Proverbs 31:15
in Proverbs 31She rises while it is still night to provide food for her household and portions for her maidservants.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
She riseth also while it is yet night, And giveth food to her household, And their task to her maidens.
KJV
She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
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This verse in Proverbs 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
She is like the merchant ships
on Proverbs 31:14-19
"She is like the merchant ships, 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.
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
It is not in a scholar's business, or statesman's business, or husbandman's business, that she employs herself, but in women's business: She seeks wool and flax, where she may have the best of each at the best hand, and cheapest; she has a stock of both by her, and every thing that is necessary to the carrying on both of the woollen and the linen manufacture (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
3 Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings. 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: 5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. 6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
She riseth also while it is yet night,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
In Hebrew the verses begin with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in order (compare Introduction to Poetical Books). Who . . . woman--The question implies that such are rare, though not entirely wanting (compare Pr 18:22; 19:14). virtuous--literally, "of strength," that is, moral courage (compare Pr 12:4;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
She riseth also while it is yet night - 4. She is an economist of time; and when the nights are long, and the days short, her family not only spend a part of the evening after sunset in domestic labor, but they all arise before daylight, and prepare the day’s food, that they may not have their labor interrupted. To those who are going to the fields, and to the flocks, she gives the food necessary for the day: טרף teref, prey, a term taken from hunting, the object of which was, the supplying their natural wants: hence applied to daily food. See notes on Pro 30:8. And to the women who are to be employed within she gives חק chok, the task - the kind of work they are to do, the materials out of which they are to form it, and the quantity she expects from each. Thus all the servants are settled: their food, work, and tasks appointed. Every thing is done orderly.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
[14] She is like the merchant ships The Torah brings those who study it blessing and sustenance.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַתָּ֤קָם׀ | vatakom | and she rose | H6965 → | 628 times |
| בְּע֬וֹד | beod | when still | H5750 → | 490 times |
| לַ֗יְלָה | laylah | night | H3915 → | 233 times |
| וַתִּתֵּ֣ן | vatiten | and she gave | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| טֶ֣רֶף | teref | food | H2964 → | |
| לְבֵיתָ֑הּ | leveitah | to household her | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וְ֝חֹ֗ק | vechok | and an allotted portion | H2706 → | 127 times |
| לְנַעֲרֹתֶֽיהָ׃ | lenaaroteiha | to female servants her | H5291 → | 63 times |
וַתָּ֤קָם׀and she rose
vatakomH6965 →628 times
בְּע֬וֹדwhen still
beodH5750 →490 times
לַ֗יְלָהnight
laylahH3915 →233 times
וַתִּתֵּ֣ןand she gave
vatitenH5414 →2011 times
טֶ֣רֶףfood
terefH2964 →
לְבֵיתָ֑הּto household her
leveitahH1004 →2046 times
וְ֝חֹ֗קand an allotted portion
vechokH2706 →127 times
לְנַעֲרֹתֶֽיהָ׃to female servants her
lenaaroteihaH5291 →63 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Ecclesiastes 9:10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
it leads to
- Colossians 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men,
- Romans 12:11
Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ephesians 5:16
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
- Psalms 6:5
For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
- Ecclesiastes 11:6
Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.
- Colossians 3:23
Through
Mark 1:35Early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up and slipped out to a solitary place to pray.
it leads to
- Luke 6:12
In those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and He spent the night in prayer to God.
- Luke 6:12
Through
Romans 12:11Do not let your zeal subside; keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
it leads to
- Hebrews 6:10–11
For God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name as you have ministered to the saints and continue to do so.
- Acts 18:25
He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
- Hebrews 6:10–11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.