In my last post, I wanted to start looking at the Proverbs 31 woman.  The first step is to read the entire chapter to put our target verses in context. As we read, we begin to ask it questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how?  This is part of observation in inductive Bible study.  and “who wrote it” is my first question, because information about both author and recipient can be invaluable to accurate interpretation.

The Book of Proverbs is credited to King Solomon (Prov. 1:1). Chapter 31 however, begins with this verse,

The words of King Lemuel, the oracle which his mother taught him.  Prov. 31:1

This should raise a lot of questions. Who is King Lemuel?  Who is his mother?  How much of chapter 31 is the oracle: all of it, or only verses 1 – 9, as they are in the English Bible?  While we may not know for certain, we can develop some educated opinions.

Who is King Lemuel?  Evidently the rabbis believed him to be Solomon. Many Christian Bible scholars agree with this, others think he is someone different. Since we know that Solomon authored the rest of Proverbs, we may well wonder why he would record someone else’s words, especially since Lemuel was never a king of Israel, and since Solomon had his own wisdom.  Perhaps it added later?  It seems to make more sense that Solomon is Lemuel, rather than the alternatives.  Why he chose this pseudonym, is unknown as well.

Who is his mother?  If Solomon is the author, then Bathsheba is his mother.  (2 Samuel 12:24)

How much of chapter 31 is the oracle?  Is it the first nine verses or the entire chapter? Many Bible commentaries limit her advice to the first nine verses.  However the Hebrew Bible doesn’t have paragraph divisions, so the paragraphs aren’t solid evidence to base an opinion on.  Why is this even of importance?  In some ways it’s not.  But I am personally curious as to whether the Proverbs 31 woman is a woman’s idea of an ideal wife, or a man’s?  It would be interesting to ask various men and women to describe the qualities of a perfect wife.  I may be wrong, but I suspect the Proverbs 31 woman would fit women’s descriptions more than men’s.

The word oracle is interesting to look at. It is translated prophecy in the King James.

Oracle – Strong’s 4853 – משׂא – massa’ = a burden, load, tribute, that which is carried or borne; figuratively an utterance, oracle.

Obviously King Lemuel’s mother had a real burden about some things in his life:  that he not allow himself to be destroyed by drunkenness (v. 4 – 7), nor women (v. 3), that he protect the rights of the needy (v. 8, 9) and especially as to the type of woman he should marry (V. 10 – 31).  Starting in chapter four, Solomon had recorded the instructions his father had given him.  It makes sense that now in chapter 31, he lastly recorded the advice from his mother.

Next time we’ll start taking a look a what she had to say about an excellent wife.