Proverbs 30-31

Proverbs 30

Proverbs 30:4 asks several questions that refer to other passages.

• It asks about going up to heaven, presumably seeing the wonders therein, then descending to earth to tell of it. See Job 38:33.
• It goes on to ask about gathering up the wind and wrapping up the waters. See Job 38:8-11.
• Establishing the ends of the earth? Job 38:4
• What is His name and His Son’s name?

• YHWH - the uncreated, eternal God who simply is that He is, the immovable first mover. (Exodus 3:13-14)
• Yeshua HaMashiach - the Savior and anointed one. (Matthew 1:21, Luke 1:31)

Proverbs 30:8 was echoed in Matthew 6:11 when Jesus taught His listeners to pray for daily bread. A reference back to manna in the wilderness that daily fed the Israelites for forty years. A balance between abundance that tempts us to forget God (a modern risk), and poverty and asceticism that cause us to think we earn God’s favor by physical starvation and suffering. God is with us in both circumstances, but the request is simply to trust in God and receive what He provides as sufficient.

Proverbs 30:12 was paraphrased by Jesus when He pronounced woe on the Pharisees as being like whitened sepulchers full of dead men’s bones. (Matthew 23:27)  There is a temptation to think that position with a religious organization, or theological prowess in all the details free us from the need to walk daily in God’s grace and practice purity of heart. As long as we exist, in this life or the next, we need to hear His voice, learn to recognize His hand at work, and obey Him.

Proverbs 30:14 was also repeated by Jesus as a warning to the crowd about teachers of the law who devour widow’s houses.  (Mark 12:40) 

Proverbs 30:15-16, 18-19, 21-23, and 29-31 all have a three-four poetic construction. How does this emphasize and call attention to the difference in quality of the fourth item?

Proverbs 30:15-16 Jesus talked about the fire of hell that is never quenched, which is worse than all earthly trials and woes. (Mark 9:44-48)

Proverbs 30:18-19 Animals in the wild and ships at sea are amazing, but none is as subtle and rewarding as the relationship of Christ and the church, as Jesus woos His people to draw closer to Him.  (Ephesians 5:22-24

Proverbs 30:20 repeats the unflattering description of an adulterous woman who has no sense of right and wrong. (3:5-8)

Proverbs 30:21-23 Most likely, the emphasis of the fourth element is based on the story of Hagar (Genesis 16:4), and the family dynamics that ensued. This was far from the only case for a practice that was likely common in the times of Solomon, who had 700 wives (2 Kings 11:3). The Bible is honest about the impact of polygamy on people’s lives.

Proverbs 30:24-28 Different types of small creatures exhibiting unexpected life skills should tell us something. Storing up food for winter. Making themselves homes in barren rocks. Organizing themselves without a designated leader. Ubiquity in places they are not welcomed.  What does the uncontrollable ubiquity of vermin indicate? What do vermin symbolize? Temptations? Sin? Angels & demons? When we are part of God’s kingdom, we still have to deal with a proliferation of small stuff.

Proverbs 3:29-31 Animals can strut but they are only animals. Their pride may be presumptuous or may be an act. A king with his army behind him is stately, reflecting the support he has to protect his people from attackers. Even more so, the King of kings with His church. 

Proverbs 31

Proverbs 31:3 The end of Solomon’s reign, and the splintering of Rehoboam’s kingdom may be what Lemuel had in mind about spending manly vigor on women who ruin men. (1 Kings 11:1-9) It also stands in sharp contrast to the wife of noble character. (31:10)

Proverbs 31:6 Wine ultimately represents the blood of Christ in the Lord’s supper. (1 Corinthians 11:25-27) 

Proverbs 31:8-9 Rulers of all types (not just kings) should speak up for and defend the rights of the destitute and needy.

Proverbs 31:10-31 In an extended metaphor for the church, the bride of Christ, the wife of the lamb, Solomon gives many examples of the ministries of the church in the world we live in. In this passage he does not allude to issues covered in 1 Corinthians 7 or Ephesians 5.

Proverbs 31:10 To be noble at home is a higher value than worldly wealth. Revelation 21:9-11 shows the wife of the lamb shining with glory, like a precious jewel.

Proverbs 31:11 Paul writes that he wants to present his readers as a pure virgin to Christ, as a husband. (2 Corinthians 11:2) 

Proverbs 31:17 Her arms are strong for the task because the Father strengthens her through the Holy Spirit in her inner being. (Ephesians 3:16-17)

Proverbs 31:19 & 24 The church clothes herself and her family with righteousness and royalty and it overflows. (See below, 31:21-23)

Proverbs 31:20 Paul gave instructions for adding widows to the charity list, that including that she had earlier assisted those in distress. (1 Timothy 5:9-10)

Proverbs 30:21 The church clothes her members with the blood of the Lamb.  (Revelation 7:14)

Proverbs 31:22-23 The church is clothed in the glory of God, and has gates and foundation stones reflecting the sons of Jacob and the apostles. (Revelation 21:9-14)

Proverbs 31:26 The church speaks with wisdom, some of which is found in this book. (Proverbs 8)

Proverbs 31:27 Paul gave instructions that if anyone did not work, they were not to be fed. (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

Proverbs 31:31 Once again, the gates of the New Jerusalem are mentioned (Revelation 21:12 & 21).

The bottom line on Solomon’s praise of the virtuous wife should not overlook that he was primarily writing to his own contemporaries on her incredible value. The wife who is faithful to her husband, and works diligently to operate her household taking care of feeding and clothing them and maintaining the property, who has an excess of fruit so that it can be sold at a profit, such a woman is a far better wife than one who may be attractive and sexy but lacks these traits.  Young men would do well to keep this in mind when they consider marriage.