Proverbs 31 Commentary
The Book of Proverbs sits in between a prolog in chapter 1 and an epilogue in the last chapter. In between are numerous teachings targeted at just about every occupation: farmers, neighbors, friends, relatives, fathers, mothers, businessmen, leaders, and ordinary members of the community.
Chapter 1 introduces us to Solomon as the source of the material in the volume. The Book, therefore, is sharing with us the wisdom that the LORD gave Solomon upon asking.
So what is this wisdom? The teachings? Probably yes. But there is more behind the gold wrappings. That’s the subject of Proverbs 31.
The story of the wife of noble character concludes and also summarizes the Book of proverbs. The saint becomes the wife of noble character when he or she embraces Wisdom. The groom is the LORD Jesus Christ – the title that the LORD rightly assumes in the Book of Revelations. Or the household of faith is the bride that the Groom is pleased with.
The woman in this story is an impossibly perfect piece of creation. She plans and executes her plans. She is a businesswoman. She is a family woman. Her children are proud of her. She doesn’t eat the bread of idleness. She invests. But her husband is pictured seated among the elders at the city gate. The thought of the 24 elders around the Lamb of God comes to mind.
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Verse 30. The rest is foolishness, variously described as wickedness or stupidity, laziness, or greediness. That is what we are when we fail the godliness test – the wisdom test.
Charm may represent human intelligence and the means employed in the search for completeness. Beauty may represent worldly pleasures – the wrong fruit that looked great and tasty back in the Book of Genesis. They all mean nothing and amount to nothing despite having an appearance of value.
The chapter also contains a warning against drunkenness which may possibly blind an individual. See vanity for what it is. See the emptiness of wickedness and seek Wisdom. It is a call to open the door of your heart to the one who is knocking: the LORD Jesus Christ – the Wisdom of God.
The Book of Proverbs ends here. Coming up next is yet another volume of teachings of Wisdom but packaged quite differently. Thank you for loving God’s word!
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