King Lemuel was evidently not a king of Israel or Judah. No king by this name appears in Kings or Chronicles. Some scholars have suggested that "Lemuel"(lit. "Devoted to God") may have been a pen name for Solomon. There is no evidence for this.206Yet this is the only reference to a king by name in Proverbs, an unusual feature in wisdom literature from the ancient Near East.207
We have seen that Proverbs generally contains the counsel of aged courtiers to the sons who were in line to succeed them as government officials. We have also noted that both parents normally shared the training of these young men.208In chapter 31 we have King Lemuel's recollections of the instruction he had received from his mother earlier in life. Perhaps his father had died or was unable to instruct him or gave him other teaching not recorded here. According to Jewish legend, Lemuel was Solomon and his mother was Bathsheba.209There is no factual basis for this tradition.
