Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Proverbs 31:2 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 2. 2What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
This verse contributes the claim, image, or instruction “What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?”.
Read It With
- Proverbs 31:1–3
The line at Proverbs 31:2 contributes the claim, image, or instruction “What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?”. Its place in Proverbs 31:1–3 matters because the edited collection joins it to family teaching, responsibility, and mutual care, speech, listening, truth, and relational consequence, kingship, public authority, and accountable rule.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Here the saying contributes the claim, image, or instruction “What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?”, moving Proverbs 31:1–3 from its opening observation toward its reviewed close.
Follow the Context
- Opening (31:1): the unit contributes the claim, image, or instruction “The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him”.
- Development (31:1–3): adjacent lines test family teaching, responsibility, and mutual care, speech, listening, truth, and relational consequence, kingship, public authority, and accountable rule through parallelism, contrast, motive, image, or consequence.
- Close (31:3): the unit contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings”, creating the next supported pause.
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son...”
In plain language: family teaching, responsibility, and mutual care
This verse contributes the claim, image, or instruction “What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?”.
Why it matters: This wording carries interpretive, pastoral, or misuse risk requiring the full unit and explicit limits.
How certain? strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
The saying does not command unconditional obedience to abuse, erase adult agency, idealize one household form, or give relatives ownership over another person.
What Remains True
Family relationships can transmit wisdom and responsibility, but their authority remains accountable to truth, safety, and justice. In Proverbs 31:2, that bounded truth is expressed through “What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son...,” not through a promise detached from its literary form.
How It Can Shape Life
- Practice mutual listening, clear expectations, dependable care, and boundaries that protect every member's dignity and safety. For Proverbs 31:2, preserve the sequence: verse role (contributes the claim, image, or instruction “What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?”) -> contextual meaning in Proverbs 31:1–3 -> proportionate truth -> this accountable response.
Teach It Back
Explain Proverbs 31:2's exact role in Proverbs 31:1–3. Distinguish pattern from guarantee, include “What, my son? and what, the son of my...,” name one uncertainty, and explicitly reject one harmful use.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Proverbs 31:1–3 — A queen mother warns King LemuelSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The verse belongs to a larger speech, instruction, prayer, number saying, or poem; its voice and complete literary movement control how strongly an isolated line may be stated.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV words, canonical order, paragraph flags, supplied-word markup, and complete unit coverage.
Exact location: Proverbs 31:1–3, repository-pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Proverbs
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology used only for the exact unit's lexical, grammatical, parallel, superscription, number-saying, and acrostic questions.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Prov.xml, OSIS 31:1-31:3
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Proverbs with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-attached textual, lexical, grammatical, syntactic, parallelism, and older-English controls for the exact range.
Exact location: NET Bible Proverbs PDF, printed pp. 1181-1182, exact tc/tn/sn entries attached to 31:1–3
Open source ↗modern critical commentary
Proverbs
K. T. Aitken
Oxford University Press, in The Oxford Bible Commentary, 2001
Supports: Whole-book and collection orientation, local commentary, social-setting proposals, and named interpretation limits.
Exact location: Aitken, ‘Proverbs,’ Oxford Bible Commentary, printed pp. 405-422, subsection covering 31:1–3 and the A mother's instruction to King Lemuel outline
Open source ↗