Proverbs 31 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

Sayings from Lemuel (31:1–9)
Description of a good and capable wife (31:10–31)

Chapter 31 is the chapter in this book written by Lemuel, who wrote down the advice that his mother told him. Within the Bible, here is the only place that Lemuel is mentioned.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Acrostic poem

Proverbs 31:10–31 is an acrostic poem, that is, a poem in which each line begins with a successive letter of the alphabet in the original language. Using every letter of the language in that way expresses the idea of comprehensiveness and also helps people memorize the poem. In 31:10–31 the acrostic poem emphasizes that virtuous women demonstrate their virtue in everything that they do. If using the letters of your alphabet in this way would not communicate that this is a poem, you could use a different way in your language to indicate that these verses are one poem about the same topic. (See: writing-poetry)