Proverbs is made up of books—seven by my count. Though some split it in two, I think all of Proverbs 31 is an oracle by King Lemuel’s mother warning him about women and drink and encouraging him to value a godly wife.
I am not the only reader who has noticed that the books of Proverbs seem to begin and end on a similar not. Proverbs 1-9 is features exhortation to respond to the invitation of Lady Wisdom and spurn the seductions of Lady Folly, which parallels the exhortation to be faithful to the wife of one’s youth and resist the temptations of the adulterous.
I have argued elsewhere that Proverbs 31 may be a warning against Solomon’s mistakes. So there may also be a sense in which King Lemuel’s mother and the bride he chooses (if he does so wisely) will help him avoid a downfall like what Solomon brought upon himself. Proverbs begin with Solomon but transitions to a royal mother, probably a queen.
With that in mind, consider how the first book of Proverbs switches to from the voice of the father to his son or sons to the voice of wisdom to her sons.
After describing the fool who gets seduced by the adulterous, Solomon give earnest advice:
And now, O sons, listen to me,
Proverbs 7:24–27 ESV
and be attentive to the words of my mouth.
Let not your heart turn aside to her ways;
do not stray into her paths,
for many a victim has she laid low,
and all her slain are a mighty throng.
Her house is the way to Sheol,
going down to the chambers of death.
Then he starts describing wisdom as speaking and quoting her:
Does not wisdom call?
Proverbs 8:1–4 ESV
Does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights beside the way,
at the crossroads she takes her stand;
beside the gates in front of the town,
at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud:
“To you, O men, I call,
and my cry is to the children of man.”
He has done quoted her before but not for as long. We get Wisdom’s words through the rest of the chapter. And just as Lemuel’s mother tells him not to give his strength to women (31:6) but to value a strong wife who can help him (31:17, 25), so Wisdom advertises herself as a source of strength (8:14).
At one point (Proverbs 8:32), one might thing that Solomon has resumed talking to his sons, but that is not possible in context. Rather Wisdom reveals herself as a mother to sons:
And now, O sons, listen to me:
Proverbs 8:32–36 ESV
blessed are those who keep my ways.
Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
Blessed is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.
For whoever finds me finds life
and obtains favor from the LORD,
but he who fails to find me injures himself;
all who hate me love death.
And what about Chapter 9? The speaker could be different. Wisdom is referred to in the third person. But it is uncertain. And, no matter who is speaking, the description of Wisdom’s feast is comparable to the description of the godly wife in Proverbs 31 who “brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens” (14–15 ESV).
So, tentatively, there seems to be a parallel in Proverbs 1-9 ending with the call of Wisdom to the entire collection that is Proverbs ending with Lemuel’s mother’s oracle.