Proverbs 31:2

Douay-Rheims Bible

What, O my beloved, what, O the beloved of my womb, what, O the beloved of my vows?

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
What should I say, my son?What, son of my womb?What, son of my vows?

Hebrew Names Version
"Oh, my son!" Oh, son of my womb! Oh, son of my vows!

King James Version
What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?

English Standard Version
What are you doing, my son? What are you doing, son of my womb? What are you doing, son of my vows?

New American Standard Bible
What, my son? And what, son of my womb? And what, son of my vows?

New Century Version
"My son, I gave birth to you. You are the son I prayed for.

Amplified Bible
What, O my son? And what, O son of my womb? And what [shall I advise you], O son of my vows?

World English Bible
"Oh, my son!" Oh, son of my womb! Oh, son of my vows!

Geneva Bible (1587)
What my sonne! and what ye sonne of my wombe! and what, O sonne of my desires!

Legacy Standard Bible
What, O my son?And what, O son of my womb?And what, O son of my vows?

Berean Standard Bible
What shall I say, O my son? What, O son of my womb? What, O son of my vows?

Contemporary English Version
My son Lemuel, you were born in answer to my prayers, so listen carefully.

Complete Jewish Bible
No, my son! No, son of my womb! No, son of my vows!

Darby Translation
What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? and what, O son of my vows?

Easy-to-Read Version
I prayed for a son, and you are the son I gave birth to.

George Lamsa Translation
Oh my son! Oh the son of my womb! Oh the son of my vows!

Good News Translation
"You are my own dear son, the answer to my prayers. What shall I tell you?

Lexham English Bible
What, my son? And what, my son in my womb? And what, son of my vows?

Literal Translation
What, my son? And what, the son of my womb? And what, the son of my vows?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
My sonne, thou sonne of my body: O my deare beloued sonne,

American Standard Version
What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows?

Bible in Basic English
What am I to say to you, O Lemuel, my oldest son? and what, O son of my body? and what, O son of my oaths?

JPS Old Testament (1917)
What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? and what, O son of my vows?

King James Version (1611)
What, my sonne! and what, the sonne of my wombe! and what, the sonne of my vowes!

Bishop's Bible (1568)
What my sonne? what the sonne of my body? and what O my deare beloued sonne?

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
When the righteous are praised, the people will rejoice: but when the ungodly rule, men mourn.

English Revised Version
What, my son? and what, O son of my womb, and what, O son of my vows?

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
What my derlyng? what the derlyng of my wombe? what the derlyng of my desiris?

Update Bible Version
What, my son? and what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows?

Webster's Bible Translation
What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?

New English Translation
O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows,

New King James Version
What, my son? And what, son of my womb? And what, son of my vows?

New Living Translation
O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows,

New Life Bible
What, my son? What, son who came from within me? What, son of my promises?

New Revised Standard
No, my son! No, son of my womb! No, son of my vows!

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? aye what, the son of my vows?

Revised Standard Version
What, my son? What, son of my womb? What, son of my vows?

Young's Literal Translation
`What, my son? and what, son of my womb? And what, son of my vows?

THE MESSAGE
"Oh, son of mine, what can you be thinking of! Child whom I bore! The son I dedicated to God! Don't dissipate your virility on fortune-hunting women, promiscuous women who shipwreck leaders.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
What, O my son? And what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows?

Contextual Overview

¹ The words of king Lamuel. The vision wherewith his mother instructed him. ² What, O my beloved, what, O the beloved of my womb, what, O the beloved of my vows? ³ Give not thy substance to women, and thy riches to destroy kings. ⁴ Give not to kings, O Lamuel, give not wine to kings: because there is no secret where drunkenness reigneth: ⁵ And lest they drink and forget judgments, and pervert the cause of the children of the poor. ⁶ Give strong drink to them that are sad; and wine to them that are grieved in mind: ⁷ Let them drink, and forget their want, and remember their sorrow no more. ⁸ Open thy mouth for the dumb, and for the causes of all the children that pass. ⁹ Open thy mouth, decree that which is just, and do justice to the needy and poor.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the son of my womb: Isaiah 49:15

the son of my vows: 1 Samuel 1:11, 1 Samuel 1:28

Cross-References

Genesis 4:5
But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceeding angry, and his countenance fell.

Genesis 30:27
Laban said to him: Let me find favour in thy sight: I have learned, by experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake.

Genesis 31:9
And God hath taken your father’s substance, and given it to me.

Genesis 31:11
And the angel of God said to me in my sleep: Jacob. And I answered: Here I am.

Exodus 4:10
Moses said: I beseech thee, Lord, I am not eloquent from yesterday and the day before; and since thou hast spoken to thy servant, I have more impediment and slowness of tongue.

Deuteronomy 19:4
This shall be the law of the slayer that fleeth, whose life is to be saved: He that killeth his neighbor ignorantly, and who is proved to have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before:

Deuteronomy 28:54
The man that is nice among you, and very delicate, shall envy his own brother, and his wife, that lieth in his bosom,

1 Samuel 19:7
Then Jonathan called David, and told him all these words: and Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him, as he had been yesterday and the day before.

Daniel 3:19
Then was Nabuchodonosor filled with fury: and the countenance of his face was changed against Sidrach, Misach, and Abdenago, and he commanded that the furnace should be heated seven times more than it had been accustomed to be heated.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

What, my son?.... What shall I call thee? though thou art a king, can I address thee in more suitable language, or use a more endearing appellative than this, and what follows? permit me, thy mother, to speak unto thee as my son: and what shall I say to thee? I want words, I want wisdom; O that I knew what to say to thee, that would be proper and profitable; or what is it I am about to say to thee? things of the greatest moment and importance, and therefore listen to me; and so the manner of speaking is designed to excite attention: or what shall I ask of thee? no part of thy kingdom, or any share in the government of it; only this favour, to avoid the sins unbecoming a prince, and to do the duty of a king, later mentioned. The Targum and Syriac version represent her as exclaiming, reproving, and threatening; as, Alas my son! is this the life thou designest to live, to give up thyself to wine and women? fie upon it, my son, is this becoming thy birth, education, and dignity? is this the fruit of all the pains I have taken in bringing thee up? consider the unbecoming part thou art acting;

and what, the son of my womb? whom I bore in sorrow, brought forth in pain, and took so much care and trouble to bring up in a religious way, and form for usefulness in church and state? not an adopted son, but my own flesh and blood; and therefore what I say must be thought to proceed from pure affection to thee, and solely for thy good; see

Isaiah 49:15;

and what, the son of my vows? whom I asked of God, and promised to give up to him again, and did; for which reason she might call him Lemuel, as Hannah called her son Samuel, for a like reason, 1 Samuel 1:28; a son for whom she had put up many prayers, for his temporal and spiritual good; and on whose account she had made many vows, promises, and resolutions, that she would do so and so, should she be so happy as to bring him into the world, and bring him up to man's estate, and see him settled on the throne of Israel.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The repetitions are emphatic; expressive of anxious love.

Son of my vows - Like Samuel, and Samson, the child often asked for in prayer, the prayer ratified by a vow of dedication. The name Lemuel (literally “for God,” consecrated to Him) may be the expression of that dedication; and the warning against indulging in wine Proverbs 31:4 shows that it had something of the Nazarite or Rechabite idea in it.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 31:2. What, my son? — The Chaldee בר bar is used twice in this verse, instead of the Hebrew בן ben, son. This verse is very elliptical; and commentators, according to their different tastes, have inserted words, indeed some of them a whole sentence, to make up the sense. Perhaps Coverdale has hit the sense as nearly as any other: "These are the wordes of Kynge Lemuel; and the lesson that his mother taughte him. My sonne, thou son of my body, O my deare beloved sonne!"

The son of my vows? — A child born after vows made for offsprings is called the child of a person's vows.