Proverbs 31:4

It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
kings	לַֽמְלָכִ֨ים lam.la.Khim	H4428	a king · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Lemuel	לְֽמוֹאֵ֗ל le.mo.'El	H3927	Lemuel or Lemoel · proper noun, a man's name
kings	לַֽמְלָכִ֣ים lam.la.Khim	H4428	a king · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
drink	שְׁתוֹ she.tov-	H8354	to imbibe (literally or figuratively) · verb, qal infinitive construct
wine	יָ֑יִן Ya.yin	H3196	wine (as fermented) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
for	אֵ֣י 'ov	H335	where? hence how? · interrogative particle
princes	וּ֝לְרוֹזְנִ֗ים u.le.roz.Nim	H7336	probably to be heavy · conjunction + preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
drink	שֵׁכָֽר she.Khar	H7941	an intoxicant · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
Ecclesiastes 10:17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Isaiah 5:22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
Hosea 4:11-12 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart.
1 Kings 20:16-20 And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped…
Habakkuk 2:5 Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, a…
Leviticus 10:9-10 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall…
Esther 3:15 The posts went out, being hastened by the king’s commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat dow…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 31:1-9

Most interpreters are of opinion that Lemuel is Solomon; the name signifies one that is for God, or devoted to God; and so it agrees well enough with that honourable name which, by divine appointment, was given to Solomon (Sa2 12:25), Jedediah - beloved of the Lord. Lemuel is supposed to be a pretty, fond, endearing name, by which his mother used to call him; and so much did he value himself upon the interest he had in his mother's affections that he was not ashamed to call himself by it. One would the rather incline to think it is Solomon that here tells us what his mother taught him because he tells us (Pro 4:4) what his father taught him. But some think (and the conjecture is not improbab…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 31:4

Stimulants enfeeble reason, pervert the heart, and do not suit rulers, who need clear and steady minds, and well-governed affections (compare Pro 20:1; Pro 22:29). pervert . . . afflicted--They give unrighteous decisions against the poor.

John Gill on Proverbs 31:4

It is not for kings, O Lemuel,.... It is not fit for them, it is very unbecoming them; it is dishonourable to them, to such as Lemuel was, or was likely to be; or far be it from kings, let no such thing be do ne by them, nor by thee; it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink; it is lawful for kings to drink wine in a moderate manner, and for princes, counsellors, and judges, to drink strong drink; meaning not such as is made of malt, which in those times was not used; but of honey, dates, pomegranates, and such like things; but then it was very unbecoming for either of them to drink any of these to excess; it is very disgraceful to any man to drink immoderately, to mak…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 31:4-5

Hence there now follows a warning against drunkenness, not unmediated by the reading למחות: 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, Not for kings to drink wine, Not for rulers to ask for intoxicating drink; 5 Lest he drink, and forget what is prescribed, And pervert the right of all the children of want. The usual translation of 4a is: non decet reges... (as e.g., also Mhlau); but in this אל is not rightly rendered, which indeed is at times only an οὐ, spoken with close interest, but yet first of all, especially in such paraenetic connection as here, it is a dissuasive μή. But now לא למלכים שׁתות or לא למלכים לשׁתּות, after Ch2 26:18; Mic 3:1, signifies: it is not the part of kings, it does not b…

The Church Fathers

We read in another place: "And wine gladdens the heart of man." We read also in the Song of Songs: "Come, brothers, drink and be inebriated." And wine which gladdens the heart of man. This fleshly wine does not gladden the heart of man, but overwhelms it, and makes it mad. Indeed, it is written that those who are powerful should not drink wine. The apostle too writes that we ought not to drink wine and eat flesh. Again it is said to us: And wine gladdens the heart of man. But it speaks of a spiritual wine, which, if anyone drinks it, he is immediately inebriated. All of you, that you might let go of your possessions and your parents and your children and your kinfolk, drank wine, and being inebriated for Christ began to be mad.
— Jerome, HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 42 (PSALM 127)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Lemuel — Dedicated to God, a king whom his mother instructed (Prov. 31:1-9). Nothing is certainly known concerning him. The rabbis identified him with Solomon.
Abstinence, Total · 13:4,13,14; — 13:4,13,14;
Drunkenness · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Injustice · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
King · Precepts concerning — Precepts concerning
Kings · Specially warned against: Intemperance — Specially warned against: Intemperance
Lemuel · Probably refers to — Probably refers to
Rulers · CHARACTER AND QUALIFI — CHARACTER AND QUALIFI
Wine · Forbid — Forbid

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 31:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 31:1-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 31:4

John Gill on Proverbs 31:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 31:4-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 31:4

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 31:1-9

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 31:4

John Gill on Proverbs 31:4

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 31:4-5

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 31:4-7

Rashi on Proverbs 31:4