A few post-sermon thoughts about the epilogue… Reading 31:10-31 as an epilogue to the book as opposed to a woman that a king is to find and marry doesn’t change the content of the passage. Rather, it changes the implications of the passage.

-For example, this text clearly teaches us about the kind of woman King Lemuel’s mother tells him to find and marry. The difference in understanding this woman as lady wisdom/epilogue (as opposed to a superwoman men are to wed) implies that both men and women are to look for and wed this woman – not just men.

-Another difference in understanding this woman as lady wisdom/epilogue implies that woman aren’t expected to be perfect and men aren’t expected to look for the perfect woman. The text isn’t a bar to evaluate each other by as much as it is an exhortation for us to look for and commit ourselves to wisdom. Over time, this commitment results in wise men and wise women who are marked by lady wisdom.

I’d love thoughts on this. How have you understood this text previously? Can you think of some other implications that I’ve not mentioned? And, how is it that we go about pursuing wisdom anyhow? What might this look like?