page_title: Lemuel (biblical king)
hierarchical_section_title: Lemuel (biblical king)
caption_attribution_description: Afrikaans: Lemuel en sy moeder (Spreuke 31) Spreek met die koning van die las wat sy moeder verwyder het. – Die boek Spreuke, Hoofstuk 31, Vers 1 "Lemuel en sy moeder" – 'n skildery deur Ephraim Moshe Lilien English: Lemuel and his mother (Proverbs 31).Speak to the king of the burden that his mother has removed.– The Book of Proverbs, Chapter 31, Verse 1"Lemuel and his mother" – a painting by Ephraim Moshe Lilien Deutsch: König Lemuel und seine Mutter (Die Sprüchen Salomos 31). Sprich mit dem König von der Last, die seine Mutter entfernt hat. – Das Buch der Sprüche, Kapitel 31, Vers 1 "Lemuel und seine Mutter" – ein Gemälde von Ephraim Moshe Lilien עברית: דִּבְרֵי לְמוּאֵל מֶלֶךְ מַשָּׂא אֲ‍שֶׁר יִסְּרַתּוּ אִמּוֹ. – ספר משלי, פרק ל"א, פסוק א' למואל ואמו, ציור מעשה ידי אפרים משה ליליין
context_page_description: Lemuel is the name of a Biblical king mentioned in Proverbs 31:1 and 4, but whose identity remains uncertain. Speculation exists and proposes that Lemuel was Hezekiah, Solomon, a king of Massa, or fictitious.
  The opening verse of Proverbs 31 reads: "The words of Lemuel, king; a vision with which his mother diverted him." The name occurs again in verse 4: "It is not for kings, Lemuel, not for kings to drink wine…" The discourse, which is an exhortation to chastity, justice, mercy and temperance, appears to end with verse 9, but might continue through the end of the book. Nothing else is found in scriptures concerning Lemuel aside from these two mentions in beginning of Proverbs 31. Jewish legend identifies him as Solomon, taking this advice from his mother Bathsheba; but there is no clear evidence for that.
  The widely used Strong's concordance, a reference work that assigns a unique reference number to every Biblical Hebrew word and its English translation, states that Lemuel is Hebrew word 3927, related to words 3926 and 410 and means " to God; Lemuel or Lemoel, a symbolic name of Solomon: -Lemuel."
context_section_description: Lemuel (Hebrew: לְמוּאֵל‎ Ləmû’ēl, "to him, El") is the name of a Biblical king mentioned in Proverbs 31:1 and 4, but whose identity remains uncertain. Speculation exists and proposes that Lemuel was Hezekiah, Solomon, a king of Massa, or fictitious.
  The opening verse of Proverbs 31 reads: "The words of Lemuel, king; a vision with which his mother diverted him." The name occurs again in verse 4: "It is not for kings, Lemuel, not for kings to drink wine…" The discourse, which is an exhortation to chastity, justice, mercy and temperance, appears to end with verse 9, but might continue through the end of the book. Nothing else is found in scriptures concerning Lemuel aside from these two mentions in beginning of Proverbs 31. Jewish legend identifies him as Solomon, taking this advice from his mother Bathsheba; but there is no clear evidence for that. 
  The widely used Strong's concordance, a reference work that assigns a unique reference number to every Biblical Hebrew word and its English translation, states that Lemuel is Hebrew word 3927, related to words 3926 and 410 and means "(belonging) to God; Lemuel or Lemoel, a symbolic name of Solomon: -Lemuel."    Other Bible commentators concur with Strong's: Easton's Bible Dictionary, Hitchcock's Bible Names, Smith's Bible Dictionary and Nave's Topical Bible. Rashi identifies the portmanteau as meaning "to him, G-d" more literally, as in "[the king] to whom G-d [spoke]."  
  The passage seems to be the one direct address to a king in the Book of Proverbs – something that was the norm in wisdom literature of the ancient world.
  Solomon had numerous wives and concubines. Solomon's mother was Bathsheba, which may mean she is the author of the "inspired utterance" of this section of Proverbs. Many commentators typically divide Chapter 31 of Proverbs into two distinct, unrelated sections. Verses 1–9 are directly directed to King Lemuel while Proverbs 31:10–28 describe the virtuous (noble) woman.
  Some modern scholars understand "מַ֝שָּׂ֗א," "masa," as a proper noun and not a word meaning "vision," and (see Revised Version, Prov. 31:1, margin) render the first passage thus: "The words of Lemuel, King of Masa (Assyria)…"
caption: Lemuel and his mother
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