Bible Strands
Proverbs 31:3
Do not spend your strength on women or your vigor on those who ruin kings.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — A mother addresses her son Lemuel in a formal parental instruction, framing counsel specifically for a ruling figure.
The words — אַל־ ('al-) = may not and תִּתֵּן (ti.Ten) = you give form the prohibitive command to withhold personal resources. חֵילֶךָ (chei.Le.kha) = your strength specifies the vital energy being conserved.
The thread — The warning against royal entanglement with women echoes Deuteronomy 17:17 and Nehemiah 13:26, while the destructive capacity of such women aligns with Proverbs 7:26.
Why it lands — It requires a ruler to prioritize governance over romantic or sexual pursuits that compromise political stability.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 17:17 He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
- Nehemiah 13:26 Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin.
- Proverbs 7:26 For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number.
- Proverbs 5:9 lest you concede your vigor to others, and your years to one who is cruel;
- 1 Kings 11:1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.
- Hosea 4:11 to promiscuity, wine, and new wine, which take away understanding.