Proverbs 31:1-9

CHAPTER 31
TEXT Proverbs 31:1-9

1.

The words of king Lemuel:

The oracle which his mother taught him.

2.

Why, my son? and what, O son of my womb?

And what, O son of my vows?

3.

Give not thy strength unto women,

Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.

4.

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine;

Nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink?

5.

Lest they drink, and forget the law,

And pervert the justice due to any that is afflicted.

6.

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish,

And wine unto the bitter in soul:

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

8.

Open thy mouth for the dumb,

In the cause of all such as are left desolate.

9.

Open thy mouth, judge righteously,

And minister justice to the poor and needy.

STUDY QUESTIONS OVER 31:1-9

1.

Who was Lemuel (Proverbs 31:1)?

2.

What three things did Lemuel's mother call him in Proverbs 31:2?

3.

How did kings behave (Proverbs 31:3)?

4.

What city in the U.S.A. is said to consume the most liquor per capita (Proverbs 31:4)?

5.

Why should rulers especially leave strong drink alone (Proverbs 31:5)?

6.

How did ancients use alcohol besides as a beverage (Proverbs 31:6)?

7.

Is strong drink really for well people to drink to forget their sorrow (Proverbs 31:7)?

8.

What does open thy mouth mean in Proverbs 31:8?

9.

Why have the poor and needy often suffered in court (Proverbs 31:9)?

PARAPHRASE OF 31:1-9

1.

These are the wise sayings of King Lemuel of Massa, taught to him at his mother's knee:

2, 3.

O my son, whom I have dedicated to the Lord, do not spend your time with womenthe royal pathway to destruction.

4-7.

And it is not for kings, O Lemuel, to drink wine and whiskey. For if they drink they may forget their duties and be unable to give justice to those who are oppressed. Hard liquor is for sick men at the brink of death, and wine for those in deep depression. Let them drink to forget their poverty and misery.

8, 9.

You should defend those who cannot help themselves. Yes, speak up for the poor and needy and see that they get justice.

COMMENTS ON 31:1-9

Proverbs 31:1. This chapter is another supplement (just like Chapter 30). History has not preserved, nor has archaeology uncovered, information that would help us identify king Lemuel. If his father was a king with a harem of wives, the rearing and teaching of his sons became the work of his own mother. Oracle indicates a divine message. We are glad for this supplement that closes out the book of Proverbs, especially the material about the virtuous woman (Proverbs 31:10-31).

Proverbs 31:2. The thrice repeated...-'what-', which Luther appropriately rendered by -Ach!-', is plainly an impassioned exclamation expressing the inward emotion of the mother's heart at the thought that the son might possible fall into an evil way (Lange). The preciousness of this son to his mother is evident from her three expressions concerning him: (1) my sonher very own son, one of the dearest possessions that any woman can have; (2) son of my wombnot adopted by her but born by her, the fruit of her own body as blessed and enabling by God; (3) son of my vowsshe, like Hannah (1 Samuel 1:2; 1 Samuel 1:8; 1 Samuel 1:10-11), may have been barren, earnestly prayed for a child, and vowed that if God granted her a child she would rear the same to His honor and glory. Her teaching these important things to Lemuel were likely part of her fulfilling those vows.

Proverbs 31:3. Her first plea was for him not to sacrifice his strength (Hebrew: vigor) to women (kings kept harems). Her second plea concerning that which destroyeth kings was likely referring to strong drink, which she goes on to discuss in succeeding verses. She was warning him against wine and women.

Proverbs 31:4. Solomon rightfully prayed for wisdom that he might be capable of ruling Israel (1 Kings 3:9), but strong drink can affect man's reasoning powers. A king needs all of his mentality (and then some!) all the time, so his mother correctly said, It is not for kings, O Lemuel. Ben-hadad and the thirty-two kings with him were drinking themselves drunk, and the Israelites defeated them that day (1 Kings 20:16-21). Belshazzar was having a drunken feast when the handwriting appeared on the wall, telling him that that very night his kingdom would be given to the Medes and Persians (Daniel 5:1-5; Daniel 5:25-28). Ecclesiastes 10:17 observes, Happy art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!. It is too bad that our own capital city (Washington D.C.) has been consuming more alcoholic beverages per capita than other city in the U.S.A.

Proverbs 31:5. A drinking monarch will not be a good king: he will forget the law and pervert...justice. Matters that need attention will be neglected because of drinking. As was observed, boozing affects one's mental powers, judgment-ability and general direction. Hosea 4:11 says, Whoredome and wine and new wine take away the understanding.

Proverbs 31:6-7. Another case of Hebrew parallelism in which the latter statement is but a restatement of the first. In other words, the bitter in soul is the same as him that is ready to perish. We do utilize drugs and alcoholic-based medicines to relieve the afflicted in their final sufferings. If one overlooks the Hebrew parallelism here, he would end up having God advising the sorrowful to turn to booze. But life has proven that people who do that don-'t drown their sorrows; it is more as Archie Word observes: They only give them swimming lessons.

Proverbs 31:8. The -dumb-' is any one who for any reason whatever is unable to plead his own cause; he may be of tender age, or of lowly station, or ignorant, timid, and boorish; and the prince is enjoined to plead for him (-Pulpit Commentary). The next verse continues the subject.

Proverbs 31:9. The command to judge righteously is found elsewhere in the Bible also: Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty; but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor (Leviticus 19:15); I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike (Deuteronomy 1:16-17); Judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment (John 7:24). But often the poor and afflicted had no one to see that they received justice. The Bible speaks elsewhere on that also: Judge the fatherless, plead for the widow (Isaiah 1:17); He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well (Jeremiah 22:16); I delivered the poor that cried, The fatherless also, that had none to help (Job 29:12).

TEST QUESTIONS OVER 31:1-9

1.

Why is Lemuel's mother teaching him instead of his father (Proverbs 31:1)?

2.

Comment on each of the ways Lemuel's mother spoke of him in Proverbs 31:2.

3.

Lemuel was not to dissipate his strength upon --. (Proverbs 31:3).

4.

What else was Lemuel warned about in Proverbs 31:3?

5.

What instruction is given again in Proverbs 31:4?

6.

Suppose Lemuel drank as a king (Proverbs 31:6).

7.

What use for wine is mentioned in Proverbs 31:7?

8.

Who all would be included under dumb in Proverbs 31:8?

9.

What does the Bible say about judging righteously (Proverbs 31:9)?