Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 31:3
Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
3. that which] Or, with a slight change in the Heb., “them that”; thus preserving more exactly the parallelism with the first clause of the verse. Comp. Deu 17:17; 1Ki 11:1-8.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
To that which destroyeth – The temptations of the harem were then, as now, the curse of all Eastern kingdoms.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 3. Give not thy strength] Do not waste thy substance on women. In such intercourse the strength of body, soul and substance is destroyed. Such connections are those which destroy kings, melachin, the Chaldee termination instead of the Hebrew.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Thy strength; the rigour of thy mind and body, which is greatly impaired by inordinate lusts, as all physicians agree, and frequent experience showeth.
Thy ways; thy conversation or course of life.
To that which destroyeth kings; the same thing repeated in other words, as is very usual in these books; to the immoderate love of women, which is most destructive to kings and kingdoms, as was well known to Solomon by the example of his father David, and by many other sad instances left upon record in all histories.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
3-9. Succinct but solemnwarnings against vices to which kings are peculiarly tempted, ascarnal pleasures and oppressive and unrighteous government are usedto sustain sensual indulgence.
strengthmental andbodily resources for health and comfort.
thy waysor course oflife.
to that . . .kingsliterally, “to the destroying of kings,” avoiddestructive pleasures (compare Pro 5:9;Pro 7:22; Pro 7:27;Hos 4:11).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Give not thy strength unto women,…. Strength of body, which is weakened by an excessive use of venery b with a multiplicity of women; see, Pr 5:9; and strength of mind, reason, and wisdom, which is impaired by conversation with such persons; whereby time is consumed and lost, which should be spent in the improvement of knowledge: or “thy riches”, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions, thy substance, which harlots devour, and who bring a man to a piece of bread, as the prodigal was, Pr 6:26; and even drain the coffers of kings and princes;
nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings; do not give thy mind to take such courses, and pursue such ways and methods, as bring ruin on kings and kingdoms, as conversation with harlots does; see Pr 7:26. Some think the design of this advice is to warn against any ambitious views of enlarging his dominions by invading neighbouring countries, and making war with neighbouring kings, to the ruin of them; but the former sense seems best. The Targum is,
“nor thy ways to the daughters of kings.”
Solomon was given to women, who proved very pernicious to him,
1Ki 11:1. Some render it, “which destroyeth counsel” c; for whoredom weakens the mind as well as the body.
b “Venus enervat vireis”, Avienus. c Don Joseph apud Schindler. col. 990.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The first admonition is a warning against effeminating sensuality:
Give not thy strength to women,
Nor thy ways to them that destroy kings.
The punctuation sees in this form a syncopated inf. Hiph. = ( vid., at Pro 24:17), according to which we are to translate: viasque tuas ad perdendos reges ( ne dirige ), by which, as Fleischer formulates the twofold possibility, it may either be said: direct not thy effort to this result, to destroy neighbouring kings – viz. by wars of invasion (properly, to wipe them away from the table of existence, as the Arabs say) – or: do not that by which kings are overthrown; i.e., with special reference to Lemuel, act not so that thou thyself must thereby be brought to ruin. But the warning against vengeful, rapacious, and covetous propensity to war (thus Jerome, so that Venet. after Kimchi: , C. B. Michaelis, and earlier, Gesenius) does not stand well as parallel with the warning against giving his bodily and mental strength to women, i.e., expending it on them. But another explanation: direct not thy ways to the destruction of kings, i.e., toward that which destroys kings (Elster); or, as Luther translates: go not in the way wherein kings destroy themselves – puts into the words a sense which the author cannot have had in view; for the individualizing expression would then be generalized in the most ambiguous way. Thus will be a name for women, parallel to . So far the translation of the Targum: , filiabus ( ?) regum , lies under a right supposition. But the designation is not thus general. Schultens explains catapultis regum after Eze 26:9; but, inasmuch as he takes this as a figure of those who lay siege to the hearts of men, he translates: expugnatricibus regum , for he regards as the plur. of , a particip. noun, which he translates by deletor . The connecting form of the fem. plur. of this might certainly be (cf. , from ), but ought to be changed into ‘ ‘ ; for one will not appeal to anomalies, such as ‘ , Pro 16:4; ‘ , Isa 24:2; ‘ , Lam 1:19; or ‘ ‘ , 1Ki 14:24, to save the Pathach of , which, as we saw, proceeds from an altogether different understanding of the word. But if ‘ is to be changed into ‘ , then one must go further, since for not an active but a conditional meaning is to be assumed, and we must write , in favour of which Fleischer as well as Gesenius decides: et ne committe consilia factaque tua iis quae reges perdunt, regum pestibus . Ewald also favours the change , for he renders as a denom. of , marrow: those who enfeeble kings, in which Kamphausen follows him. Mhlau goes further; he gives the privative signification, to enfeeble, to the Piel = makhakha (cf. Herzog’s Real-Wrterb. xiv. 712), which is much more probable, and proposes : iis quae vires enervant regum . But we can appropriately, with Nldeke, adhere to , deletricibus ( perditricibus ), for by this change the parallelism is satisfied; and that may be used, with immediate reference to men, of entire and total destruction, is sufficiently established by such passages as Gen 6:7; Jdg 21:17, if any proof is at all needed for it. Regarding the lxx and those misled by it, who, by and , 4a, think on the Aram. , , vid., Mhlau, p. 53.
(Note: Also Hitzig’s Blinzlerinnen [women who ogle or leer = seductive courtesans] and Bttcher’s Streichlerinnen [caressers, viz., of kings] are there rejected, as they deserve to be.)
But the Syr. has an idea worthy of the discourse, who translates epulis regum without our needing, with Mhlau, to charge him with dreaming of in . Perhaps that is true; but perhaps by he thought of (from , the particip. adj. of ): do not direct thy ways to rich food (morsels), such as kings love and can have. By this reading, 3b would mediate the transition to Pro 31:4; and that the mother refers to the immorality, the unseemliness, and the dangers of a large harem, only in one brief word (3a), cannot seem strange, much rather it may be regarded as a sign of delicacy. But so much the more badly does accord with . Certainly one goes to a banquet, for one finds leisure for it; but of one who himself is a king, it is not said that he should not direct his ways to a king’s dainties. But if refers to the whole conduct of the king, the warning is, that he should not regulate his conduct in dependence on the love and the government of women. But whoever will place himself amid the revelry of lust, is wont to intoxicate himself with ardent spirits; and he who is thus intoxicated, is in danger of giving reins to the beast within him.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
Abstention From Sensual Indulgence
Verse 3 urges the king to be chaste and abstain from the dissolute life common among Eastern kings, Pro 5:8-9.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(3) Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.A slight change in the punctuation will give a better sense, to those that destroy kings, i.e., women. Give not thy life to dissipation at their bidding. (Comp. Pro. 6:24, sqq.; 1Ki. 11:1).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
3. Give not thy strength The first clause warns Lemuel against the excessive indulgence of the appetites, (Pro 31:3-4.) Youths of every class are in great danger from this cause; but particularly youthful princes, who have greater opportunities of indulgence than others. The same is true of all in the more elevated positions of affluence. They can more readily command the means of gratifying their unlawful desires. This has always been remarkably the case with the more wealthy and powerful in Asiatic countries, where polygamy and concubinage exist as ancient and accepted institutions, sanctioned by immemorial usage. Indeed, a large harem, or seraglio, is rather regarded as a part of the necessary state of a chief or ruler, and indispensable to the respectability of the throne. This thoughtful mother had seen the evils flowing from this fruitful source, and warned her beloved son against them. This was the rock on which Solomon himself was wrecked. “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was (or had been) beloved of his God, and God made (had made) him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish (foreign, strange) women cause to sin.” Neh 13:26.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Pro 31:3. Give not thy strength, &c. David had admonished his son, chap. Pro 6:20, &c. to keep the commandment of his father, and not forsake the law of his mother; for the commandment, said he, is a lamp, and reproofs of instruction are the ways of life, to keep thee from the evil woman: and can there be a greater uniformity than betwixt that monition and this, Give not thy strength unto women, &c.? And may not the reproofs which follow be justly intitled, proofs of instruction? When these reproofs of instruction are recited, then follows, Pro 31:10 a regular poem in praise of an accomplished woman; each verse beginning with a different letter, in the series of the alphabet; and certainly nothing can be more natural than the judgment of the best critics upon it, that Lemuel characterises his mother in a poem written in honour of her. See Delaney as above. We may just remark, that as the first nine chapters of the proverbs are considered as a preface to what is commonly called the Book of Proverbs; the attentive reader will find all the precepts from the beginning of the 4th chapter to the end of the ninth, to be only recitals of David’s instruction to his son Solomon.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 31:3 Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
Ver. 3. Give not thy strength to women. ] Waste not unworthily the fat and marrow of thy dear and precious time, the strength of thy body, the vigour of thy spirits, in sinful pleasures and sensual delights. See Pro 5:9 .
Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
strength: Pro 5:9-11, Pro 7:26, Pro 7:27, Hos 4:11
to that: Deu 17:17, Neh 13:26
Reciprocal: Pro 5:10 – wealth Act 24:25 – temperance
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 31:3. Give not thy strength unto women The vigour of thy mind and body, which is greatly impaired by inordinate lusts, as all physicians agree, and frequent experience shows; nor thy ways Thy conversation or course of life; to that which destroyeth kings The same thing repeated in other words, as is very usual in these books; to the immoderate love of women, which is most destructive to kings and kingdoms, as was well known to Solomon, by the example of his father David, and by many other sad examples, left upon record in all histories.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
31:3 Give not thy strength to women, {d} nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
(d) Meaning, that women are the destruction of kings, if they hunt them.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Her counsel was that it is not wise for a king to make himself dependent on women (Pro 31:3) or wine (Pro 31:4-7).
"David’s lust for Bathsheba made him callous toward justice and cost Uriah his life, and Solomon’s many sexual partners made him callous toward pure and undefiled religion and incapable of real love. In other words, obsession with women has the same effect as obsession with liquor (Pro 31:5)." [Note: Waltke, The Book . . . 31, p. 507.]
The advice in Pro 31:6-7 is probably sarcastic, to point out the uselessness of intoxicants. [Note: Ibid., pp. 508-9.] Positively, a king should uphold justice, especially for those whom other people might take advantage of (Pro 31:8-9).
"It is the responsibility of the king to champion the rights of the poor and the needy, those who are left desolate by the cruelties of life (see 2Sa 14:4-11; 1Ki 3:16-28; Psa 45:3-5; Psa 72:4; Isa 9:6-7)." [Note: Ross, p. 1128.]
"I think Pro 31:6-7 are spoken in irony and not as a commandment, because nobody’s problems are solved by forgetting them, and who wants to spend his or her last minutes of life on earth drunk? [cf. Mat 27:33-34]." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 149.]