettling, and the exploring of tenderness between them, with the hope of developing a relationship. Something to be cherished and protected until it can be enjoyed, as the LORD intended, within the sanctifying bonds of marriage. That is a “way” to be contemplated with godly wonder and admiration, for the Creator made us as we are, and wants us to enjoy the righteous and godly pleasures He has created as a part of human nature, in their rightful place. And so the phrase “the way of a man with a maid” may produce in us some truly wonderful, positive and inspiring thoughts.

Based on the context, however, that’s not what is being described here, at least in the sense that is most to the point. What we have here, as the fifth “amazing” thing makes abundantly clear, is something very different: It is an immoral corruption of the process that God intended. The hardened adulteress or prostitute (#5 in our list of five things) may bear a superficial likeness to the loving and faithful wife in some of her actions. But in a moral sense, and as seen through the eyes of God, she is a gruesome parody, a chilling travesty, an especially vile caricature of the true wife.

Thus, for our purposes here, we must consider #4 in our list (the way of the “man with the maid”) in the same way, as the secret seductive way of the wolf on the prowl, the man greedy for sexual pleasure, but with no real love or concern for the object of his desire as a person; the man who is willing to use all the tricks in his arsenal, and make all the lying promises he can think of, in order to have his “way” with her.

If that characterization seems overdone, then we can perhaps say this much on his behalf: perhaps the man didn’t start out in his first relationship with such a selfish, cold-blooded frame of mind. Maybe he only evolved into a predatory creature over time as he discovered how easy, and how superficially satisfying, it was to “love ‘em and leave ‘em”.

Additional comments on Proverbs 30:18-20

There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: The Hebrew “pala”, translated “amazing” or “wonderful” (KJV), occurs quite a few times. Some of its occurrences are quite interesting, given its context here in Proverbs 30:

1. The angel, who came to Abraham and Sarah on behalf of the LORD, to tell them they would yet have a son, asked: “Is anything too hard [‘pala’] for the LORD?” (Gen 18:14).
2. The angel who appeared to the parents of Samson was pressed by Manoah to reveal his name. The angel replied: “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding” (NIV) — or, “seeing it is secret” (KJV) (Jdgs 13:18). The word describing the angel’s name, i.e., his purpose (or perhaps his actual name?) is “pala”.
3. The psalmist makes a number of observations about the omniscience of the LORD, and then remarks: “Such knowledge is too wonderful [‘pala’] for me” (Psa 139:6).
4. Addressing the LORD, the psalmist then says: “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fear­fully and wonderfully [‘pala’] made; your works are wonderful [‘pala’ again], I know that full well” (Psa 139:13,14).
5. We also find “Pala” in the titles (or perhaps the one extended title) given to Hezekiah and/or the coming Messiah in Isaiah 9:6. According to the NIV, it is: “Wonderful [‘pala’] Counselor [the same phrase appears in Isa 28:29 also], Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”|
   Yet again, there are other passages using the same word that describe other things eliciting wonder and amazement, but which are far from positive or righteous:
6. Jeremiah sees Jerusalem as an unclean, adulterous woman: “Her filthiness clung to her skirts”; she had corrupted her ways with the LORD. The prophet also saw that the LORD brought her low, and that “her fall”, from grace and into slavery, “was astounding [‘pala’]” (Lam 1:9).
7.  The great Gentile king and oppressor of Israel, described in Daniel 11:36, will exalt himself against all authorities, and will speak “unheard-of” (“pala”, “marvelous” in KJV) things against God, yet at last “will come to his end, and no one will help him” (v 45). Here, the amazingly blasphemous things spoken against God lead to the king’s fall, which (we may suppose) will be amazing also.

The way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas: In addition to the “way” in each case being untraceable, other common themes of the “way” (for the first three things at least) have been sug­gested, including the following:

• All the first three things are hidden from continued observation, and are somewhat majestic (cp vv 29-31 for other things that are “stately in their stride”, or “which go well”).
• All three have a mysterious means of propulsion: an eagle soaring with sometimes no apparent movement, relying on the wind and thermal cur­rents; a snake moving quite efficiently without legs or feet; and a ship sailing magnificently on the wind.
• All three describe the movement of one thing within the sphere or domain of another: an eagle moving through God’s heavens; a serpent across a rock, where it seemingly has no traction; and a ship bearing humans across water, a potentially dangerous place for them.

The issue, however, is not just with the first three things on the list. It must also be with the fourth and fifth things: how do any of these three suggestions relate particularly to the fourth and fifth things, when we move from the animal or in­animate spheres into the world of humans? The answer would seem to be: none work very well, nor do they provide logical connections with the fourth and fifth descriptions (at least in this writer’s estimation). This leaves us with the thought expressed earlier, i.e., that all these “ways” — all five of them — are untraceable after the fact.

• The way of an eagle in the sky: Compare the wonder in the language of Job 39:27; Jeremiah 48:40; 49:22. It really ought to be noted, however, that (while we might prefer to think of a majestic eagle here) the Hebrew word translated “vulture” in Proverbs 30:17 (“nesher”) is the same word translated “eagle” here. In fact, “nesher” appears about 28 times in the Old Testament, and the precise iden­tification of the bird intended can only be determined, and not always perfectly, by the context in each case.
  Is there a lesson here? Perhaps it is this: We should always be on guard spiritu­ally, and not presume that all things are truly as they first appear — that is, that every bird which soars effortlessly through the clouds is an ‘eagle’. Some might be ‘vultures’. Caveat emptor!
• The way of a snake on a rock: Bearing in mind the fourth and fifth things in this group, the snake is, for obvious reasons as old as Eden, also the symbol of temptation or seduction leading to sin. It is not much of a stretch to see the “way” of the Edenic serpent to be similar to the “way” of the man with the maiden, and the “way” of the adulterous woman.
• The way of a ship on the high seas: Other passages that speak of seafaring ships, perhaps with a touch of wonder, are Psalms 104:25,26; 107:23; and Ezekiel 27:9.
  Seafaring vessels, it should be noted also, are not always up to good. Some carry pirates, or cruel invading forces.

• And the way of a man with a maiden: As we have seen, this describes a man’s seduction of a young woman, his victim. Such seduction requires certain skills (a “way” of doing a thing). It is evil. It can be consummated quickly. It is ultimately useless and unsatisfying. It leaves nothing of real profit. It may, however, leave in its wake sad lessons ruefully learned, and at a terrible price.

Nevertheless, it has this in its favor, from the predatory male’s perspective: His “way” is hidden, just like the way of the eagle in the sky, the snake on a rock, and the ship on the sea. His seductive ways leave no trail behind. Probably the young woman is too ashamed to speak of his “way” with her either; and if necessary he can deny his involvement altogether. Finally, if a pregnancy does not result, no one seems to be any the worse for the experience. From his selfish perspective, all can go back to normal as though it never happened, and he can move on, unfettered, to another enjoyable pursuit. In his shortsighted, selfish view, life couldn’t be better!

With a maiden: The term “almah” describes a young woman who is sexually ready for marriage, and presumably (though not certainly) a virgin.

The Hebrew preposition “be” (translated as “with” here) could mean that, most literally, the “way of a man” is either “with” or “in” the “almah”. This “in” suggests an intimacy and a oneness, either of spirit or flesh. It is a beautiful sort of “wonder” when love between a young man and a young woman achieves an intimacy and unity of heart and mind in the marriage relationship, and the conception and birth of children. It is quite another, and not nearly so lovely, when the “way” of the man leads to an intimacy, but only in the flesh, with the young girl. Then there is no oneness of spirit, but only a fleeting gratification for him, and a resultant feeling of loss, hurt and betrayal for her. Sadly, the second of these is the “way” Agur has in mind here, as stated earlier.

The 18th-century commentator Matthew Henry saw the same “wonder” here: “By what pretensions and protestations of love, and all its powerful charms, promises of marriage, assurances of secrecy and reward, is many an unwary virgin brought to sell her virtue, and honor, and peace, and soul, and all to a base traitor; for so all sinful lust is in the kingdom of love. The more artfully the temptation is managed, the more watchful and resolute ought every pure heart to be against it.”

• This is the way of an adulteress: Adam Clarke quotes an even earlier Bible expositor, named Holden, who relates the way of the adulteress to the four previous “wonderful” things. The language is old-fashioned, but powerful: “The adulterous woman goes about in search of her deluded victim, as the eagle takes its flight into the air to spy out its prey. She uses every species of blandishment and insinuation to allure and beguile, as the serpent employs its windings and sinuous motions to pass along the rocks; she pursues a course surrounded with danger, as a ship in the midst of the sea is continually exposed to the fury of the tempest, and the hazard of shipwreck; and she tries every means, and exercises all her sagacity, to prevent the discovery of her illicit enjoyments, as a man attempts to conceal his clandestine intercourse with a maid. Such is the conduct of a lewd woman, marked by specious dissimulation and traitorous blandishment; she eateth and wipeth her mouth — she indulges her adulterous lust, yet artfully endeavors to conceal it, and with unblushing countenance asserts her innocence, exclaiming, ‘I have done no wickedness.’ ”

She eats and wipes her mouth: Here the “mouth” is a euphemism for the female organs of reproduction, as it plainly is in Proverbs 22:14:

“The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit; he who is under the LORD’s wrath will fall into it.”

Proverbs 23:27 uses similar language:

“A prostitute is a deep pit and a wayward wife is a narrow well.”

Sexual intercourse with such a woman can be a fatal trap, like a hidden pit that catches unsuspecting animals, which hunters then kill. The sexually promiscu­ous man can fall into the trap of the seductive woman in so many different ways:

• the revenge of a wronged husband,
• the punishment of the law,
• the destruction of his own family,
• the censure of all proper society,
• the loss of his money and property,
• the blackmail of an unscrupulous woman or some observer, or
• a potentially fatal sexually-transmitted disease.

If all these fail to finish him off, he may still have begun a life of easy sexual pleasure from which he cannot or will not escape, a life of sin that will ultimately bring him before the divine judgment seat to suffer the final consequences of his sins.

And says, “I’ve done nothing wrong”: This sounds like an abbreviated version of what the would-be adulteress, Potiphar’s wife, told her husband. When her care­fully contrived seduction of Joseph failed totally (Gen 39:6-13), she protested her innocence to the household servants: “Look, this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed. When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house” (vv 14,15). (Servants generally know something of their mistress’s character, and they probably didn’t believe her story.)

Then, when Potiphar returned home, she showed him the “evidence” of Joseph’s garment, and also told him the same story (vv 17,18), professing her innocence: “This is how your slave treated me” (v 19). (He probably didn’t believe her either.)

The endless cycle, and the slippery slope

One final comment arises from the use of “derek” (path, way) in the fourth and the fifth things. Each item has two components: the male and the female. In the former, it is the male who acts, who makes his “way”, with the young female. In the latter, it is the female whose “way” is described. In each case, the “way” involves the sexual act, but with very different intents, expectations and attitudes.

When the two things are compared, we are “amazed” to see what is essentially the same action — sexual intercourse — but with a world of difference. For the young woman (the maid in verse 19), there must have been at least some hope and belief that what she was undertaking would have real meaning: that is, that the intimacy, even if others might see it as wrong, would be the beginning of a true and lasting love. However, her early hope led only to a bitter disappointment (as it does so often when we naïvely hope that bad means will lead to a good end).

The true “wonder” in setting these two things side by side is that the young woman could, over time and by degrees, become the willful adulteress (in verse 20). Every adulteress has to start somewhere! The further “wonder” is that, finally, the adulterous woman could prostitute her God-given sexuality for a moment’s pleasure, and then without blinking or blushing convince herself that she had done nothing wrong.

Thus these last two “wonderful things” suggest an ongoing cycle, repeated end­lessly throughout history:

• The experienced man woos, and misuses, the naïve girl.
• The no-longer innocent girl, now grown up to womanhood, becomes the predator in turn, enticing, for money or entertainment, some innocent young man into sin.
• This young man, no longer “innocent” himself, uses his new-found skills, or “way”, to entrap another woman — this one young and innocent — in order to gratify himself.
• Etcetera, etcetera. So the cycle continues. For “there is nothing new under the sun” (Eccl 1:9). Or ‘in the shadows’, for that matter!

The truly “amazing” thing is that, by gradual steps, the relative purity of youth could degenerate into the hardened amorality of adulthood, all in the same human being who possessed the divinely implanted potential to glorify her Maker (or his Maker, as the above cycle makes clear). And it isn’t confined to adultery and those who commit it. Such is the deceitfulness of the sinful human heart (Jer 17:9; Rom 7:11; Eph 4:22; Heb 3:13; James 1:14), that every new indiscretion can give birth to new methods of justifying it. Finally — as the “way” turns into a slippery slope, and the slide down that slope accelerates — the sinner contrives to blot out the sin altogether by a self-induced hypnosis (“I’ve done nothing wrong”). Such is the “way” of human nature, and what a pathetically sad “wonder” it is!