Commentary - Proverbs 31:1-9

Bird's-eye view

We come here to the end of the book of Proverbs, and find something remarkable. The final chapter is given over to the wisdom of a woman, a queen mother, instructing her son the king. This is not some milquetoast nagging, but a weighty oracle, a divine burden. In our egalitarian age, many will want to seize on this as a proof text for feminism, but that is to read with modern goggles and miss the point entirely. This is a display of a rightly ordered patriarchy, where a wise and godly woman, secure in her station, imparts covenantal wisdom to her son, who is in a position of authority over the nation. She is not seeking to usurp his authority, but to establish it in righteousness.

The mother of King Lemuel gives him a series of potent warnings and a glorious positive commission. She warns him, in no uncertain terms, against the ruin that comes from sexual profligacy and drunkenness. These are the classic temptations for men with power. But she does not simply leave him with a list of prohibitions. She then directs his royal strength toward its proper end: the establishment of justice for the weak and vulnerable. The king's mouth is not for wine, but for the mute. His power is not for self-indulgence, but for the defense of the afflicted. This is the pattern of the true King, the Lord Jesus, who did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

Proverbs 31 stands as the capstone to the entire book. After thirty chapters filled primarily with the wisdom of a father (Solomon) to his son, the book concludes with the wisdom of a mother to hers. This provides a beautiful covenantal symmetry. The instruction of the home, from both father and mother (Prov 1:8), is essential for raising up godly offspring. The identity of King Lemuel is unknown, but that is beside the point. He is a king, and he is a son, and the wisdom he receives is timeless for all who find themselves in positions of leadership, however small.

This section also serves as a crucial setup for the famous description of the virtuous woman that follows in verses 10-31. The king who heeds the warnings of verses 1-9, particularly the warning against ruinous women in verse 3, is the kind of man who will be able to recognize and win the excellent wife of verse 10. The two sections are inextricably linked. A man who cannot govern his own appetites will not be able to govern a kingdom, nor will he be fit for a truly formidable wife.

Key Issues

The Oracle of a Mother

1 The words of King Lemuel, the oracle unto which his mother disciplined him: The passage begins by establishing the source and the gravity of the words to follow. These are not Lemuel's words, but the words he received from his mother. And they are not mere suggestions; they are an "oracle" (massa), a word that often means a burden or a weighty pronouncement. This is prophetic speech. Furthermore, this oracle was the instrument of his discipline, his instruction. In a healthy covenant home, a mother's words carry immense weight. This is not the shrill voice of a nagging feminist, but the deep, resonant wisdom of a matriarch who knows her place and speaks with the authority God has given her. She is building up her son to be a king, not tearing him down.

2 What, O my son? And what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows? The repetition here is not for lack of vocabulary. It is the language of deep affection and urgent concern. She appeals to him on three levels. He is her son, a basic fact of relation. He is the son of her womb, reminding him of the intimate, biological connection and the pain of his birth. She bore him. And he is the son of her vows, which tells us she had dedicated him to God, much like Hannah with Samuel. This is a mother pleading with the child she carried, birthed, and consecrated to the Lord. All true biblical instruction flows from this kind of covenantal love. Before she tells him what to do, she reminds him who he is to her.

That Which Blots Out Kings

3 Do not give your excellence to women, Or your ways to that which blots out kings. The first prohibition is potent and direct. The word for "excellence" here is the same Hebrew word, chayil, used to describe the virtuous woman later in the chapter. A king possesses a certain strength, vigor, and substance. His mother warns him not to dissipate that royal strength on loose women. Sexual sin is not a private affair for a king; it has public consequences. It is a squandering of the power and focus given to him for rule. She then describes the end result of this path: it "blots out kings." The language is stark. A life given over to chasing women is a life that erases itself. It destroys legacies, undermines thrones, and brings kingdoms to ruin. History is littered with the wreckage of powerful men who would not heed this warning.

4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, It is not for kings to drink wine, Or for rulers to desire strong drink, The second prohibition concerns alcohol. Notice the repetition: "It is not for kings." This is a matter of royal propriety. The issue here is not that wine is inherently sinful, for Scripture speaks of it elsewhere as a gift from God. The issue is one of vocation. A king, a ruler, has immense responsibilities. His judgment must be unimpaired. To give himself over to wine or to even "desire" strong drink is to abdicate his central duty, which is to think clearly.

5 Lest he drink and forget what is decreed, And pervert the justice of all the afflicted. Here is the reason for the prohibition. Drunkenness leads to forgetfulness of the law. A king who is drunk cannot remember God's decrees or his own righteous statutes. And the consequence of this mental fog is not neutral. It leads directly to the perversion of justice. And who suffers? Not the rich and powerful, but "all the afflicted." The vulnerable are the first casualties of a compromised leader. A ruler's lack of self-control in his private chambers results in injustice in the public square. Sobriety is a non-negotiable prerequisite for biblical justice.

A Time for Wine

6 Give strong drink to him who is perishing, And wine to those whose soul is bitter. 7 Let him drink and forget his poverty And he will not remember his trouble any longer. This is a startling turn, and it demonstrates the nuance of biblical wisdom. Having forbidden wine to the king, the queen mother immediately prescribes it for others. For whom? For the one who is perishing, on the verge of death, or for the one whose soul is crushed with bitterness. Here, wine and strong drink function as a form of medicine, an anesthetic to dull immense pain and sorrow. The purpose is mercy. For the king, wine leads to forgetting the law, which is a dereliction of duty. For the dying man, wine leads to forgetting his poverty and trouble, which is a gift of grace. The same substance has two entirely different moral applications depending on the person and the purpose. Wisdom is knowing the difference.

The King's Great Commission

8 Open your mouth for the mute, For the justice of all those passing away. Having cleared away the distractions of lust and liquor, the mother now presents the king's positive duty. This is what his strength, his excellence, is for. This is what his mouth is for. He is to "open his mouth," to speak, to advocate, for those who cannot speak for themselves, the "mute." He is to be the voice for the voiceless. He is to concern himself with the justice, the cause, of "all those passing away," which can be understood as the destitute, those appointed to ruin. The king's primary job is not to secure his own comfort, but to extend his protection to the most vulnerable members of his kingdom.

9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, And render justice to the afflicted and needy. She repeats the central command, "Open your mouth," driving the point home. And she defines the content of that speech: righteous judgment. The king's words must be instruments of justice. He is to adjudicate for the "afflicted and needy." This is the great work of a godly ruler. It is not the creation of some egalitarian welfare state, which is a modern perversion of justice. It is the straightforward, impartial application of God's law, ensuring that the poor and weak are not trampled by the rich and powerful. This is the pattern of our Lord Jesus, the King of Kings, who judges the world with righteousness and will one day make all things new.

Key Words

Oracle (Massa)

The Hebrew word massa means "burden." It is often used in the prophets to describe a heavy, weighty word from the Lord (e.g., Isaiah 13:1). Its use here indicates that this mother's instruction is not casual advice but a divinely-inspired, solemn charge that her son is to carry.

Excellence (Chayil)

This is a rich Hebrew word that can mean strength, might, efficiency, wealth, or valor. It describes a man's vital force and substance. It is the same word used in Proverbs 31:10 to describe the "virtuous" or "excellent" wife. A king's chayil is his capacity to rule effectively, and it must be guarded, not squandered.

Application

The wisdom of Lemuel's mother is perennial. For men, especially men in any position of leadership, the warnings are sharp and clear. Sexual sin and the loss of self-control through drink are not minor peccadilloes; they are disqualifying vices that blot out a man's legacy and bring suffering to those under his care. A man who cannot rule his own appetites is not fit to rule anything else.

For mothers, this is a glorious portrait of godly influence. A mother's task in raising her sons is to give them weighty oracles, to discipline them in the fear of the Lord, so that they might become men of valor. She does this not by seizing power, but by speaking wisdom from a place of covenantal love.

And for all of us, this passage is a clarion call to true justice. Biblical justice is not the Marxist envy-driven clamor of our day. It is the sober, righteous, and courageous defense of the weak, the mute, and the needy. It is using whatever power and voice God has given us, not for our own indulgence, but for the good of our neighbor and the glory of the true King, Jesus Christ.