Proverbs 31

These are the words of King Lemuel. This is the message his mother taught him.

1The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.

NoteLemuel appears nowhere else in the Bible, and no king of that name is known from history; the name means something like "belonging to God." The Hebrew word behind "prophecy" (massa) means an utterance or a load laid on someone, but it is also a place name (Massa, an Arabian tribe descended from Ishmael), so the line can equally be read "king of Massa." This is one of the few passages in the Bible presented as teaching from a mother rather than a father.

2What shall I say, my son? What shall I say, son I gave birth to? What shall I say, son I promised to God?

2What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?

NoteA vow was a formal promise made to God, often in exchange for a request granted. A woman without children might promise that if she were given a son, she would dedicate him to God's service, Hannah does exactly this in 1 Samuel 1. "Son of my vows" points to that kind of promise.

3Do not spend your strength on women, or waste your ways on those who ruin kings.

3Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.

Note"Give not thy strength unto women" is a warning against a king exhausting himself and his household in a large harem, a normal feature of ancient royal courts, and one that could drain a kingdom's wealth and split its politics through rival wives and heirs.

4It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, and it is not for rulers to crave strong drink.

4It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

Note"Strong drink" translates Hebrew shekar, meaning fermented drink made from something other than grapes, barley beer, or drink made from dates, pomegranates or honey. It is not distilled liquor, which did not yet exist.

5If they drink, they will forget what the law says, and they will deny justice to everyone who is being crushed.

5Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.

Note"Forget the law" here means forgetting what has been decreed. In this society the king was also the highest judge, so a drunk king was not merely intoxicated: he was a court that had stopped working, and the poor, who had no other protector, lost first.

6Give strong drink to the person who is dying, and wine to those whose hearts are bitter.

6Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.

NoteGiving strong drink to "him that is ready to perish" refers to the dying and those in severe pain or grief; wine was the only painkiller available. The custom of offering a drugged drink to a condemned man appears again at the crucifixion in Mark 15:23.

7Let him drink and forget how poor he is, and think about his misery no more.

7Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

8Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, and speak for the rights of all who have been left with nothing.

8Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.

Note"Dumb" in 1611 English simply meant unable to speak, with no insult attached. In a court setting it covers anyone with no voice in the proceedings. The phrase behind "appointed to destruction" is literally "sons of passing away," and is genuinely ambiguous: it may mean those under sentence of death, or those left destitute and passing out of society.

9Speak up. Judge fairly. Defend the cause of the poor and the needy.

9Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

10A wife of strong and worthy character, who can find one? She is worth far more than rubies.

10Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

NoteVerses 10 to 31 form an acrostic poem: each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, twenty-two verses for twenty-two letters. The form signals completeness, the subject covered from A to Z, and would have made the poem easier to memorize. The word translated "virtuous" is hayil, a word normally used of soldiers and of wealth; it means force, capability, competence. Elsewhere it is translated "army," "valour," "substance." "Rubies" (peninim) is an uncertain term; it may mean red coral or pearls.

11Her husband trusts her with his whole heart, and he lacks nothing of value.

11The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

Note"He shall have no need of spoil" uses the word for plunder taken in war, in an economy where raiding was a recognized way to get rich, the point is that her husband has no need of gain from any other source.

12She brings him good and not harm, every day of her life.

12She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

13She picks out wool and flax, and she works with eager hands.

13She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

NoteFlax is the plant whose stalk fibers are spun into linen. Wool and flax were the two raw materials of all ancient cloth, and turning them into finished garments (washing, combing, spinning, weaving, dyeing) was months of skilled labor.

14She is like the trading ships, bringing in her food from far away.

14She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

NoteMerchant ships brought luxury and foreign goods over long distances. The comparison is about reach and enterprise, not about literal sailing: she sources what her household needs from wherever it is best obtained.

15She gets up while it is still dark. She gives food to her household and hands out portions to her servant women.

15She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

Note"Meat" in 1611 English meant food of any kind, not flesh specifically. The "portion" given to her servant women is their allotted ration of food, and the Hebrew word can also carry the sense of their assigned task for the day.

16She looks over a field and buys it. With what she has earned she plants a vineyard.

16She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

NoteIn this society land was normally held and transferred by men within a family line. A woman assessing a field and buying it with her own earnings, then planting it as a vineyard, a long-term investment that yields nothing for several years, describes independent commercial authority that a first reader would have found striking.

17She wraps herself in strength, and she makes her arms strong.

17She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

Note"Girding the loins" meant gathering up the long, loose robe and tucking it into the belt so the legs were free to run or work hard. It became a standard idiom for getting ready for strenuous effort.

18She can see that her trading is going well, and her lamp does not go out at night.

18She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

NoteLamps were small clay dishes of olive oil with a floating wick. Keeping one burning all night cost real money, so the detail signals both prosperity and long working hours.

19She reaches out her hands to the distaff, and her fingers grip the spindle.

19She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

NoteThe distaff and spindle are the two hand tools of spinning. The distaff is a rod holding the mass of raw wool or flax; the spindle is a weighted stick that is set turning, twisting the drawn-out fibers into thread. This was the fundamental female craft of the ancient world, and the source of all cloth.

20She opens her hand to the poor, and she reaches out her hands to the needy.

20She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

21When it snows, she has no fear for her household, because all of them are dressed in scarlet cloth.

21She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

NoteScarlet cloth was wool dyed with an expensive red pigment made from crushed insects, clothing that marked wealth. Some ancient manuscripts and translations read a nearly identical Hebrew word meaning "double," that is, double thickness, which fits the mention of snow; both readings are defensible.

22She makes coverings for her bed, and her own clothing is fine linen and purple cloth.

22She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

NotePurple dye was extracted drop by drop from murex sea snails on the Mediterranean coast; it took thousands of shellfish to dye a single garment, which made purple the most expensive color known and the standard mark of royalty and great wealth. The KJV's "silk" is a guess at a word that means fine linen, probably the sheer Egyptian kind.

23Her husband is well known at the city gate, where he sits among the elders of the land.

23Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

NoteThe open space just inside a city gate was the town's public square, marketplace and law court all at once. The elders, senior heads of families, sat there to settle disputes and witness contracts. To be "known in the gates" is to hold recognized standing in the government of the town.

24She makes linen garments and sells them, and she supplies sashes to the merchants.

24She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

Note"Girdles" are sashes or belts, long woven bands wound at the waist; a good one was a valuable article of dress and a standard trade good. The Hebrew word for "merchant" here is literally "Canaanite," since Canaanite and Phoenician traders so dominated commerce that the name became the ordinary word for a trader.

25Strength and dignity are the clothes she wears, and she can laugh at the days that are coming.

25Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

NoteTo "laugh at the days to come" is not mockery but confidence: she has no dread of the future, because she has provided against it.

26When she opens her mouth, wisdom comes out, and faithful, kind teaching is on her tongue.

26She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

Note"The law of kindness" is literally the teaching (torah) of chesed, chesed being loyal, committed kindness, the sort owed within a covenant or family rather than casual niceness. The line describes her as an instructor, a role the book of Proverbs elsewhere assigns to a father or a sage.

27She keeps a close watch on everything that goes on in her home, and she never eats the bread of idleness.

27She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Note"The bread of idleness" is food eaten without having earned it, an idiom for living off other people's work.

28Her children stand up and call her blessed. Her husband praises her too. He says:

28Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

NoteTo "call her blessed" is to declare publicly that she is fortunate and enviable, a formal pronouncement rather than a private compliment.

29"Many women have done fine and worthy things, but you are better than all of them."

29Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

Note"Daughters" here simply means women. The verse is the husband's quoted speech, which begins after "he praiseth her" in verse 28.

30Charm can fool you, and beauty does not last, but a woman who honors the LORD should be praised.

30Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

NoteTo "fear the LORD" in Hebrew usage means reverence and awed loyalty toward God expressed in how one lives, not fright. LORD printed in capitals stands for the personal name of God in the Hebrew, four consonants usually written YHWH, which Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud.

31Give her the reward her own work has earned, and let what she has done bring her praise at the city gate.

31Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Note"The fruit of her hands" means the earnings and produce her own work has generated, the poem ends by asking that she receive them, and be publicly commended in the same city gate where her husband sits.