Who is King Lemuel in Proverbs 31? I did a search for King Lemuel in my entire library of encyclopedias, commentaries, Bible dictionaries, etc. and there is very limited information on him.
hebrew bible - Who is King Lemuel in Proverbs 31? - Biblical ...
The proverb is introduced as part of "the words of Lemuel, king of Massa, the instruction his mother taught him." Abigail was one of the early wives of King David, so it's a stretch to think that Lemuel's mother - whoever she was - taught him about Abigail as the ideal wife.
Proverbs 31:4-5: "It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink, lest they drink and forget what is decreed, depriving all the oppressed of justice." This is a warning from the queen-mother saying: "Stay away from alcohol! It impairs one's judgment and leads to poor decisions over the people.
NET Bible Proverbs 31:1 The words of King Lemuel, an oracle (מַשָּׂא) that his mother taught him: LXX οἱ ἐμοὶ λόγοι εἴρηνται ὑπὸ θεοῦ βασιλέως χρηματισμός ὃν ἐπαίδευσεν ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ BHS
Other content was written by "King Lemuel - an inspired utterance his mother taught him" found in Proverbs 31:1 - 9. There is a collection of sayings - known as the Sayings of the Wise that run from Proverbs 22:17 - 24:34 which seem to be collected from an unnamed source.
The use of the Aramaic term would be unusual, but is found elsewhere. In fact the undisputed use of בר as "son" in Proverbs applies to Lemuel, who is, or will become a king. In terms of the entire Psalm, a deliberate use of the Aramaic does compliment the opening: Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?