Session 17 | Proverbs 31:1-9 | Proverbs: Wisdom Unveiled

I. Identity of King Lemuel

A. The Options for Identifying Lemuel

• Lemuel (לְמוּאֵל) likely means “belonging to God” or “for God.”

• Fits the pattern of poetic or symbolic names elsewhere in Proverbs (cf. Agur in Proverbs 30).

• The voice of the mother echoes Bathsheba’s known role in guiding Solomon (1 Kings 1:11–31).

• Some commentators (especially later Christian interpreters) posit a Gentile monarch who received wisdom by God’s mercy.

• We have no record of such a king.

• Lemuel may be a stand-in for “any” king—an idealized son receiving prophetic instruction.

• This view removes historical specificity and treats the figure symbolically.

B. Argument for Lemuel as Solomon

• Like Jedidiah (“beloved of the Lord”), Lemuel could be a theological name assigned to Solomon, emphasizing his divine commission and accountability.

• There are no records of Lemuel being used as a real name for any historical figure, supporting the idea that it functions symbolically or theologically rather than as a personal name.

• Those in the Jewish tradition identify Lemuel with Solomon.

• Proverbs 30 and 31 are both framed as “words” from beyond the standard Solomonic material—yet most commonly interpreted as Solomonic instruction.

II. A Mother's Royal Warning: Proverbs 31:1-9

A. Superscription: A Mother’s Prophetic Burden (v. 1)

• “The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.”

• Prophecy (מַשָּׂא) here is the same term used for oracles of judgment and burden in the prophets (e.g., Isaiah 13:1).

• The mother speaks with the voice of Torah, charged with preparing her son for covenantal kingship.

• “Taught” (יִסְּרַתּוּ) doesn’t mean a cozy fireside lesson—it means chastised, corrected, disciplined. It comes from the same Hebrew root (יסר) used in Proverbs for the chastening of a father or the reproof of the Lord (cf. Proverbs 3:11–12). She didn’t just instruct—she rebuked.

• This framing tells us we’re not getting the highlights from a graduation speech. We’re hearing a prophetic rebuke from a mother who sees disaster coming if her son fails to rule with wisdom.

B. A Mother’s Lament: The Grief of a Torah-Woman (v. 2)

• The verse opens with three urgent cries, each escalating in maternal intimacy:

• This is not yet correction—it’s a mother’s anguished appeal, signaling that her heart is heavy over something her son has done.

• The threefold “what?” (מָה בְּרִי) functions like the prophets’ use of lament formula—grief before confrontation.

• We are not told what event triggered this—but from the emotional tone and what follows, we know that something has gone wrong.

• Rabbinic tradition (as cited in Rashi) places this after Solomon oversleeps during Temple worship, on the day of the Temple’s dedication.

• Even without that background, the tone implies disappointment in a son who should know better—especially one with royal and covenantal responsibility.

• This verse functions as a lament before the law—a mother’s heartbreak before she delivers the rebuke.

C. A King’s Rebuke: Torah for the Throne (vv. 3–9)

1. The Danger of Compromise: Women Who Destroy Kings (v. 3)

• “Give not thy strength unto women” – This isn’t a blanket statement about marriage; it’s a warning against surrendering royal authority to those who would manipulate or seduce a king away from Torah.

• “Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings” – The phrasing broadens the warning from women to any pathway of self-indulgence, political entanglement, or moral erosion.

• In Solomon’s case:

• His first wife was Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Kings 3:1), a political alliance—not immediately condemned.

• 1 Kings 11:1–4 reveals the turning point:

• Importantly, this happened “when he was old” (v. 4). His decline was gradual. His mother may be warning him at the beginning of the slide.

• Prophetically, this verse serves as a template warning to all kings of Judah: compromise starts slow, but it ends in idolatry and ruin (cf. Deut. 17:17).

2. The Danger of Clouded Judgment: Strong Drink and Forgetting Torah (vv. 4–7)

• Kings must be sober in more than one sense. Alcohol represents not just literal intoxication but any indulgence that clouds moral clarity.

• The danger is twofold:

• Solomon himself had warned Rehoboam of wine in Proverbs 23:29-35

• The Torah explicitly commands Israel’s kings to write their own copy of the Law and read it daily (Deut. 17:18–20). The mother is reinforcing that covenant expectation.

• She concedes: wine has a place—for the dying and the despairing.

• But her implication is sharp: you are not the one who needs escape.

• Kings are not called to numb their senses—they are called to see clearly, especially on behalf of those who suffer.

• In this sense, it was a chastisement for Solomon to be placed into the category of the perishing or miserable.

3. The Duty of Justice: Advocacy for the Voiceless (vv. 8–9)

• These are imperatives. Repeated twice: open your mouth! The silence of the king is not neutrality—it’s negligence.

• “The dumb” – Those who cannot speak for themselves, due to social, legal, or economic constraints.

• “Appointed to destruction” – Likely refers to those being crushed by the system: victims of unjust rulings or structural injustice.

• “Judge righteously” – The king’s role is not just to maintain order, but to ensure equity in line with the righteousness of the covenant.

• “Plead the cause” – Legal terminology: act as a public advocate. This is Deuteronomic justice—care for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger (Deut. 10:18–19).

• These verses form the moral backbone of kingship. Without them, the king is just another tyrant with a crown.