This verse is the first warning or negative command of Lemuel’s mother.

“Give not your strength to women”: This renders the Hebrew quite literally. The term “strength” here means the physical strength of a male person, “your virility” (Scott). This is expressed as “the vigour of your manhood” (Revised English Bible), “your energy” (New Jerusalem Bible, Good News Translation). Contemporary English Version translates the whole line as “Don’t waste your life chasing after women!” It is not stated directly in Hebrew, but “Give . . . your strength to women” may be intended to convey the meaning that Contemporary English Version suggests, namely, “getting women to have sex with.” Good News Translation states this meaning directly: “Don’t spend all your energy on sex.” It was a fact of life in ancient times, and still is today in some parts of the world, that one way in which leaders or rulers demonstrate their power is by their sexual prowess.

“Your ways to those who destroy kings”: This line is parallel to the previous line. “Your ways” is taken by some to refer to “money” (Good News Translation) or “wealth” (New Jerusalem Bible). Others propose a slight change in the Hebrew to get “your loins” (Scott), referring to the sexual organs; New International Version apparently accepts this, and translates “your vigor.” “Those who destroy kings” may be another way of referring to the “women” of line 1. If this is the case, there is no need to repeat “women” in this line; so Good News Translation says just “they have destroyed kings.” However, “those who destroy kings” may refer to particular women rather than to women generally; so Revised English Bible says “or consort with women who bring down kings.” It is suggested that this could be a reference to courtesans (prostitutes) or other women who offer their sexual favors to gain influence at the king’s court or in state affairs.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .