Lemuel

Biblical Record

Lemuel is named only in Proverbs 31:1 and 31:4. Proverbs 31:1 introduces the words that follow as "the words of king Lemuel," the counsel with which his mother instructed him (KJV: "the prophecy that his mother taught him"). The Hebrew name is usually interpreted to mean "belonging to God" or "for God."

His mother's instruction appears in Proverbs 31:2–9. Calling Lemuel "the son of my vows" (31:2), she urges three things:

• That he not devote his strength to what destroys kings (31:3).
• That kings keep away from wine and strong drink (31:4–5), "lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted." By contrast, she says strong drink should be given "unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts" (31:6–7).
• That he open his mouth for the mute and the desolate, and "judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy" (31:8–9).

The Bible contains no other record of his life or reign.

Significance in the Bible

The words of Lemuel form the final section of Proverbs, a book of wisdom literature. Together with the words of Agur in Proverbs 30, they are appended as wisdom from figures other than Solomon. Although addressed to a king, the instruction emphasizes justice for the vulnerable, linking it to the broader Old Testament concern for justice. It is also a rare instance in Scripture of wisdom teaching transmitted by a mother. The New Testament does not mention Lemuel.

Interpretation and Debated Questions

• Which nation did he rule? Some interpreters take the Hebrew word in 31:1 rendered "proverbs" or "prophecy" (massa) as a place name, reading "Lemuel, king of Massa." On this view, he is sometimes regarded as a king outside Israel, linked to a tribe descended from Massa, the son of Ishmael (Genesis 25:14). The New Korean Revised Version renders the word as "proverbs."
• Is he the same person as Solomon? In Jewish rabbinic tradition, Lemuel is sometimes interpreted as another name for Solomon, and his mother as Bathsheba. The text itself, however, offers no basis for this identification, and many commentators regard him as a separate figure.
• Relationship to the virtuous woman: Interpreters differ on whether the poem of the "virtuous woman" in Proverbs 31:10–31 continues the instruction of Lemuel's mother or forms a separate section. Because each verse of this passage begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, many regard it as a distinct unit.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, Proverbs 31 receives more attention than Lemuel himself. Lemuel's mother is sometimes cited as an example in sermons on mothers' role in passing on the faith, and her instruction is also read together with the passage on the virtuous woman in the latter half of the chapter. Proverbs 31:4–5 is also cited as a supporting text in church discussions of alcohol and tobacco. Churches and interpreters differ on whether this passage should be read as counsel addressed only to leaders or extended as a principle of temperance for all believers. The passage in which Lemuel's mother calls him "the son of my vows" is also used in sermons on vows and child-rearing.