We end the book of Proverbs with some additional sayings from unknown sources.
Proverbs 31:1, King Lemuel
The sayings of King Lemuel--an oracle his mother taught him:
The sayings of King Lemuel--an oracle his mother taught him:
The identity of King Lemuel is unknown. His name means "belonging to God."
Alter translates the first line as "The words of Lemuel, king of Massa, with which his mother reproved him." The Hebrew word massa could either be a place name -- it is possible that there was an Arabian kingdom of that name; Genesis 25:13-14 gives Massa as a descendant of Israel -- or it could mean "burden" or "tribute", thus the NIV "oracle."
Proverbs 31:2-3, Vigor spent on women
"O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows,
do not spend your strength on women,
your vigor on those who ruin kings.
Here the instructions for the son come from the mother, not the father! The mother calls her son, "Son of my womb, son of my vows," with the last phrase indicating that you probably made some vow before or at his birth, as did Hannah in 1 Samuel 1. The existence of a vow is consistent with the son's name "belong to God."
The queen warns her son away from "women" (prostitutes? concubines?) who distract and bring down rulers. Solomon should have heeded such advice.
Proverbs 31:4-7, Wine and hard drink
"It is not for kings, O Lemuel--
not for kings to drink wine,
not for rulers to crave beer,
lest they drink and forget what the law decrees,
and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
Give beer to those who are perishing,
wine to those who are in anguish;
let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.
Alter argues that "beer" here is grappa, a stronger drink distilled from grapes (Judges 13:14.) Kings need to rule with sober wisdom and justice. Let alcohol soften the pain of the poor and perishing, but not kings!
"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy."
Speak up for the poor and needy, says the queen.
An acrostic: The rest of the chapter, 22 verses, is an acrostic on the value and importance of a wise wife. These 22 verses might be from a separate anonymous source (say Alter and Kidner) and the Septuagint does indeed break up this chapter here. However, I can certainly see a queen stressing the value of a woman as described below. She would want to (1) push her son towards one like this and (2) emphasize the characteristics she herself has modeled.
Proverbs 31:10-12,
A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
A wife of noble character will be described here as a good teammate of her husband and a good administrator.
Proverbs 31:13-16, Businesswoman
She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.
She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
This woman purchases cloths for sewing, purchases and prepares food, gets up early to meet the family needs, engages in land purchases. She has her own earnings and uses them to purchase and grow a vineyard. Since she provides for her servants, there is considerable wealth here.
Proverbs 31:17-19, Vigorous
She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
This woman meets all the characteristics of the wise man described throughout Proverbs. She is industrious, throughtful, hardworking. Although she has wealth, she is humble enough to do a fair amount of the work herself.
In verse 19, Hebrew words yad ("hand") and kaph "fingers" appear here as part of a parallelism describing the woman's work. They will appear in the next verse in opposite order.
Proverbs 31:20, Open arms
She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
In addition to being industrious, the woman reaches out to the poor and the needy. She is compassionate.
The NIV translation loses a poetic chiasm in verses 19 and 20, repeating two words for arm/hand/palm.
A: Her yad holds ...,B: grasps... with kaph,B: opens her kaph ...,A: extends her yad to ....
The word kaph is also the name of the eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet; the symbol does remind one of a hand or open palm, thumb and fingers opening to the left (with maybe a coin in the center of the palm?)
Proverbs 31:21-25, Covers her household
When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
Even in the worst of winter, in a rare Palestinian snowfall, the woman's family are comfortable. She has the right material to clothe them at all times and, indeed, the clothing is elegant. Her husband can confidently sit among the elders at the city gate; she contributes to his honor. And indeed, she herself is clothed in dignity. With all of this preparation, she is not afraid of future days.
The Hebrew word shani, translated here "scarlet", is an elegant, rich color. It appears in Exodus 25:1-9 in the description of rich material (both purple and scarlet thread) provided for the Tabernacle in the wilderness.
Proverbs 31:26-27, Wise speech, careful instruction
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
This woman follows the instructions of Proverbs, with wise speech, careful instruction, energy and hard work. That beautiful word hesed is used to describe her instruction in the second line, here translated "faithful" by the NIV.
Proverbs 31:28-29, Praise from her family
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
"Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."
The woman's wisdom and leadership is recognized by her children and her husband. She receives the respect she deserves. Alter says that the Hebrew in the last verse is emphatic, the husband says, "but you -- You, surpass them all!"
Proverbs 31:30-31, A model woman
Charm is deceptive,
and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Desired feminine attributes like charm or beauty can be fleeting. But commitment to YHWH and His wisdom and justice lead to honor "at the city gate", that is, among the city leaders.
As Alter points out, this chapter deviates considerably from the previous 30 chapters, in which a man gives instructions to other men. The final instructions of the book come from a woman and is about women.
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