Verses 1-7
v1 These are the words of King Lemuel.
v2 Oh, my son! My own son!
You are the answer to my prayers.
v3 Do not waste your strength with women!
Do not go with women who destroy kings!
v4 Oh, Lemuel, you are the king!
Kings should not drink wine!
Kings should not want beer!
v5 If kings drink alcohol, then they will forget the law.
Then suffering people will lose everything.
v6 Give beer to people who are dying!
Give wine to people in trouble!
v7 Let them drink!
Then they will forget that they are poor.
They will not remember that they are sad.
Commentary
Lemuel was not a king of Israel. But his name means ‘he belongs to God’ in the Hebrew language. (Hebrew was the language of the people in Israel.)
Lemuel’s birth was the answer to his mother’s prayers (verse 2). The prophet (holy man) Samuel was also born as the answer to his mother’s prayers (1 Samuel 1:1-18). Samuel became a very great prophet. And Lemuel’s mother wanted Lemuel to be a good king. She wanted him to be fair. And she wanted him to rule well. So she taught him this lesson.
Many women try to tempt an important person like a king. Solomon himself loved many women. He thought that these women would make him happy (Ecclesiastes 2:1-11). But Solomon did evil things because of these women (1 Kings 11:1-13).
Kings must be careful about alcohol. In fact, everybody needs to be careful about alcohol. Alcohol causes people to make stupid mistakes. And alcohol confuses the brain. It causes many troubles.
But a king is also responsible for other people. So the king has a special reason to refuse alcohol. The king’s people need help when they are suffering. The king will be unable to protect them if he is a drunk.
Church leaders too always need to be careful. See James 3:1. A church leader must not be a drunk (Titus 1:7). And many church leaders have decided not to drink any alcohol. They decide this because they are responsible for other people. And these church leaders do not want to cause problems for weaker people (1 Corinthians 8:9-13).
This is a strange passage. Lemuel’s mother knew that a king should not drink alcohol. But she supposed that poor people should drink lots of beer and wine in order to forget their troubles. But she was wrong. Alcohol cannot cure the problems of poor people. Their lives will not be better if they become drunks. In fact, their lives will be worse.
Poor people cannot afford wine and beer. They will become weaker if they drink alcohol. And they might be unable to do their work. These people are poor now. But they will become poorer.
Often rich people give stupid advice to poor people. The rich people are trying to help. But they are not poor. So they do not know the problems of poor people.
We need accurate knowledge to advise well. Our experiences are different from other people’s experiences. So we must study their problems well, before we can advise. Otherwise, we might cause even more problems.
Verses 8-9
v8 Defend weak people!
Protect poor people!
Speak out on their behalf!
v9 When you are their judge, be fair!
Defend everyone who needs your help!
Commentary
A king should care about poor people. In fact, everyone should care about poor people. But a king has greater responsibility. King Lemuel was also a judge. So Lemuel’s mother advised him to help poor people in the court. Perhaps poor people cannot afford lawyers. Perhaps poor people do not speak well. So Lemuel should protect them because nobody else would help them.
In Proverbs 30, Agur did not understand some important subjects. He did not realize that we need to confess our evil deeds to God. And he did not explain that God forgives.
In Proverbs 31:1-9, Lemuel’s mother did not realize some important subjects. She did not realize that rich people should be generous. She knew that Lemuel must protect poor people. She knew that the law must be fair. But she did not tell Lemuel to give any money or food to poor people. See Proverbs 31:20.
A Poem About a Perfect Wife (Proverbs 31:10-31)
The Book of Proverbs ends with a special poem. Men did the most important public jobs when Solomon was alive. The officials were male (1 Kings 4:1-19). The soldiers and workmen were males (1 Kings 9:22-23).
But women were important in their families. Women were important in their towns and villages. And women were even important in the palaces (1 Kings 10:1-13; 1 Kings 9:16; 11:19). In fact, Solomon even describes wisdom as a woman (Proverbs 8). Solomon does not write about a man called Wisdom. But he does write about a woman called Wisdom.
So someone wrote this poem to describe the perfect wife. Perhaps Solomon did not write this poem. Solomon had many wives. And his wives caused trouble for him (1 Kings 11). So Solomon’s wives were not good wives.
The perfect wife in this poem was an important person. Everybody respected her. The people even respected her husband because of her. Women should copy this perfect wife. And men can learn things from her, too.
The original language of this poem is called Hebrew. This poem has a special structure because the poem uses the Hebrew alphabet. So, in Hebrew, verse 10 begins with the first letter of the alphabet. Verse 11 begins with the next letter. This structure continues until verse 31. Verse 31 begins with the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Verses 10-15
v10 You must search hard to obtain a good wife.
Her value is more than precious stones.
v11 Her husband always trusts her.
He has everything that he needs.
v12 His wife always brings good things to him.
She never hurts him, during her entire life.
v13 She selects wool and cloth.
She is eager to work with her hands.
v14 She is like a trading ship.
She goes far to get good food.
v15 She gets up early, before sunrise.
She provides food for her family, and for her servant girls.
Commentary
God wants men and women to marry (Genesis 2:18). It is good to marry (Hebrews 13:4). But God may not want everyone to marry. Paul was not married (1 Corinthians 7:7-8).
A husband and wife should look after each other. A husband should be glad if he has a good wife. A good wife will benefit her husband greatly.
A man who has great wealth does not always have a good life. But a man who has a good wife will also have a good life. So a good wife is better than great wealth.
The husband can trust his wife. She is careful. She will not waste his possessions. He will have everything that he needs.
This wife selects good things for her husband. Verses 13-15 describe things that she obtains for him. She always tries to help him. She does not hurt him. She does not waste his possessions. She does not upset him with arguments (Proverbs 21:9). She does not cause trouble.
The wife makes clothes by hand. And she is happy to do this work.
She selects good food. But perhaps there is no good food in the local shops. This woman does not want to use poor-quality food. So she travels until she finds the best foods.
She works hard, even before dawn. She does not only provide food for her husband. She also provides food for her family. And she even provides for servant girls. Everyone in the house has good food because this wife works hard.
Another translation of the second line is:
‘Before sunrise, she provides food for her family. And she gives out work to her servant girls.’
This woman does not waste time. She uses her time well.
Verses 16-24
v16 She chooses a field. She buys it.
With her own money, she plants fruit bushes.
v17 She works hard.
Her arms are strong.
v18 She trades well.
At night, her light is on.
v19 She works with her hands.
She makes cloth for clothing.
v20 She is generous to poor people.
She helps those who are weak.
v21 She is not afraid of snow.
All her family have good warm clothes.
v22 She makes covers for her bed.
She wears the finest clothing.
v23 Everyone respects her husband.
He is a judge, and he sits with the wise men at the city gate.
v24 His wife makes clothes. And she sells them.
She makes belts for the merchants.
Commentary
This woman is wise. She prepares for the future. Her fruit bushes will not provide fruit this year. And perhaps the bushes will not provide fruit for a few years. (Compare Leviticus 19:23-25. God told the people not to eat fruit from a new tree for 4 years. This is good advice for farmers. Young fruit trees are weak if you allow the fruit to develop too soon.)
But afterwards, the family will enjoy the fruit for many years.
She herself works with her hands. She has servants (verse 15), but she is not lazy. She works with them. So she becomes strong and healthy.
This woman starts to work before dawn (verse 15). And she continues to work late at night (verse 18). She buys and sells.
At this time, there were no machines to make cloth. So women would make cloth by hand. And clothes were precious.
This woman’s work was very valuable.
But this woman does not work so that her family will be wealthy. She cares about everyone. She earns money so that she can help poor people. She is kind and generous. She looks after old people and ill people. She wants to help everyone.
Snow does not often fall in Israel. It is a warm country. But this woman is ready for cold weather. The whole family has warm clothes because this woman makes the clothes.
But this woman does not just make practical clothes. She loves her work. She is happy when she works. So she makes good clothes. And she makes fine covers for the bed.
This woman is humble. You might suppose that she wants to be important. But she does not work for this reason.
Instead, she is happy to help her husband. He is important because of her. He does not worry about clothes or food. She provides his food and clothes. So he can do an important job. He is a judge. And he advises at the city gate. Nobody pays the husband for his advice. But he can do his important work because his wife looks after him.
This woman earns the money that her family needs. She makes belts and clothes by hand. And she sells these things.
Verses 25-31
v25 She has strength and honor.
She is not afraid of the future.
v26 She speaks wisely.
She teaches well.
v27 She looks after her family.
She is not lazy.
v28 Her children bless her.
Her husband praises her.
v29 He says, ‘Many women are good.
But you are the very best wife.’
v30 Women may lose their beauty and grace.
So praise the woman who respects God!
v31 Give a good reward to her!
Her good work proves that she deserves honor from everyone.
Commentary
Now the writer describes the woman’s character. This woman does not worry about the future. She prepares carefully. Perhaps she saves her money. And she teaches her children to be wise (verses 26-27). So she is ready for future events. Even if the family suffer troubles, she is ready.
We know that this woman’s husband is a wise man (verse 23). But the wife is also wise. She teaches her children. And perhaps she advises her friends.
Some people behave well in public. But at home, they do not behave well. But this woman does not care whether anyone sees her good works. Her own family see her in private. And they know that she is a good person. So they bless her.
Now the husband speaks.
He realizes that some other women are good like his wife. But he does not want to be with these other women. His own wife is very special in his opinion. He loves her. He appreciates her work. He thanks her.
This husband does not want a younger woman. He does not want a more beautiful woman. He realizes that some qualities matter more than youth and beauty. And his wife has these special qualities.
In this verse, we discover why this woman is a great person. Her special qualities are not beauty and grace. When she is older, this woman might lose her beauty. And she might lose her grace. But she will still be a great person. And she will still be a great wife.
This woman is great because she respects God. The first lesson in wisdom is that we must respect God (Proverbs 1:7). Every woman needs to learn this lesson. And every man needs to learn this lesson too.
This woman has learned this lesson well. So this woman is really wise.
And we can see that she is wise:
-- She respects God.
-- She is not lazy.
-- She is not proud.
-- She works hard. And she is glad to work.
-- She is generous to poor people.
-- Her husband can trust her.
-- She studies carefully. And she has learned to be wise.
-- She teaches.
-- She uses her money wisely.
-- She is loyal.
-- She is skilled. And she has many skills.
This woman has learned the lessons in the Book of Proverbs. She is a model of a wise person. Every woman should be like this woman. And every man, too, can learn from her behavior.
If we learn to act like this woman, then we shall be wise.
We, too, know that this woman deserves honor. And we should all try to be like her.
Click on the link below to READ the answer explaining why the Proverbs 31 woman does not exist today.
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