Proverbs 31

THe words of king Lemuel i. e. Of Solomon, by the general consent both of Jewish and Christian Writers; to whom this name does very fitly agree, for it signifies one of, or from God, or belonging to God, and such an one was Solomon eminently, being given by God to David and Bathsheba, as a pledge of his Reconciliation to them after their Repentance, of whom it is expresly said, that the Lord loved him, 2 Sam. 12. 24. and who was by God himself appointed to succeed David in the Kingdom. Possibly his Mother gave this name to mind him of his great obligations to God, and of the justice and necessity of his devoting himself unto Gods Service and Glory., the prophecy So called, either 1. More specially, because she did either by natural sagacity, or by divine inspiration foresee Solomon's danger, and what sins he was most likely to be either inclined or tempted to commit, and therefore thought fit to give him these precautions. Or 2. More generally, as all godly discourses or Counsels are called Prophecies, of which see on Prov. 30. 1. and elsewhere. that his mother Bathsheba, who having truly repented of her Adultery did not only avoid it in her self for the future, but seriously endeavoured to prevent that and such like sins in others, and especially in Solomon, whom the remembrance of her sin might possibly provoke to an imitation of her example. But when she gave him these Instructions, is but matter of conjecture. Probably it was, either 1. When she first discerned his inclinations to those sins of which she here warns him, to which she saw he was like to have many and strong Provocations. Or 2. After he was made King, and had more plainly discovered his proneness to these excesses, although he had not yet broken forth into those scandalous enormities into which he afterwards fell. taught him.

What A short speech, arguing her great passion for him; What dost thou do? or, What words shall I take? What Counsels shall I give thee? My heart is full, I must give it vent: but where shall I begin?, my son! and what, the son of my womb My Son, not by Adoption, but whom I bare in my Womb, and brought... orth with great pain, and brought up with tender care; and therefore it is my duty to give thee Admonitions, and thine to receive them; and what I speak is from sincere and servent affection to thee, which I trust thou wilt not despise.! and what the son of my vows On whose behalf I have made many Prayers, and Sacrifices, and solemn Vows to God; whom I have, as far as in me lay, devoted to the Work, and Service, and Glory of God.!

Give not thy strength The vigour of thy Mind and Body, which is greatly impaired by inordinate Lusts, as all Physicians agree, and frequent experience shows. unto women, nor thy ways Thy Conversation or course of Life. to that which destroyeth kings The same thing repeated in other words, as is very usual in these Books: To the immoderate Love of Women, which is most destructive to Kings and Kingdoms, as was well known to Solomon by the example of his father David, and by many other sad instances left upon record in all Histories..

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine To wit, to Drunkenness or excess, as the next verse explains it., nor for princes strong drink.

Lest they drink and forget the law The Laws of God, by which they are to govern themselves and their Kingdoms., and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted Which may easily be done by a drunken Judge, because Drunkenness deprives a man of the use of Reason, by which alone men can distinguish between right and wrong, and withal stirs up those passions which encline him both to precipitation and partiality..

Give strong drink unto him Which is to be understood comparatively, to him rather than to Kings, partly because he needs a liberal draught of it, more than Kings do; and principally because if it proceed to excess, in him it is only a private inconvenience, but in Kings it is a publick mischief and grievance. that is ready to perish Sorely afflicted and overwhelmed with sorrow, as it is explained in the following words; for such need a cordial., and wine to th... se that be of heavy hearts.

Let him drink, and forget his poverty For Wine moderately used, allayeth mens Cares and Fears, and cheareth their Spirits, Psal. 104. 15., and remember his misery no more.

Open thy mouth Speak freely and impartially, as becomes a King and Judg to do. for the dumb For such as cannot speak in their own Cause, either through Ignorance and Infirmity: or because of the dread of their more potent Adversaries, or of the Majesty of the King sitting in judgment. in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction Who without such succour from the Judge, are like to be utterly ruined, whom therefore both Justice and Charity oblige thee to preserve..

Open thy mouth, judg righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

Who can find a virtuous woman Whom he may take to Wife. Such a person is hardly to be found. Compare Eccles. 7. 28. And here he lays down several Characters or Qualifications of an excellent Wife, which are here delivered in Alphabetical order, each verse beginning with a several and the succeeding Letter of the Hebrew Alphabet: which method is used in some, and but in a few places of Scripture, to oblige us to the more diligent consideation and careful remembrance of them, as things of more than ordinary importance. And such this matter is, partly because the good or bad Education even of private Families, which depends much upon the Mothers qualifications, has a mighty influence upon the welfare or misery of Common-wealths; and partly because the right Education of Royal Families is in itself a very publick Blessing, and therefore it is the interest and happiness of whole Kingdoms, that their Kings should have virtuous and pious Wives.? for her price is far above rubies.

The heart of her husband does safely trust in her For the prudent and faithful management of all his domestick affairs, which are committed to her care., so that he shall have no need of spoil The sense is either 1. He shall want no necessary Provisions for his family, which are somtimes called spoil, or prey, as below, v. 15. Psal. 111. 5. Luk. 11. 22. Or, 2. He shall not need to use indirect and unlawful courses to get Wealth, by cheating or oppressing his Subjects or others, as Princes have oft done to maintain the Luxury of their Wives, and as Solomon himself afterwards did, of which see on 1 King. 12. 4, 10, 11. because all shall be abundantly supplied to him by her Providence..

She will do him good and not evil She will improve and not waste his Estate. all the days of her life.

She seeketh wool, and flax That she may find employment for her servants, and not suffer them to spend all their time unprofitably in ease and idleness., and worketh willingly with her hands She encourageth them to work by her example; which was a common practice among Princesses in those first and purest ages of the world. Not that it is the duty of Kings & Queens to use manual or mechanical operations, but that it is the duty of all persons, the greatest not excepted, to improve all their Talents, and particularly their time, which is one of the noblest of them, one way or other to the service of that God to whom they must give an account, and to the good of that community to which they are related and obliged..

She is like the merchants ships, she bringeth her food from afar By the sale of her home-spun commodities she purchaseth the choicest goods which come from far Countries..

She riseth also while it is yet night Early in the morning, to redeem time., and giveth meat Distributeth all her necessary provisions. to her houshold, and a portion Either 1. Of Work, which she allots to them. Or rather 2. Of Provisions for them; for so this word is used, Gen. 47. 22. Lev. 10. 13, 14. Prov. 30. 8. and no where, to my remembrance, of an allotment of work. And so this clause agrees best with the former, expressing the same thing in other words, according to the manner. to her maidens.

She considereth Whether it be fit for her use, and of a reasonable price, and how she may purchase it. This excludes the rashness, as her proceeding to buy it excludes the inconstancy, which is oft incident to that sex. a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands With the effects of her diligence. she planteth a vineyard She improveth the Land to the best advantage..

She girdeth her loins with strength She useth great diligence and expedition in her employment; for which end men in those times use to gird up their long and loose garments about their loins., and strengtheneth her arms Putteth forth her utmost strength in her business..

She perceiveth that her merchandise is good She finds great comfort and good success in her labours.: her candle goeth not out by night Which is not to be taken strictly, but only signifies her unwearied Care and Industry, which is oft expressed by labouring day and night, or continually..

She layeth her hands to the spindle By her own example she provoketh her servants to labour. And although in these later and more delicate and luxurious times, such mean employments are grown out of fashion among great persons, yet they were not so in former ages, neither in other Countries, nor in this Land; whence all Women are to this day called in the language of our Law, Spinsters., and her hands hold the distaff.

She stretcheth out her hand to the poor To relieve their necessities. Her designs are generous and noble; for she labours not only to supply her own and her Houshold necessities, or to support her own state, much less to feed her Pride and Luxury, but that she may have wherewith to supply the wants of others who crave or need her assistance. Which also procures Gods blessing upon her Husband, and Children, and whole Family, to whom by this means she brings both Honour and advantage.; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

She is not afraid of the snow Or of any injuries of the weather. for her houshold: for all her houshold are cloathed with scarlet She has provided enough, not only for their necessity and defence against cold and other inconveniences, which is here supposed, but also for their delight and ornament; so that not only her self, and Husband, and Children, but some of the better rank of her servants wear scarlet, which was more cheap and familiar in those times and Countries than now it is with us. Or, as it is rendred in our margent, and by divers others, are cloathed with double garments, which is necessary and customary in cold seasons..

She maketh her self coverings of tapestry For the furniture of her house., her cloathing is silk and purple Which was very agreeable to her high quality; though it does not justifie that Luxury in attire which is now usual among persons of far lower ranks both for Wealth and Dignity..

Her husband is known Observed and respected, not only for his own worth, but for his Wife's sake, not only for those rich Ornaments which by her care and diligence she provides for him, which others of his Brethren, by reason of their Wives sloth or luxury, are not able to procure, but also for his Wisdom in choosing, and his Happiness in enjoying so excellent a Wife, by whose prudent care, in the management of his domestick concerns he has perfect freedom wholly to attend upon publick affairs. in the gates, when he sitteth among the Elders of the land. t In counsel or judgment.

She maketh fine linnen, and selleth it, and delivereth girdles Curiously wrought of Linnen, and Gold, or other precious materials, Ier. 13. 1. Dan. 10. 5. which in those parts were used both by Men, 2 Sam. 20. 8. and by Women, Isa. 3. 24. Cant. 7. 1. unto the merchants.

Strength Not strength of Body, which is no ornament of that sex, save only as she preserves her health and strength by Sobriety and Exercise, which other Women waste by Intemperance and Idleness, but strength of Mind, Magnanimity, Courage, Resolution, Activity. and honour Either 1. Her prudent, and pious, and amiable behaviour, in which true Honour principally consists. Or 2. That good Name and honourable Esteem which she has gained amongst all that know her by her virtuous disposition and carriage. are her cloathing These, and not her rich Garments mentioned before, are her great ornament and glory., and she shall rejoice in time to come The sense is, either 1. In her old Age she reaps the comfort and benefit of her youthful Labours. Or rather 2. She lives in constant tranquillity of mind, and a confident and chearful expectation of all future events, how calamitous soever; partly because she has laid in provisions for a rainy day, and chiefly, because she has the comfortable remembrance of a wellspent Life, and which follows thereupon, a just confidence in Gods gracious Providence and promises made to such persons..

She openeth her mouth with wisdom She is neither... ullenly silent, nor full of vain and impertinent talk, as many Women are, but speaks discreetly and piously, as occasion offereth itself., and in her tongue is the law of kindness Her Speeches are not froward and provoking, as those of foolish Women frequently are, but most obliging and amiable, as being guided by Wisdom and Grace, and not by inordinate Lusts and Passions. And this practice is called a law in her tongue, because it is constant and customary, and proceeds from an inward and powerful Principle of true Wisdom, which in a manner necessitates and constrains her to discourse like her self, so that in a moral sense she cannot speak otherwise, unless she offer violence to her self, or the nature of the thing require sharp and severe Expressions..

She looketh well to the ways of her houshold She diligently observeth the management and progress of her domestick business, and the whole carriage and conversation of her Children and Servants. Whereby also he intimates that she spends not her time in gadding abroad to other Houses, and idle Discourses about the concerns of other persons, as the manner of many Women is, but is wholly intent upon her own house and proper business., and eateth not the bread of idleness That which is got by idleness, or without labour..

Her children Whose testimony is the more considerable, because they have been constant eye-witnesses of her whole carriage, and therefore must have seen her misdemeanors, if there had been any, as well as her Virtues. arise up Either 1. In token of Reverence to her, which agrees not to the following clause, wherein the same Phrase is understood concerning her Husband. Or rather 2. That they may seriously and industriously apply themselves to the work of setting forth her praises, as this Phrase is used, Gen. 37. 25. Exod. 2. 17. and oft elsewhere. For sitting being commonly the posture of idleness, men that set about any work, are said to rise in order thereunto., and call her blessed Both for her own excellency, and for many happy fruits which they have gathered from her wise and godly education., her husband also, and he praiseth her In the following words..

Many daughters Daughters of Men, i. e. Women, so called also, Gen. 34. 1. Ezek. 30. 18. have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all He esteems it but just that his praises should bear proportion to her real and manifold perfections..

Favour Comeliness, or, as the next clause explains it Beauty, which commonly gives Women favour or acceptation with those who behold them. These are the words either 1. Of her Husband continuing to praise her. Or 2. Of Bathsheba, giving the summ of what she had said in few words. is deceitful Partly because it gives a false representation of the person, being oft times a cover to a most deformed soul, and to many evil and hateful qualities; partly because it does not give a man that content and satisfaction, which at first view he promised to himself from it; and partly because it is soon lost, not only by death, but by many Diseases and contingencies., and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD Which character is here mentioned either as the Crown of all her perfections. Or 2. As a key to understand the foregoing passage of that Wisdom, and Fidelity, and Diligence, which proceeded from, or is accompanied with the fear of God., she shall be praised.

Give her of the fruit of her hands It is but just and fit that she should enjoy those benefits and praises which her excellent labours deserve., and let her own works praise her Give her the praises which her own works may challenge. If men be silent, the lasting effects of her Prudence and diligence will loudly trumpet forth her praises. in the gates In the most publick and solemn assemblies..