Text and Intertexts: A Proposal for Understanding Proverbs 30.1b.

Proverbs 30.1b represents a well-known textual conundrum that is regularly resolved by re-dividing and re-pointing the consonantal text of MT. The typical emendation to the initial 'words of Agur' results in a text that has this figure lament his weariness. Adopting in part this common emendation while also taking a cue from an older suggestion by Charles C. Torrey, this article contends that an Aramaic Vorlage to the initial three verses of Prov. 30 lies behind the current MT. The proposal explains better than most other suggestions how the corrupted MT of Prov. 30.1b emerged. Unlike most commentators who accept the common emendation to the line but who do not discuss much Agur's weariness, the proposal also explains why Agur experiences fatigue by considering several key biblical and Second Temple intertexts to Prov. 30.1-4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]