I posted this image of the text of Proverbs 31:17 on Instagram back in February mainly because I thought female lifters, as well as male lifters, would find it cute.
Since then, I’ve begun to wonder about the significance of this verse. Why is there no passage in Proverbs commending a man who “dresses himself with strength” or “makes his arm strong”? Why is this said of the godly wife?
It seems even more significant because the mother of King Lemuel contrasts the godly wife who makes herself strong with another kind of woman: “Do not give your strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings” (Proverbs 31:3).
In the context of Biblical history, I don’t think there’s any way this exhortation could be made without invoking the story of Samson and Delilah. In that case, Samson allowed a woman to “take” his literal, physical strength.
Here, King Lemuel’s mother is probably not talking about literal strength, but the contrast is of women who will rob a young man of his strength versus a wife whose strength will allow her to become productive partner with him. Rather than taking his strength, she will add her own with his to the benefit of the family.
While Proverbs encourages godly women to be strong in this way, it encourages men to not misuse their strength. Thus we read in Proverbs 11:16–22
A gracious woman gets honor,
and violent men get riches.
A man who is kind benefits himself,
but a cruel man hurts himself.
The wicked earns deceptive wages,
but one who sows righteousness gets a sure reward.
Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,
but he who pursues evil will die.
Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the LORD,
but those of blameless ways are his delight.
Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished,
but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout
is a beautiful woman without discretion.
Since this passage ends and begins with a reference to women, it is a unified concept. We see here a straightforward progression. Men use their strength to take what they want, while women often don’t have that option and get honor by more ethical means. But the riches that men get this way are “deceptive wages.” Eventually, they are punished for the violence they use. A man only hurts himself.
Finally, the passage ends with an acknowledgment that women engage in folly just like men do.
It is important to realize that the first temptation that Proverbs warns about is a young man abusing his strength by robbery (Proverbs 1:8-19). The second book of Proverbs (starting in 10:1, “The proverbs of Solomon…”) reiterates this warning–“Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit” (Proverbs 10:2a). This is a major concern of the book. Young men who grow strong have the option of using this new advantage over others for personal gain. They must resist this temptation and use all their resources (including their strength) to gain wealth by ethical means.
[By the way, there is no justification for dividing Proverbs 31 into two separate sections. All the books of Proverbs are introduced by their authors: “The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel” (Proverbs 1:1), “The proverbs of Solomon” (Proverbs 10:1), “Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise” (Proverbs 22:17), “These also are sayings of the wise” (Proverbs 24:23), “These also are proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied” (Proverbs 25:1), “The words of Agur son of Jakeh” (Proverbs 30:1), and finally “The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him” (Proverbs 31:1). Lemuel’s mother’s oracle consists of an introduction exhorting her son to stay away from too much wine and the wrong kind of women in order to rule well (Proverbs 31:2-9). Then she describes an ideal wife for her son (31:10-31). “Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised” (Proverbs 31:30).]