Proverbs Chapter 31
31:1-9. Nothing is known about King Lemuel, except that there was no king of Israel by that name. The advice is
actually that if his mother (cf. 1:8). In essence, it is a prohibition against illicit relationships with women (v. 3), against
consumption of strong drink (vv. 4-7), as well as a plea for the execution of justice (vv. 8, 9). If anyone drinks wine, it
should be those who are perishing, to whom it will serve for medicinal purposes. Poverty (v. 7) can mean misery
from sources other than simply financial need.
31:10-31. The final section of the book occurs in the form of an acrostic, that is, each fo the 22 verses begins with a
consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Since it has such a distinctive form, it should not be considered part of
Lemuel's words, but taken as an anonymous poem. While verse 10 serves as an introduction to the passage and
verses 30 and 31 as a conclusion, there is no logical outline to the poem. It might well be called "22 points the
excellent wife" or " the perfect wife from A to Z." Each verse emphasizes a different quality about the excellent wife:
she is rare (v. 10); trustworthy (v. 11); constant in her love (v. 12); industrious (v. 13); thrifty (v. 14); self-starting (v.
15); enterprising (v. 16); willing to do hard work (v. 17); willing to work long hours (v. 18); willing to do monotonous
work (v. 19); compassionate (v. 20); prepared for the future (v. 21); a good seamstress (v. 22); married to a leader
(v. 23); an entrepreneur (v. 24); not swayed by circumstances (v. 25); wise and kind (v. 26); duty-conscious (v. 27);
blessed by her family (v. 28); not satisfied with the mediocre (v. 29); a woman of God (v. 30); and praiseworthy (v.
31). She is a woman of means (vv. 15, 22) and a woman of great skill and ability who lives in an agrarian economy.
She is a woman of God who is enterprising and dedicated to her home. Perhaps this acrostic on the excellent wife is
placed at the end of the book because she, above all others, will be most able to demonstrate the principles of
wisdom in the home.