Proverbschapter 31
31 verses · Solomon and others · 10th to 5th century BC · Wisdom and poetry
A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
Introduction
Solomon and others, Wisdom and poetry, Proverbs Overview.
This chapter holds the words a queen mother taught her son, King Lemuel, and then the closing poem of the whole book. Lemuel is known from no other record, and his name, like Agur's before him, may point to a people of northern Arabia. The first part is a mother's counsel to a king about what ruins rulers and what they owe the weak. The poem that follows is built on the Hebrew alphabet, each line opening with the next letter, so that it could be learned by heart. Listen for how the book's last lines return to the fear of the LORD with which it began.
Context
- Who
- A king, and every household that heard the closing poem recited
- What
- A queen mother's instruction to her son the king, then an alphabetic poem in praise of a wife of noble character.
- Where
- A royal court where the queen mother instructs her son, and a working household of land, cloth and trade.
- When
- Undated; Lemuel's words and the closing poem were gathered into the book with the collections before them.
- Why
- To teach a king to rule soberly for the poor, and to close the book with wisdom lived out in a household that fears the LORD.
Historical context
The chapter opens with "the words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him." No king by that name is known outside this text, and the same word Massa appears here as in the previous chapter, so he may be a ruler of that Arabian people. What is certain is the speaker's office: the queen mother in the courts of the region held real standing, sat near the throne, and could be named alongside the king in the records, which is why the mothers of Judah's kings are listed by name in the histories.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Her instruction is about the two things that ruin kings: women and drink. Then it turns the drink around, "give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts." The king's own cup should go to the dying man; the king's own sobriety exists so he can "judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy," which was the throne's first duty.
The closing poem is an acrostic: twenty-two lines, each beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order. That is a memory structure. It was built to be learned by heart and recited, and it is the last thing the book does.
The woman it describes runs an enterprise. She sources wool and flax and works them on the distaff and spindle; her merchandise reaches traders "like the merchants' ships"; she inspects a field, buys it, and plants a vineyard out of her own earnings; her lamp does not go out at night, which means the household has oil to spare; she clothes her family in scarlet and herself in fine linen and purple, the dye taken from murex shellfish on the Phoenician coast, the most expensive colour in the ancient world. Meanwhile her husband "is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders," which is to say he holds public office, partly because his house is in such good order.
Significance
The first hearers were not being handed an impossible standard for one woman's Tuesday. They were being shown a household running at full strength, trade, land, cloth, food, generosity to the poor, and a reputation at the gate, with a woman's judgment at the centre of it.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
And the last line closes the whole book where it started: "favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised." The fear of the LORD opened Proverbs at chapter one, and here it walks out of the poem wearing work clothes.
This chapter in Jewish lifeWhat this chapter is in Jewish life and reading.
What is done
No public reading in the synagogue is drawn from this chapter. The site's own table in src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts was probed for this lane over Proverbs 16 to 31. It printed parashot total 0, haftarah uses total 0 and 0 chapters with a synagogue reading. It printed null for a festival reading of the book. The same probe printed 54 weekly portions and 6 festival readings in the table as a whole. The corpus ties no custom of the home or the synagogue to this chapter, so this part records the absence.
The chapter is met in the study of the Midrash and the Talmud instead. The corpus links it to twenty-six collections. The two it cites most often here are Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition) and Bereshit Rabbah.
How it is read
Rashi is quoted here from The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, which Sefaria reports as CC-BY. Every quotation is held to fifty words or fewer because the translation is modern. Rashi reads King Lemuel as Solomon, the name meaning one who is for God: "The words that the king said for the sake of the Holy One, blessed be He" (Rashi on Proverbs 31:1:1). The mother's question at the second verse is a rebuke, and in his reading she fears that if her son is wicked people will say, "His mother made him that way" (Rashi on Proverbs 31:2:1). The law that kings should not forget at the fifth verse is "What is written in the Torah" together with the tradition committed to memory (Rashi on Proverbs 31:5:1).
The woman of valour, from the tenth verse to the end, is read as the Torah. The corpus files these notes under refs that begin 31:31, while the text of each note gives the verse in brackets. At the tenth verse Rashi says of her, "This is the Torah" (Rashi on Proverbs 31:31:2-4). Of the one who finds her he says, "Fortunate is he who merits to find it". The wool and flax she seeks are "Scripture, Mishnah and Midrash" (Rashi on Proverbs 31:31:6). The lamp that does not go out at night shone for Israel "on the night of watching" when the Egyptians were struck (Rashi on Proverbs 31:31:13-14). Her open hand to the poor is read of the student: "Whoever makes himself like a poor man on its account" is the one in whom the Torah endures (Rashi on Proverbs 31:31:17).
The book dossier this site carries records that the poem runs twenty-two verses, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order. Rashi's reading of it as the Torah stands beside the plain reading of a wife. He keeps that plain reading in his glosses on her household and on her husband known in the gates (Rashi on Proverbs 31:21:1 and 31:23:1).
The corpus carries four further notes on this chapter without an English text, each marked linked because Sefaria holds no English version of the ref. They are cited by ref alone: Ibn Ezra on Proverbs 31:7:1, 31:12:1 and 31:17:1 and Metzudat David on Proverbs 31:9:1.
What the rabbis say
The corpus carries forty rabbinic locators on this chapter, thirty-three filed as Midrash and seven as Talmud, and the text of none, so each is cited here by its ref and never quoted or paraphrased. At verse 1 it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan 39:4 and Bamidbar Rabbah 10:4. At verse 2 it holds Midrash Tannaim on Deuteronomy 14:1:8, with Otzar Midrashim, Midrashim of Rabbi Akiba, The Small Letters and their Purposes 5. At verse 4 it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Sanhedrin 5:3, with Midrash Lekach Tov, Genesis 3:6:3. At verse 6 it holds Berakhot 57a:21, with Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Eiruvin 6:7. At verse 8 it holds Bava Batra 41a:5 and Gittin 37b:6. At verse 10 it holds Aggadat Bereshit 34:1 and Bereshit Rabbah 45:1. At verse 11 it holds Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 12:14:2, with Midrash Aggadah, Genesis 20:14:1. At verse 13 it holds Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayetze 62, with Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 538:3. At verse 14 it holds Avot DeRabbi Natan, Recension B 18:3, with Bamidbar Rabbah 13:4. At verse 15 it holds Midrash Sekhel Tov, Shemot 12:31:2, with Midrash Shmuel 5:2. At verse 16 it holds Midrash Aggadah, Leviticus 19:23:5, with Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Kedoshim 13:1. At verse 18 it holds Midrash Tanchuma, Chayei Sara 4:2, with Midrash Tehillim 136:4. At verse 21 it holds Jerusalem Talmud Shabbat 9:3:7 and Midrash Mishlei 31:4. At verse 22 it holds Shemot Rabbah 52:3. At verse 23 it holds Kohelet Rabbah 1:11:1, with Midrash Tanchuma, Shemot 29:6. At verse 24 it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Pesakhim 4:3, with Ein Yaakov, Pesakhim 4:9. At verse 25 it holds Bereshit Rabbah 59:2 and Bereshit Rabbah 62:1. At verse 26 it holds Berakhot 10a:12. At verse 27 it holds Bereshit Rabbah 45:7. At verse 28 it holds Midrash Tanchuma, Chayei Sara 4:3. At verse 29 it holds Bereshit Rabbati, Parashat Vayechi 64. At verse 30 it holds Ein Yaakov (Glick Edition), Taanit 4:10. At verse 31 it holds Devarim Rabbah 2:28. The corpus files one further locator, Bamidbar Rabbah 10:8, under the anchor Proverbs 31:33 exactly as it prints it, and it is cited here that way. What each of them teaches is a saying of the rabbis, and it is reported as theirs wherever this site quotes one.
Sources: Rashi, Rashi on Proverbs 31:1:1 to 31:24:1, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg, reported CC-BY; Ibn Ezra, Ibn Ezra on Proverbs 31:7:1, 31:12:1 and 31:17:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; Metzudat David, Metzudat David on Proverbs 31:9:1, cited by ref because the corpus carries no English text; The Sefaria corpus, scripts/data/sources/sefaria/proverbs/31.json, the 40 Talmud and Midrash locators of this chapter; The site's own files, src/lib/hebraic/readings.ts, printing no portion, no Haftarah and no festival reading for this book; The book dossier, src/components/book/dossier-content/proverbs.ts, for the headings and the shape of the book.
The heads below are this chapter's stanzas. The numbered points under each are its verses.
King Lemuel's Mother: Open Thy Mouth for the Dumb
Proverbs 31:1-3
"These are the words of King Lemuel" carry the same honest note as Agur's chapter, a king unknown to history, taught by his mother. Her charge opens on the danger Proverbs has warned against: "Do not spend your strength on women."
Proverbs 31:1
“That his mother taught him - Compare Pro 1:8; Pro 6:20. If we refer the chapter to Israelite authorship, we may remember the honor paid to the wisdom of Miriam, Deborah, and Huldah; if it was the honor paid to an Edomite or an Arabian, we may think of the Queen of Sheba, whose love of Wisdom led her to sit at the feet of the son of David.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Proverbs 31:1
“Lemuel - Of Solomon, by the general consent both of Jewish and Christian writers; this name signifies one from God, or belonging to God, and such an one was Solomon eminently, being given by God to David and Bathsheba, as a pledge of his reconciliation to them after their repentance.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
What shall I say, O my son?: Jamieson, Fausset & Brown hear earnestness in the three questions of the mother to her son. Son of my womb marks her affection, and son of my vows a son vowed to God, which the name Lemuel may mean. Clarke calls the verse elliptical.
Proverbs 31:2
“What, my son?--that is, What shall I say? Repetitions denote earnestness. son of my womb--as our phrase, "my own son," a term of special affection. son of my vows--as one dedicated to God; so the word "Lemuel" may mean.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 31:2
“My heart is full, but where shall I begin? Of my womb - My son, not by adoption, but whom I bare in the womb, and therefore it is my duty to give thee admonitions, and thine to receive them. My vows - On whose behalf I have made many prayers and sacrifices, and solemn vows to God; whom I have, as far as in me lay, devoted to the work, and service, and glory of God.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Do not spend your strength on women: Adam Clarke reads the charge as a warning against wasting substance on women. Such ties, he says, destroy strength of body, soul and goods alike. He notes a Chaldee ending on the word for kings.
Proverbs 31:3
“Give not thy strength - Do not waste thy substance on women. In such intercourse the strength of body, soul and substance is destroyed. Such connections are those which destroy kings, מלכין melachin, the Chaldee termination instead of the Hebrew.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Proverbs 31:4-7
It is not for kings: s, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine," since a ruler who judges cannot afford a clouded mind. The same drink that unfits a king for justice is offered as mercy to a man with nothing left to judge.
Proverbs 31:4
“Some read: “nor for princes to say, Where is strong drink?” The “strong drink” Pro 20:1 was distilled from barley, or honey, or dates.”
lest they drink and forget what is decreed: Henry recalls Isaiah's complaint that priests and prophets erred through strong drink. Kings who drink stumble in judgment the same way. The oppressed then lose the justice decreed for them.
Proverbs 31:5
“It is a sad complaint which is made of the priests and prophets ( Isa. xxviii. 7 ), that they have erred through wine, and through strong drink they are out of the way; and the effect is as bad in kings, who when they are drunk, or intoxicated with the love of wine, cannot but stumble in judgment.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Give strong drink to one who is perishing: Clarke says strong drink was given to the condemned who were perishing, to dull their pain, and that Jesus refused such a drink. Gregory of Nyssa gives the verse to mourners bitter in soul. Henry calls wine a cordial for need alone.
Proverbs 31:6
“Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish - We have already seen, that inebriating drinks were mercifully given to condemned criminals, to render them less sensible of the torture they endured in dying. This is what was offered to our Lord; but he refused it. See note on Psa 104:15.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Proverbs 31:6
Moreover console each other with the following words; it is a good medicine that Solomon has for sorrow; for he bids wine be given to the sorrowful; saying this to us, the labourers in the vineyard: "Give," therefore, "your wine to those that are in sorrow," not that wine which produces drunkenness, plots against the senses, and destroys the body, but such as gladdens the heart, the wine which the Prophet recommends when he says: "Wine maketh glad the heart of man."
Gregory of Nyssa · written before 395 · Funeral Oration on Meletiuspatristic
Proverbs 31:6
“But the scope of the place is to show that wine is a cordial, and therefore to be used for want and not for wantonness, by those only that need cordials, as Timothy, who is advised to drink a little wine, only for his stomach's sake and his often infirmities, 1 Tim. v. 23 .”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Let him drink and forget his poverty: Verse 5 warned that kings who drink forget what is decreed. Here to drink and forget is mercy, given to the man whose poverty and misery are past bearing. Henry keeps the cordial for those who need it.
Proverbs 31:8-9
Open your mouth for those with no voice: e" turns the charge from private caution to public duty. The command repeats, making advocacy for the powerless the substance of righteous judgment. A king sober enough to judge and willing to speak for the voiceless is the portrait his mother builds.
Proverbs 31:8
“Open thy mouth for the dumb,.... Not who are naturally so, but who cannot speak in their own behalf, either through want of elocution, or knowledge of the laws; or who are bashful, timorous, and fearful, being overawed by the majesty of a court of judicature, or by their prosecutors; or who, as they have not a tongue, so not a purse, to speak for them, the fatherless and the widow; which latter has her name, in the Hebrew language, from dumbness.”
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 31:8
“Open thy mouth for the dumb - For such accused persons as have no counsellors, and cannot plead for themselves. Are appointed to destruction - בני חלוף beney chaloph, variously translated, children of passage - indigent travelers; children of desolation - those who have no possessions, or orphans. I believe it either signifies those who are strangers, and are travelling from place to place, or those who are ready to perish in consequence of want or oppression.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Open your mouth, judge righteously: The command to open the mouth comes twice, first for the voiceless and now for the poor and needy. Judging righteously and pleading their cause are one act here. A king's justice is measured by his advocacy for the powerless.
Proverbs 31:9
“Open thy mouth, judge righteously,.... Having heard the cause, pronounce a righteous sentence; deliver it freely and impartially, with all readiness and boldness, not caring for the censures of wicked and unjust men; and plead the cause of the poor and needy; who are oppressed by the rich, cannot plead for themselves, nor fee others to plead for them; do thou do it freely and faithfully.”
A Worthy Woman: Her Price Is Far Above Rubies
Proverbs 31:10-13
A wife of noble character, who can find?: The poem opens by asking where a wife of noble character can be found, for "She is far more precious than rubies." It is an alphabet acrostic in the Hebrew, twenty-two verses for the twenty-two letters. The first labor named is textile work, and she "works with eager hands."
Proverbs 31:10
“I have heard sacred Scripture saying, "Who shall find a valiant woman?" and also that she is a gift of God, and that a good marriage is arranged by the Lord. Those outside, too, have the same thought—if indeed the saying is theirs: "There is no greater boon for a man than a good wife, no worse, than the opposite." It is impossible to mention anyone who was more fortunate than my father in this respect.”
Gregory of Nazianzus · written before 390 · On the Death of His Father, Oration 18:7patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Proverbs 31:10
“Who can find a virtuous woman,.... This part of the chapter is disjoined from the rest in the Septuagint and Arabic versions; and Huetius (t) thinks it is a composition of some other person, and not Lemuel's mother, whose words he supposes end at Pro 31:9; but it is generally thought that what follows to the end of the chapter is a continuance of her words, in which she describes a person as a fit wife for her son.”
Proverbs 31:10
“Who can find a virtuous woman? - This and the following verses are acrostic, each beginning with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet: Pro 31:10, א aleph; Pro 31:11, ב beth; Pro 31:12, ג gimel; and so on to the end of the chapter, the last verse of which has the letter ת tau.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
The heart of her husband trusts in her: Before the poem lists a single deed, it names the trust her husband places in her. Verses 11 and 12 form the frame, his trust and the good she does him all her life. The deeds that follow give the trust its grounds.
Proverbs 31:11
“The heart of her husband - 3. She is an unspotted wife. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her - he knows she will take care that a proper provision is made for his household, and will not waste any thing. He has no need for spoil - he is not obliged to go out on predatory excursions, to provide for his family, at the expense of the neighboring tribes.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Proverbs 31:11
"The heart of her husband is confident about her." He certainly is confident, and he has taught us to be confident too. He commissioned the church, you see, to the ends of the earth, among all nations, from sea to sea. If she was not going to persevere to the end, her husband's heart would not be confident about her. So she despoils the world, spread throughout it everywhere; on all sides she plunders trophies from the devil.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · SERMON 37:4-5patristic
Proverbs 31:11
“No need of spoil - Better, no lack of gain, lack of honest gain.”
She brings him good and not harm: Verse 11 gave the heart of her husband, which trusts her. This verse gives the good she brings him all the days of her life. The works that follow show that good.
Proverbs 31:12
“She will do him good - 4. She has her husband’s happiness in view constantly. She recompenses all his kindness to her in beneficent acts. For kind words she returns kind deeds. 1. Her good is unmixed; she will do him good. and not evil. 2 Her good is not capricious; it is constant and permanent, while she and her husband live. His heart safely trusts in her, for she will do him good all the days of her life. This is her general character.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 31:12
“For she works good and not evil for her husband, at all times. Hence it is that this woman plunders nations, by working good and not evil for her husband. At all times she works good and not evil. Not for herself, but for her husband, so that he who lives, may no longer live for himself, but for him who died and rose again for all. Therefore, she works good for her husband, she works good before God. She serves him, she is devoted to him, she loves him, she always strives to please him.”
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · SERMON 37:4-5patristic
She selects wool and flax: Barnes renders the second line as working with willing hands. The poem returns to her work with wool and flax at verse 19, where her hands hold the distaff and spindle. Her eager hands set the pattern.
Proverbs 31:13
“Worketh willingly with her hands - Or, worketh with willing hands. The stress laid upon the industrial habits of Israelite matrons may perhaps belong to a time when, as under the monarchy of Judah, those habits were passing away.”
Proverbs 31:14-19
She is like the merchant ships: s, bringing her food from afar." She rises while it is night, appraises a field and buys it, and plants a vineyard "from her earnings." Her girded strength and a lamp "not extinguished at night" show a woman working past the hours anyone would require.
Proverbs 31:14
“She is like the merchants’ ships - 3. She acts like merchants. If she buy any thing for her household, she sells sufficient of her own manufactures to pay for it; if she imports, she exports: and she sends articles of her own manufacturing or produce to distant countries; she traffics with the neighboring tribes.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
She rises while it is still night: Barnes reads the portions for her maidservants as each one's daily task, given with the daily food. Agur asked for the bread of his portion at 30:8. Her household's day begins while it is still night.
Proverbs 31:15
“A portion to her maidens - The daily task assigned to each at the same time as the daily food. Compare Pro 30:8; Exo 5:14.”
She appraises a field and buys it: Adam Clarke pictures a growing family needing more land. She weighs the worth of a neighboring field, buys it at a good price, and pays from her own industry. The vineyard she plants from her earnings adds comfort beyond bare need.
Proverbs 31:16
“She considereth a field and buyeth it - 5. She provides for the growing wants of her family. More land will shortly be needed, for the family is growing up; and having seen a field contiguous to her own, which was on sale, she estimates its worth, and purchases it a good bargain; and she pays for it by the fruit of her own industry. 6. She does not restrict herself to the bare necessaries of life; she is able to procure some of its comforts.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
She girds herself with strength: The poem pictures her strength as a garment she puts on. Girded for work, she shows the strength of her arms in labor past the hours anyone would require. Verse 25 will clothe her with strength again.
Proverbs 31:17
“She girdeth her loins with strength - 7. She takes care of her own health and strength, not only by means of useful labor, but by healthy exercise. She avoids what might enervate her body, or soften her mind - she is ever active, and girt ready for every necessary exercise. Her loins are firm, and her arms strong.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Proverbs 31:17
The way of Christ himself is that a man walk purely and with fortitude. "She girded," he says, "her loins with strength."
Bonaventure · written before 1257 · Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5patristic
Proverbs 31:17
"Valiantly girding her loins, she has braced her arms." Valiant she is indeed. Now we see if she is not also a maidservant. With what devotion she serves, and how readily! To prevent the flapping folds of carnal desires from getting in the way of her work she girds her loins, and so avoids treading on overlong skirts as she hurries about her work. There lies the chastity of this lady, tightly bound by the girdle of the commandment and always ready for good work.
Augustine of Hippo · written before 430 · SERMON 37:10patristic
She sees that her gain is good: John Wesley says she finds great comfort in her labors. He reads the lamp that burns at night loosely, as a sign of unwearied care and industry. The gain she sees keeps her working.
Proverbs 31:18
“Perceiveth - She finds great comfort in her labours. Her candle - Which is not to be taken strictly, but only signifies her unwearied care and industry.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
She stretches out her hands to the distaff: Adam Clarke describes the work: the distaff in the left arm, the thread drawn by the left fingers, and the spindle twisted with the right. John Wesley adds that her example stirs her servants to labor. The same hands open to the poor in verse 20.
Proverbs 31:19
“She layeth her hands to the spindle - 10. She gives an example of skill and industry to her household. She takes the distaff, that on which the wool or flax was rolled; and the spindle, that by twisting of which she twisted the thread with the right hand, while she held the distaff in the guard of the left arm, and drew down the thread with the fingers of the left hand. Allowing that spindle and distaff are proper translations of כישור kishor, and פלך pelech, this was their use, and the way in which they were used.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Proverbs 31:19
“She layeth her hands to the spindle,.... As Penelope and her maidens did (t). Or spinning wheel, more properly, the wheel itself, which is laid hold on by the right hand, and turned round; and her hands hold the distaff; the rock, stick, or staff, about which the wool is wrapped, which is spun, and is held in the left hand; for though hands are mentioned in both clauses, yet it is only with one hand the wheel is turned, and the distaff held with the other.”
Proverbs 31:19
“She layeth - By her own example she provokes her servants to labour. And although in these latter and more delicate times, such mean employments are grown out of fashion among great persons, yet they were not so in former ages, neither in other countries, nor in this land; whence all women unmarried unto this day are called in the language of our law, Spinsters.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
Proverbs 31:20-24
She opens her arms to the poor: r and reaches out her hands to the needy" sets her wealth toward charity. Her coverings, "fine linen and purple," are real luxury, the fruit of the labor already described. Her husband is known at the city gate among the elders.
Proverbs 31:20
“She stretcheth out her hand to the poor - 11. She is truly charitable. She knows that in every portion of a man’s gain God requires a lot for the poor; and if this is not given, God’s blessing is not in the rest. And she is not contented to give common alms. While with one hand (יד yad) she relieves the general poor, with both hands (ידיה yadeyha) she gives to the needy, לעני leaney, to the afflicted poor.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
When it snows, she has no fear: Barnes takes scarlet as clothing known for its color or, as some think, for its double thickness and warmth. When it snows, her household is clothed for it. She has no fear for them.
Proverbs 31:21
“Scarlet - Probably some well-known articles of dress, at once conspicuous for their color, or, as some think, for their double texture and warmth.”
She makes coverings for her bed: Adam Clarke reads the coverings as carpeting or quilted work, and her fine linen as the linen or cotton cloth of Egypt. Purple, he suggests, served for a cloak or mantle. She cares for her own appearance as well as her household's.
Proverbs 31:22
“She maketh herself coverings of tapestry - 13. She is not regardless either of her own person, or of the decent, proper appearance of her presses and wardrobe. She has coverings or carpeting for her guests to sit upon; she has also tapestry, מרבדים marbaddim, either tapestry, carpeting, or quilted work for her beds; and her own clothing is שש shesh, fine flax, or linen cloth, and purple; probably for a cloak or mantle. The fine linen or cotton cloth of Egypt is probably intended.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Her husband is known at the city gate: John Gill places the husband in the gates where courts sat and the elders judged. He is known there for his wisdom and for such a wife, whose care at home leaves him free for public business. Matthew Henry sees her care in his neat dress.
Proverbs 31:23
“Her husband is known in the gates,.... Of the city, where courts of justice were kept, and causes heard and tried by the judges, the elders of the land, later mentioned; among whom the husband of the virtuous woman was, where he was known, taken notice of, and celebrated; not so much for the beautiful garments she made him, as Jarchi; but rather for his wisdom, as Gersom, and for being the husband of such a woman; who, taking such care of his domestic affairs, he was more at leisure to attend public business, and transact it with reputation.”
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 31:23
“Nay, by his appearing clean and neat in his dress, every thing about him decent and handsome, yet not gaudy, one may know he has a good wife at home, that takes care of his clothes. She is one that takes pains in the duty of her place and takes pleasure in it. This part of her character is much enlarged upon here.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
She makes linen garments and sells them: John Gill notes that she carries the wool and flax of verse 13 to finished linen and sells it to her family's gain. Adam Clarke sees a trade in fine ornamental garments here, set beside the coarser work of verse 13. Her sashes go to the merchants.
Proverbs 31:24
She maketh fine linen, and selleth it,.... She not only seeks wool and flax, and spins it, but makes it up into fine linen, which she disposes of to advantage to herself and family. Kimchi says (y), the word signifies coverings for the night, as well as day he seems to design linen sheets: the Arabic version adds, and "sells it to the inhabitants of Bosra."
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 31:24
“She maketh fine linen, and selleth it - 15. She is here remarkable for carrying on a traffic of splendid and ornamental dresses, or habits, as she is, Pro 31:13, for “a coarser manufacture,” The סדון sidon is supposed to come from the Arabic; and to signify a kind of loose inner garment, shirt, chemise, or fine muslin covering. Some of these are so exceedingly fine, like the abrooam, that when spread on the grass, they are scarcely discernible.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Proverbs 31:25-31
Strength and honor are her clothing: g," her own character answering the scarlet. Her children and husband praise her, and verse 30 gives the motto, the fear of the LORD that opened the book at 1:7. The poem ends where it began, "at the gates" where her husband was known.
Proverbs 31:25
“Shall rejoice in time to come - Better, rejoiceth over the time to come; i. e., looks forward to the future, not with anxious care, but with confident gladness.”
She opens her mouth with wisdom: Wesley reads the instruction on her tongue as a law, constant and customary. Her words come from a settled wisdom, and her passions stay in check. Her words match her works.
Proverbs 31:26
“In her tongue - Her speeches are guided by wisdom and grace, and not by inordinate passions. And this practice is called a law in her tongue, because it is constant and customary, and proceeds from an inward and powerful principle of true wisdom.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)evangelical
She watches over the affairs of her household: Basil of Caesarea quotes the verse in his rule on work. He joins it to the apostle's word that one who will not work should not eat. Labor in proportion to one's strength, he says, is as necessary as daily food.
Proverbs 31:27
Why should we dwell upon the amount of evil there is in idleness, when the apostle clearly prescribes that he who does not work should not eat? As daily sustenance is necessary for everyone, so labor in proportion to one's strength is also essential. Not vainly has Solomon written in praise: "and she has not eaten her bread idle."
Basil of Caesarea · written before 379 · The Long Rules 37patristic
Her children rise up and call her blessed: Matthew Henry calls their praise a debt owed under the fifth commandment, double honor to a good mother. Adam Clarke credits her training: taught the fear of the Lord, her children rise and call her blessed. Her husband's praise follows in verse 29.
Proverbs 31:28
“Her children arise up, and call her blessed - 20. She considers a good education next to Divine influence; and she knows also that if she train up a child in the way he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. 1. Her children are well bred; they rise up and pay due respect. 2. They are taught the fear of the lord, and obedience to his testimonies; therefore they call her blessed. So they are of a decent, orderly, respectable, religious behavior.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Proverbs 31:28
“It is a debt which they owe her, a part of that honour which the fifth commandment requires to be paid to father and mother; and it is a double honour that is due to a good father and a good mother.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Albert Barnes hears these as the husband's words to his wife. The Hebrew word for noble means strength, here strength of character steadfast in goodness. The Septuagint and Vulgate take it as riches instead.
Proverbs 31:29
“The words of praise which the husband Pro 31:28 is supposed to have addressed to the ideal wife. Virtuously - The Hebrew word has primarily (like “virtus”) the idea of “strength,” but is used with various shades of meaning. Here (as in Pro 12:4; Rth 3:11) the strength is that of character stedfast in goodness. In other passages (e. g., Gen 34:29; Psa 49:10) it has the sense of “riches,” and is so taken here by the Septuagint and Vulgate, see also the marginal rendering.”
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting: Clarke reads charm as a grace of manner that can be put on and is called a lie. Henry praises the woman who fears the LORD far above beauty. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown say true piety alone commands lasting respect.
Proverbs 31:30
“Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain, etc. - III. Here is the summing up of the character. 1. Favour, חן chen, grace of manner may be deceitful, many a fair appearance of this kind is put on, assumed for certain secular or more unworthy purposes; it is learned by painful drilling in polished seminaries, and, being the effect of mere physical discipline, it continues while the restraint lasts; but it is שקר sheker, a lie, a mere semblance, an outward varnish.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Proverbs 31:30
“With all those good qualities she lacks not that one thing needful; she is truly pious, and, in all she does, is guided and governed by principles of conscience and a regard to God; this is that which is here preferred far before beauty; that is vain and deceitful; all that are wise and good account it so, and value neither themselves nor others on it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Proverbs 31:30
“Favour--or, "Grace" of personal manner. beauty--of face, or form (compare Pr 11:22). True piety alone commands permanent respect and affection (1Pe 3:3).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Give her the fruit of her hands: Adam Clarke says the first line may be a prayer, that she enjoy the fruit of her labors. John Gill reports a Jewish reading in which the husband tells the children to give her the praise she is due. Her works praise her at the gates.
Proverbs 31:31
“Give her of the fruit of her hands - This may be a prayer. May she long enjoy the fruit of her labors! May she see her children’s children, and peace upon Israel! And let her own works praise her in the gates - Let what she has done be spoken of for a memorial of her; let her bright example be held forth in the most public places.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Proverbs 31:31
“Give her of the fruit of her hands,.... According to Aben Ezra, these are the words of her husband to her children; exhorting them to give her the praise and glory that is due unto her.”
Proverbs 31:31
“Let none have an ill report from us, that have a good report even of the truth itself. Thus is shut up this looking-glass for ladies, which they are desired to open and dress themselves by; and, if they do so, their adorning will be found to praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
How this psalm is built
The form: A queen mother's instruction to a king, followed by an alphabetic acrostic poem of twenty-two lines on the wife of noble character, as Delitzsch classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| The alphabetic acrostic of verses 10 to 31 | Verses 10 to 31 are twenty-two verses, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order, from aleph at verse 10 to tav at verse 31. The order made the poem easy to learn by heart, and it presents the praise of the woman as complete from the first letter to the last.Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon, 1873, on Proverbs 31:10. | Proverbs 31:10, Proverbs 31:31 |
How this chapter is built
1 more paragraph on the patterns
The chapter has two parts. Verses 1 to 9 are King Lemuel's mother's instruction, on women and wine and on the king's duty to speak for the poor. Verses 10 to 31 are twenty-two verses, an alphabetic acrostic with each verse opening on the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, as Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon, 1873, sets out at verse 10. The poem ends on the woman who fears the LORD, and the book closes on the fear of the LORD with which its first chapter opened.
Key words
The words this chapter repeats, each one a lemma of the store’s tagged Hebrew however the chapter inflects it, with the verses it stands in. The grammar words are struck out, and the eight terms the psalm says the word of God by stand in the figure above the patterns rather than here. Every row opens that word’s own page.
| Word | Said | No.Strong’s | Meaning | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דִּין | dîyn | H1779 | judgment | 5, 8 |
| בַּעַל | baʻal | H1167 | master | 11, 23, 28 |
| כַּף | kaph | H3709 | palm | 13, 16, 19, 20 |
| פָּתַח | pâthach | H6605 | to open | 8, 9, 26 |
| הָלַל | hâlal | H1984 | to shine | 28, 30, 31 |
| שָׁתָה | shâthâh | H8354 | to drink | 4, 5, 7 |
Show the next 12 words
| Word | Said | No.Strong’s | Meaning | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| חַיִל | chayil | H2428 | Helech | 3, 10, 29 |
| יַיִן | yayin | H3196 | wine | 4, 6 |
| פֶּה | peh | H6310 | lip | 8, 9, 26 |
| נָתַן | nâthan | H5414 | to give | 3, 6, 15, 24, 31 |
| אִשָּׁה | ʼishshâh | H802 | woman | 3, 10, 30 |
| בַּיִת | bayith | H1004 | place | 15, 21, 27 |
| טוֹב | ṭôwb | H2896 | pleasant | 12, 18 |
| בֵּן | bên | H1121 | son | 2, 5, 8, 28 |
| מֶלֶךְ | melek | H4428 | king | 1, 3, 4 |
| עָשָׂה | ʻâsâh | H6213 | to make | 13, 22, 24, 29 |
| יָד | yâd | H3027 | hand | 19, 20, 31 |
| יוֹם | yôwm | H3117 | day | 12, 25 |
Keep studying
Studies7
Words12
Subjects1
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon, 1873, on Proverbs 31:10.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Basil of Caesarea, THE LONG RULES 37; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Gregory of Nyssa, FUNERAL ORATION ON MELETIUS; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.