Dw – The Sayings of King Lemuel 31: 1-31

The Sayings of King Lemuel
31: 1-31

The final chapter of Proverbs concludes with what appears to be two separate poetic compositions. First, instructions that the mother of King Lemuel gives to her royal son (to see link click Dx – Wisdom for Leaders), and secondly, an acrostic poem that celebrates the noble woman (see Dz – Wisdom for Women). A cursory reading of the chapter doesn’t see any connection between the two parts that would be significant to the meaning of the text, and such an understanding is supported by the fact that the Septuagint demonstrates a different order of this latter part of Proverbs, so that these two poems are not contrasted. Furthermore, verses 1-9 are an instruction spoken in the second person by a mother to her son, while verses 10-31 represent a different genre, something like a “heroic hymn.” Finally, the acrostic form of verses 10-31 clearly sets that text off as a separate unit altogether.⁵⁶³