Every word of +God is pure he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
Agur opens chapter 30 by admitting he has no wisdom of his own. He then asks questions no human can answer: who has gone up to heaven, who holds the wind, what is God's name? Verse 5 answers from outside man altogether. Older translations read "Every word of God is pure," and the writers below comment on that older wording. It raises two questions: what makes God's word pure, and how does a word become a shield?
Agur's questions leave human learning with nothing to say. One writer takes verse 5 as the answer at that dead end, and traces the shield back to trust.
Revelation is the only answer. The Creator must reveal Himself if we are to know Him. Simple, honest reasoning should lead anyone to this conclusion. His Word is this revelation, and it is of course absolutely pure in every part of it. It is not a mixture, but kept completely free from adulteration. Only those who trust it are shielded from falsehood. So faith, not intellect, is the principle that receives this revelation. And the God who reveals Himself is the Shield of all who put their trust in Him. How simple, and how wonderful.
The verse does not say most of God's words are pure, but every one. One writer traces that back to who is speaking, and to how Scripture pictures refined silver.
The Bible must be perfect. They are God's words, so they could not be otherwise. All His works, in creation and in redemption, bear the stamp of being perfect. We also read, "The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times" (Psalm 12:6)… The Bible must be perfect because, as we hope we have proved, it comes from God.
Purity here is not an abstract quality to admire. It is what makes the word useful in a world where nothing else is clean.
Without question the Word of God is able to meet every problem — physical, moral or spiritual. In Proverbs 30:5 we read that every word is exceedingly pure. What a resource in this world of impurity and evil! … This same word "sanctifies" us — it sets us apart from all that is inconsistent with the truth (John 17:17).
A shield matters most when something is coming. One writer ties the promise to the hour when God's judgment falls.
Closely tied to His way is "the word of the Lord," proven through all the ages as stable, solid, and dependable in every way. When His judgment is about to fall, how wonderful is the comfort of His word: "He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him." So His judgment is not against believers, but on behalf of believers.
Purity settles where authority comes from. Scripture is the one place that shows a person what salvation requires.
I do not see how we can doubt that Holy Scripture contains the certain revelation of everything necessary to our salvation. We only know that we need these things because Scripture reveals them. None can be the author of truth but God. So there can be no truth except what comes from Him, and all that He says must be true. As it is written: "Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him."
The very next verse forbids adding to what God has said. A pure word is also a complete word.
No one may add to it, for the simplest of all reasons: nothing is lacking. No one may take away from it, because nothing is unnecessary. Everything we need is there, and we cannot do without anything that is there. "Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar." To think anyone can add to God's word is, on the face of it, to deny that it is God's word.
- Ignorance first. Agur's questions show that man cannot reach God by searching. The pure word comes down as revelation, not up as discovery.
- Pure means unmixed. The word comes from God, so it carries His own perfection. It is not a blend of truth and error, but pure in every part.
- Pure means usable. Purity is not just something to admire. The word meets every problem and sets the believer apart from what is false.
- Trust turns purity into a shield. Faith, not intellect, receives the revelation. The God who gives it shields everyone who trusts Him, so His judgment falls for them, not on them.
- Guard what is pure. Nothing is missing and nothing is spare. To add to His words is to deny they are His, and it invites His rebuke.
Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
This proverb forbids adding anything to God's words. It raises a question every Bible reader has to answer: who decides what God has said, and what happens to the person who improves on it?
The ban on adding rests on a simple fact about the book it protects:
These words involve two great facts about the word of God. We must not add to it, for the simplest of all reasons — because there is nothing lacking. We must not take from it, because there is nothing unnecessary. Everything we need is there, and we cannot do without anything that is there... Drop a single clause from its place, and there would be a gap in the book that no human hand could fill. We have all we want, so we must not add. We want it all, so we must not take away.
The Bible is God's own revelation of Himself. Mix in one thought of man, and it stops being that:
Any revelation of God, since it is a revelation, must be exactly and absolutely accurate as He gives it. No thought of man may intrude in the slightest degree, or it could not be a revelation of God. If man tries this, as many have dared to do, he is exposing himself to the solemn rebuke of God, and God will expose him as a liar.
The verse forbids adding anything at all. One writer explains why even a tiny addition is not a small fault:
By setting up another authority, I displace and render void the whole word of God, which claims all authority. If someone else can give the orders, then I am not the sole master, and the man is not my servant... Anyone who adds one tiny stroke sets aside God's authority and His revealed will entirely. Even if it is only about washing my hands, someone else can interfere and claim obedience. The word of God is then no longer the only authoritative rule.
The oldest example is Eve in the garden, answering the serpent:
She adds to the prohibition, and takes from the penalty. The Lord had not said a word about touching the forbidden fruit, but had threatened death in the most certain terms for the day they ate it. Exaggerating the truth is no more the truth than cutting it down; both weaken it, and both are Satan's work.
The verse threatens more than rebuke. One writer shows what guessing about God risks:
It is a serious thing to attribute to God what God does not say, and to run the risk of making the God of truth appear a liar. And that is what happens when men guess instead of waiting to learn. We must always wait to learn, and I believe that where we have the faith to wait, God will give us to learn.
Most additions fill in what Scripture leaves unsaid. One writer draws a rule from this verse, using an argument about losing salvation:
Where the Word of God is silent, men should hold back from speaking. Years ago some people who liked to reason challenged a faithful servant of the Lord. They argued from a promise: the Word of God says of certain people that He would not blot out their names from the "book of life." So, they said, there are others who would lose their salvation, and God would blot out their names. The faithful man replied, "Never put a positive statement where God puts a negative one." If God speaks, we can speak with assurance. When He is silent, we should be silent too.
Additions often come as one small clause added to a promise:
Sheep of Christ, rejoice! Your faithful Shepherd has pledged His word that you will never perish, with no "if" and no "but." Opponents of this precious truth may add, "if they continue." Scripture warns all such people, "Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and you be found a liar" (Prov. 30:6). There are warnings and conditions, but not here.
- Exact — a revelation must reach us exactly as God gives it; one thought of man mixed in, and it is no longer His.
- Complete — nothing is missing, so there is nothing to supply; nothing is spare, so there is nothing to drop.
- Whole — one added stroke does more than damage a corner. It sets up a rival authority and voids the claim of the whole word.
- Exposed — God traces the addition back to its author. Put your words in God's mouth, and you are the one found a liar.
- Silent — where God is silent, be silent. Never put a positive statement where He puts a negative one. Never hang an "if" on a promise He gave without one.