Proverbs 31 · a question people ask

Who was King Lemuel? Was he Solomon?

In the text

The chapter names him twice: "The words of King Lemuel—the revelation which his mother taught him" (31:1), and "It is not for kings, Lemuel" (31:4). The name isn't anywhere else in the WEB. The book doesn't say who he was, where he was king, or when, and it doesn't name his mother. Solomon is named in the book's headings at 1:1, 10:1 and 25:1, and not in chapter 31. These notes add nothing to what the chapter says. The chapter also doesn't say where the mother's words end. The WEB's quotation marks close at 31:9, and the poem of 31:10-31 has no heading of its own; the introduction to Proverbs says the book doesn't settle whether the poem is still her teaching, and these notes don't either.

The verses

“The words of King Lemuel—the revelation which his mother taught him:”
Proverbs 31:1 · World English Bible
“It is not for kings, Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes to say, ‘Where is strong drink?’”
Proverbs 31:4 · World English Bible
“The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel:”
Proverbs 1:1 · World English Bible
“The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.”
Proverbs 10:1 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Proverbs 31

Proverbs 31: A worthy woman

The mother warns her son, "Don’t give your strength to women" (31:3), and in Hebrew that strength is the worthy of the poem's first line: "Who can find a worthy woman?" (31:10). And the book whose first chapter says "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge" (1:7) praises, near its last verse, "a woman who fears the LORD" (31:30).

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Last reviewed September 28, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions