Proverbs 31:3
in Proverbs 31Do not spend your strength on women or your vigor on those who ruin kings.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Give not thy strength unto women, Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
KJV
Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.
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This verse in Proverbs 31
Commentary
9 notes on this verseGive not thy strength - Do not waste thy substance on women. In such intercourse the strength of body, soul and substance is destroyed. Such connections are those which destroy kings, מלכין melachin, the Chaldee termination instead of the Hebrew.
This site's exposition
These are the words of King Lemuel
on Proverbs 31:1-3
"These are the words of King Lemuel" carry the same honest note as Agur's chapter, a king unknown to history, taught by his mother. Her charge opens on the danger Proverbs has warned against: "Do not spend your strength on women."
This site's exposition
Do not spend your strength on women
Adam Clarke reads the charge as a warning against wasting substance on women. Such ties, he says, destroy strength of body, soul and goods alike. He notes a Chaldee ending on the word for kings.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church2 voices
Do not give your substance to women. The sense of the letter is clear, but we are also forbidden to contaminate the substance of our virtues with the corruptions of vices.
And your riches to destroy kings. He gives his riches to destroy kings, who corrupts the hearts of men with earthly delights, so that they do not seek the heavenly goods, in which they can reign perpetually with Christ. For kings are destroyed by riches, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Give not thy ways, thy affections, thy conversation, to that which destroys kings, which has destroyed many, which gave such a shock to the kingdom even of David himself, in the matter of Uriah. Let the sufferings of others be thy warnings." It lessens the honour of kings and makes them mean. Are those fit to govern others that are themselves slaves to their own lusts?
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Give not thy strength unto women,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The proper use of such drinks is to restore tone to feeble bodies and depressed minds (compare Ps 104:15). Open . . . cause--Plead for those who cannot plead for themselves, as the orphan, stranger, &c. (compare Ps 72:12; Isa 1:17). appointed to destruction--who are otherwise ruined by their oppressors (compare Pr 29:14, 16).
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
To that which destroyeth - The temptations of the harem were then, as now, the curse of all Eastern kingdoms.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּתֵּ֣ן | titen | you give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לַנָּשִׁ֣ים | lanashim | to <the> women | H802 → | 781 times |
| חֵילֶ֑ךָ | cheilekha | strength your | H2428 → | 246 times |
| וּ֝דְרָכֶ֗יךָ | uderakheikha | and ways your | H1870 → | 707 times |
| לַֽמְח֥וֹת | lamchot | to wiping out | H4229 → | 36 times |
| מְלָכִֽין׃ | melakhin | kings | H4428 → | 2525 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּתֵּ֣ןyou give
titenH5414 →2011 times
לַנָּשִׁ֣יםto <the> women
lanashimH802 →781 times
חֵילֶ֑ךָstrength your
cheilekhaH2428 →246 times
וּ֝דְרָכֶ֗יךָand ways your
uderakheikhaH1870 →707 times
לַֽמְח֥וֹתto wiping out
lamchotH4229 →36 times
מְלָכִֽין׃kings
melakhinH4428 →2525 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Deuteronomy 17:17He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
it leads to
- 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…
- Matthew 19:5
and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’?
- Proverbs 30:8–9
Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the bread that is my portion.
- 1 Kings 11:1–4
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.
- Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
- Nehemiah 13:26
Through
1 Kings 11:1King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.
it leads to
- 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.
- Deuteronomy 17:17
Through
Nehemiah 13:26Did 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…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 11:1–8
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.
- 1 Kings 3:13
Moreover, I will give you what you did not request—both riches and honor—so that during all your days no man in any kingdom will be your equal.
- 1 Kings 11:1–8
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.