31 The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him:
2 What are you doing, my son?1 What are you doing, son of my womb?
What are you doing, son of my vows?
3 Do not give your strength to women,
your ways to those who destroy kings.
4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
it is not for kings to drink wine,
or for rulers to take strong drink,
5 lest they drink and forget what has been decreed
and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to the one who is perishing,
and wine to those in bitter distress;2
7 let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.
8 Open your mouth for the mute,
for the rights of all who are destitute.3
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.
10 4 An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
14 She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
15 She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She dresses herself5 with strength
and makes her arms strong.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
19 She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
20 She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.6
22 She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
25 Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
Section Overview
We come finally to what is probably the best-known chapter in Proverbs. Two common errors usually attend the study of this chapter. First, most books, studies, articles, and sermons about chapter 31 focus only on the poem of the valiant woman in verses 10–31. Yet the first nine verses are an integral part of the ending—one passage by a woman and one about a woman. Second, the emphasis on women in the chapter has led many to believe, incorrectly, that this chapter is only, or mostly, for women (wives in particular). As we will see, it would have been better all along if more men had been in those “excellent wife” Bible studies.
Both sections of the chapter address all readers, allusively bringing us back to the opening nine chapters, dominated by speeches from the parents (i.e., mothers and fathers) and the interludes featuring Woman Wisdom. Thus as the royal mother warns her kingly son in verses 1–9, we are reminded of the nine sets of instructions from the parents to the son in chapters 1–9. Meanwhile, in the poem for the valiant woman in 31:10–31, which features her wise conduct of life within the full breadth of creation, we hear echoes of Woman Wisdom in the same opening nine chapters. In other words much of what we read in chapters 1–9 has been encapsulated into this final chapter in a form that will stay with us long after we read or hear it.
Section Outline
VII. King Lemuel and the Valiant Woman (31:1–31)
A. Advice from King Lemuel’s Mother (31:1–9)
B. Song for the Valiant Woman (31:10–31)
1. Opening Hymn: Wisdom’s Benefits (31:10–12)
2. Wisdom’s Works (31:13–18)
3. Her Busy Hands (31:19–20)
4. Wisdom’s Industry, Courage, and Teaching (31:21–25)
5. Her Works and Her Wise Ways (31:26–27)
6. Closing Hymn: Praise for Life Lived Not Looks (31:28–31)
Response
Wisdom and Wine
Lemuel’s mother possesses a sophisticated skill of discernment that is easy to overlook (Prov. 31:4–7). Fermented beverages, she warns, have a way of distorting judgment, which leads to a lack of compassion and ends in unjust rule and disheveled kingdoms. So he must eliminate those temptations at the start, before they do him—and his kingdom—in.
But then, rather than dismissing alcohol wholesale, Lemuel’s mother turns to a positive application of wine and strong drink. Used appropriately, alcohol provides relief to those who suffer. Theologically speaking, we could say that she is able to observe the goods of God’s created world and discern the proper time and the place for their use. The same wisdom applies to knowing when to speak and remain silent in the presence of fools (26:4–5). Few of us are very good at making these kinds of judgments from moment to moment, largely because we are not patient or attentive students of ourselves, other people, or nature.
This opening volley of warnings sets up the finely tuned wisdom of the valiant woman. She, too, knows a good thing and the proper time and place for its use. Looking out at a piece of open land, she senses its undeveloped potential and, having carefully saved assets from disciplined labor, is able to buy the land and develop it into something more profitable. One exercise of wisdom is built upon another. While such practices seem easy to reproduce, the realities of most of our financial habits today betray a sad truth: we are overspent, underresourced, and overly optimistic about our own financial future.242
But what do we make of the woman’s decision to plant a vineyard, of all things? Why not crops to feed the poor or a garden for nature lovers? Or why not turn it into wilderness in order to preserve the undamaged state of nature? The most likely answer is that fermented drink is a symbol of life, joy, and fertility (Pss. 23:5; 104:15; Prov. 9:5; Eccles. 10:19; John 2:1–11).243 Wine, as seen in Jesus’ miracle at Cana, is a miraculous drink and a sign of God’s making the creation out of nothing (John 2:1–11).244 Grapes are picked, pressed, and fermented into sunshine. Frederick Buechner explains why wine is the perfect symbol of the gospel: it is “booze, which means it is dangerous and drunk-making. It makes the timid brave and the reserved amorous. It loosens the tongue and breaks the ice especially when served in a loving cup. It kills germs. As symbols go, it is a rather splendid one.”245 Could any of us ever wonder again why Jesus chose this drink to commemorate his death: “Do this in memory of me”? And so we can, with Lemuel’s mother and the valiant woman, embrace this most beautiful gift of God’s creation.
But we must use it with the wisdom of time and place exhibited by these two women in Proverbs 31. There are times to forgo the drink, temptations that must be avoided, and consciences that must be respected (cf. Rom. 14:13; Eph. 5:18). Perhaps this is part of the reason that bread and wine stand as symbols of the story of the world. Work, food, and drink are gifts to be received with thanksgiving. But each gift is also an avenue to the covetousness, abuse, sin, and rebellion that have plunged the human race into ruin. It should not be overlooked that in the Lord’s Supper a new bread and a new wine adorn the path to redemption from our transgression.
What Is Good?
Wine, of course, reminds us of the woman’s ability to know when something is truly good. She “considers a field and buys it,” as the proverb goes. But she invests her money only after she has carefully judged the quality of soil, sun, and available water.
But how do we measure the value or quality of our work or investments? Is it via durability, beauty, functionality, or effort? Some combination of these? Or purely subjective? This question is especially pressing for Christians, who recognize that life in eternity offers an inheritance that greatly surpasses the imagination. How could goods in this world ever have value in light of the goods of that one?
If this sounds like an academic or tedious question, it is not. Each of us has to judge what work we should pursue in life, as well the reasons for doing so—in what do we invest the limited waking hours of our day? And is it worth the effort if this world is only going to perish?
Our works and goods in this fallen world are valuable inasmuch as they bear testimony to Jesus’ work of redemption. His death and resurrection begin a new creation out of this world. And so our work in this world can be an eager and confident act of love and witness that God has not abandoned us or the work of his own hands.
In more practical terms, we can measure the quality and value of work not by commercial standards—at least not primarily—but by the “communicative” value of our work.246 To what degree does our work bear fruit, restoration, and possibility in the lives of others? How does our work bring relief to others, gifts to others, and opportunity for others themselves to work and produce goods? How does our work celebrate and honor others? The OT law orients God’s people to do work that leaves behind goods for others, enables those in debt to start again, and allows every creature to rest from work.
When we share our works or vocations in this way, we share in our experience of God himself and the ways he has gifted us to live together. We embody the gospel of love, forgiveness, faith, and hope. Yes, a bottle of wine, a fine piece of cloth, a published book, a law brief, a new garden, a class, a song, and a new policy can be “good” in a very basic sense of being wise, beautiful, creative, and resourceful. But the quality we should truly value and strive for must be the degree to which that work becomes communicative, sharing in the life and well-being of others. That is indeed what we find in the valiant woman’s life. The best goods of creation—food, wine, textiles, teaching, land—become good in their potential to nurture individual humanity and the strength of the community.
Vocation as Communication
And finally it must be emphasized that this is not a poem about a woman, or for women—surely we have stopped too soon if that is all we have seen. As noted before, the woman is in far too many ways like Woman Wisdom in the first nine chapters for this poem to be taken on its own. Christine Roy Yoder illustrates the parallels this way:
Both women are hard to find and are more precious than jewels. Both have a house and a staff of young women. Both provide food, prosperity and security. Both are known at the city gates and bestow honor on their companions. Both are physically strong and loath wickedness. Both extend their hands to the needy. They laugh. And both teach; their identities and instructions are associated with “fear of YHWH.” . . . “This is what life looks like for those who accept wisdom’s invitation to dwell in her household (9:1–6).”247
The valiant woman is what men were meant to imagine for themselves, made attractive by the appeal of feminine strength and beauty.
If Woman Wisdom in those early chapters were unquestionably designed to appeal to men as a model for their own lives and agency in this world, how could we ever think that this woman’s actions—so many of them in spheres with, or dominated by, men—would not be meant to appeal to men? Men are right to bow before the model of women in both poems and, against their oft-distorted nature, recognize that women can often outdo them at work in industry, agriculture, and wisdom.
And if this is true for marriageable men, then it only makes sense to conclude that this woman is a model for every man and woman, young and old, married and single! And this is especially important to recognize in our day—recent figures suggest that half of American adults are single and almost one third live alone.248
We are in great need of aligning our ideas of work and calling with the social and economic realities around us and with God’s wise vision for us in our work. Many Christians will live outside of the love, unity, and help of the immediate family. Thus, as we translate Proverbs 31 into our world, we must think about how the strength of the family at that time can be constructed and embodied today among scattered families and individuals. And that means that everyone must seek to learn from the patient, studied, and hopeful work of the valiant woman.
This communicative aspect of vocation could not be more important as singleness and loneliness only increase (if the socio-economic predictions hold). How do we nurture our communities with fewer of us in families? The valiant woman, I think, would lead us to invest in the single people, both young and old. And single people can invest in families and single parents cut off from larger family units.
Of course, this prompts the memory of Jesus, welcoming children and orphans and often sharing meals with disciples and sinners. It is almost as if he were anticipating the great diversity of life in the community. And by his grand work of uniting all things in himself and celebrating and renewing that unity and wholeness of the whole world with a meal of bread and wine, we find a pattern to carry out (t)his work until he comes again.Proverbs 31