Lemuel (Hebrew:לְמוּאֵל) is the name of a Biblical king mentioned in Proverbs 31:1 and 4, but otherwise unknown.[1]
The opening verse of Proverbs 31 reads: "The words of king Lemuel. The vision wherewith his mother instructed him." The name occurs again in verse 4: "Give not to kings, O Lemuel, give not wine to kings ..." The discourse, which is an exhortation to chastity, justice, mercy and temperance, appears to end with verse 9, but might continue through the end of the chapter.(which is the end of proverbs) Nothing else is found in scriptures concerning Lemuel aside from these two mentions in beginning of Proverbs 31. Jewish legend identifies him as Solomon, making this advice from his mother Bathsheba; but there is no clear evidence for that.
The widely used Strong's concordance, a reference work that assigns a unique reference number to every Biblical Hebrew word and its English translation, states that Lemuel is Hebrew word 3927, related to words 3926 and 410 and means "(belonging) to God; Lemuel or Lemoel, a symbolic name of Solomon: -Lemuel." [2] Other bible commentators concur with Strong's: Easton's Bible Dictionary, Hitchcock's Bible Names, Smith's Bible Dictionary and Nave's Topical Bible.[2]
[3] The passage seems to be the one direct address to a king in the book of Proverbs – something that was the norm in wisdom literature of the ancient world.[4]
Interestingly enough, Solomon had numerous wives and concubines. The mother of Solomon was Bathsheeba making her the author of this section of Proverbs if Lemuel is King Solomon. Many commentators typically divide Chapter 31 of Proverbs into two distinct, unrelated sections. Verses 1-9 are directly directed to King Lemuel while Proverbs 31:10-28 describe the 'virtuous' woman.
Some modern scholars (see Revised Version, Prov. 31:1, margin) render the first passage thus: "The words of Lemuel, king of Massa, which his mother taught him." Massa is mentioned in Genesis 25:14 (cf. 1 Chronicles 1:30), among the sons of Ishmael, and his kingdom is consequently supposed to have been in Arabia. However, it would seem odd that an Arabian king would have a Hebrew name. In this case, the king could not be Solomon, as his empire did not extend further south than the northern border of Arabia.
Some [5] suspect that Lemuel is actually Solomon who is credited with writing/compiling most of the Proverbs. They find that the advice given is especially appropriate to Solomon, and that the story of Solomon's birth lines up well with the title "son of my vows" in verse 2.
The name is related to Lael found in Numbers 3:24 meaning a man consecrated "to God". In etymological form the name Lemuel is kindred with Jamuel (Genesis 46:10) and Namuel (1 Chronicles 4:24).
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Lemuel". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.