- What is distinctive about Proverbs 31:1-9?
- Who is Lemuel, king of Massa? Who is his mother? How do you think thay are identified in traditional sources? Compare this to the second question from Proverbs 30.
- Is the mother’s admonition entirely persuasive? With which elements might one differ because they are at variance with tradition?
- Scholars suggest that Proverbs 31:10-31 are a later addition to the book. What factors reinforce this assumption? What is immediately distinctive about this section?
- Why does JPS not preserve the familiar translation of eshet hayil as “a woman of valor”? How does “a capable wife” differ in meaning?
- It is important to compare the current JPS rendering with the old translation found in many prayer books. Why?
- Why does tradition prescribe that a husband recite this poem on Erev Shabbat?
- In Proverbs 31:12, does “She is good to him” have the same force as the transitive verb in the Hebrew gemalat’hu (she requites him [with good])?
- In Proverbs 31:21, what does “dressed in crimson” imply?
- In Proverbs 31:22, what does the phrase “linen and purple” imply?
- In Proverbs 31:31, what does the phrase, “in the gates” imply?
- Some moderns reject this poem as patronizing. Why? Do you agree?
- What purpose could this poem serve in relation to the rest of the book?
