Lemuel ( ''Ləmū’ēl'', "to him, El") is the name of a biblical king mentioned in

Proverbs 31 Proverbs 31 is the 31st and final chapter of the Book of Proverbs in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Verses 1 to 9 present the advice which King Lemuel's mother gave to him, about how a just king should reign. The r ...

:1 and 4, but whose identity remains uncertain. Speculation exists and proposes that Lemuel might have been king of Massa, while some identified him with

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...

or Solomon.

Name

The name is related to Lael found in Numbers 3:24 meaning a man consecrated "to God". In

etymological Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words a ...

form the name Lemuel is kindred with Jamuel (Genesis 46:10) and Namuel (1 Chronicles 4:24).

Biblical passage

The opening verse of

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 Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains either from sexual activity considered immoral or any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for example when ma ...

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

mercy Mercy (Middle English, from Anglo-French ''merci'', from Medieval Latin ''merced-'', ''merces'', from Latin, "price paid, wages", from ''merc-'', ''merxi'' "merchandise") is benevolence, forgiveness, and kindness in a variety of ethical, relig ...

and

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

, 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 this. 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 The ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', better known as ''Easton's Bible Dictionary'', is a reference work on topics related to the Christian Bible, compiled by Matthew George Easton. The first edition was published in 1893, and a revised editi ...

, Hitchcock's Bible Names,

Smith's Bible Dictionary ''Smith's Bible Dictionary'', originally named ''A Dictionary of the Bible'', is a 19th-century Bible dictionary containing upwards of four thousand entries that became named after its editor, William Smith. Its popularity was such that condense ...

and

Nave's Topical Bible Nave's Topical Bible is a book written by Orville James Nave (1841–1917) and published by Thomas Nelson Publishers. Nave was a chaplain in the United States Army and referred to his work as "the result of fourteen years of delight and untiri ...

Rashi Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...

identifies the portmanteau as meaning "to him, G-d" more literally, as in "

he king He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

to whom G-d

poke Poke may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Poke (''Ender's Game''), a fictional character * Poke (game), a two-player card game * Poke, a fictional bar owner in the television series '' Treme'' * The Poke, a British satirical website Fo ...

" 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 Wisdom literature is a genre of literature common in the ancient Near East. It consists of statements by sages and the wise that offer teachings about divinity and virtue. Although this genre uses techniques of traditional oral storytelling, it w ...

of the ancient world. Solomon had numerous wives and

concubines Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubi ...

. 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

:10–28 describe the virtuous (noble) woman. Some modern scholars understand "מַ֝שָּׂ֗א" (''masa'' or ''massa''), as a

proper noun A proper noun is a noun that identifies a single entity and is used to refer to that entity (''Africa'', ''Jupiter'', '' Sarah'', ''Microsoft)'' as distinguished from a common noun, which is a noun that refers to a class of entities (''continent, ...

and not a word meaning "vision", and render the first passage thus: "The words of Lemuel, King of Masa (

Assyria Assyria ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the ...

)".

New Testament

The

Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonica ...

notes a parallel between verse 6, ''Give strong drink to him who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitter of heart'', with the wine mixed with gall offered to Jesus on the

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

in .Jerusalem Bible (1966), marginal references at Proverbs 31:6 and Matthew 27:34

References

Attribution

{{Catholic, wstitle=Lemuel Monarchs of the Hebrew Bible Ancient Middle Eastern wisdom literature Book of Proverbs Solomon Ancient Arabs