Verses 1-9
Proverbs 31:1-1 Samuel : . Second Division. Sayings of Lemuel.— A manual of directions for kings. Proverbs 31:1. The title is uncertain. RV is not grammatically correct. Read mg.— Massa ( mg.) , rendered “ oracle” in Proverbs 31:30, and here by RV, is the regular word for the oracles of the earlier prophets, but is strange in this connexion. There is a Mas’ a mentioned in the inscriptions of Tiglath-pileser IV along with Teima in N. Arabia. This was one of the traditional seats of wisdom, like Edom, and possibly the name was adopted in view of this. But “ of Massa,” both here and in Proverbs 30:1, is conjectural ( cf. Genesis 10:30; Genesis 25:14, and 1 Chronicles 1:30, also article in HDB).
Proverbs 31:3 . RV is incorrect; read mg.
Proverbs 31:8 . such as are left desolate: too free a paraphrase. Heb. is “ all the sons of change” ( cf. mg.), “ change” being unwarrantably interpreted as those who suffer a change of fortune. A slight emendation gives the sense “ those who suffer”
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