I am the most ignorant of men; I do not have a man's understanding.  I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One (Proverbs 30:2-3).

An oracle is supposed to be someone extra-wise, someone who should be able to speak of the universe's great secrets and offer a portal from our base humanity to divine understanding.  So when Agur, son of Jakeh -- an oracle -- speaks up, starting in Proverbs 30:2, it seems very odd that the first thing he should say is:  "I am the most ignorant of men; I do not have a man's understanding.  I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One."  He essentially declares himself to be a good-for-nothing oracle:  ignorant, unwise, and totally unfamiliar with the Holy One.

To me, however, this very statement is where the oracle's wisdom becomes manifest.

It's been said that the more one knows, the more he realizes how little he actually knows.  And I think that this is really true (or at least I'm becoming increasingly aware of its truth)!  There's really no benefit to presenting oneself as being "wise" or "learned;" such posturing almost always backfires.  The wise ones are the humble ones, who don't act as if they have everything figured out.  The wise ones are the people who respect God's truth above all else, even while realizing that God's truth can seem genuinely backwards to our ways of thinking about the world.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 explains this quite well:  "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'  Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.  Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things -- and the things that are not -- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God -- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: 'Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.'"

So when Agur, son of Jakeh -- an oracle -- says that he is the most ignorant of men, he's actually demonstrating that he's started to figure something out.  When he says that he has not learned wisdom, he's actually demonstrating and elevating the place of God's wisdom.  When he says that he doesn't have any special knowledge of the Holy One, he's actually demonstrating that he gets it -- he understands that the Kingdom of God really belongs to the simple, the childlike, the lowly, the despised, and foolish.  Maybe the good-for-nothing oracle is the best kind of oracle there is.