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By: Pastor Peter Schlicht

Proverbs Part 5: Agur, Lemuel, and the Wife of Noble Character

After you pass the Archive of Wisdom, chapters10-29, you enter the final two rooms of book of Proverbs: the writings of Agur in chapters 30 and King Lemuel in chapter 31. Agur is the numbers man, encoding his wisdom in sequence. He begins with humility, asking questions much like the Lord asked Job from the whirlwind: “Who has gathered up the winds in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the water in his cloak? …Tell me if you know!” (Pr 30:4) Then he proceeds to list groups of three or four illustrations which all typify a single truth. It is through the comparison of the items in the list that you come to better understand his meaning.

Take Proverbs 30:18-19 for example: “There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seans, and the way of a man with a maiden.” Who can understand the complexities of God’s creation? When we learn how one mechanism works, we then discover even deeper processes. We know all creation operates by some established laws, but do we understand how God upholds these laws and governs its existence? Verse 19 then includes four examples of this concept from verse 18—an eagle, a snake, a ship, and romantic love. Each is a mystery for its own reasons. It’s possible that each example is meant to stand alone as evidence of the Creator’s amazing handiwork, but many see these four connected to each other in an interesting way. Each is something which—at least at first—leaves no trace. Birds through air, snakes across rocks, and ships through the ocean all happen without leaving obvious, immediate traces. Love between a young man and woman, as beautiful and amazing as this experience is, likewise leaves no obvious traces that people might see. Give Agur’s sequential wisdom a try! What connections do you find?

The final chapter, Proverbs 31, is written by King Lemuel who passes on the wisdom he first recieved from his mother. After warning against drunkeness and advocating for the downtrodden, Lemuel finishes the book of Proverbs with, arguably, its most famous section: The Wife of Noble Character (Proverbs 31:10-31). This section is an acrostic poem in the original Hebrew; each line begins with a subsequent letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So it is sort of an A-to-Z description of a godly woman. Interpretation of this final chapter is debated. Is this a strict list of characteristics that a godly woman must embody? Is this rather a depiction of Wisdom personified as a wife, which matches the invitation of Lady Wisdom earlier? Some even see this section as a picture of Christ and his bride, the church.

I humbly submit that the safest interpretation of this chapter is to read it as poetic hyperbole. King Lemuel describes in a hyperbolic way what kind of woman his son is to look for—a godly, dilligent, and industrious woman who epitomizes the wisdom contained in the previous 30 chapters. I do not think it is a legalistic list of characteristis that all Christian women must have. Indeed, there are characteristics that wisdom dictates for both men and women in this beautiful chapter. This section is hyperbolic in the amount of things this woman does and is able to accomplish. (Careful you don’t turn this description of wisdom into guilt!) A profitable reading would notice characteristics of this woman and meditate on the character of faith which drives her actions.

This brings us to the end of our study in Proverbs. I pray that you have caught a glimpse of Wisdom’s beauty through this series. Overall, the broad picture of Wisdom in Proverbs points us again to Christ who is for us the “Wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:30) and in whom is “hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col. 2:3). May his name be glorified through your reading of Proverbs.

-Pastor Schlicht

Suggested Reading this Month: Proverbs 30–31