Proverbs 31:29
in Proverbs 31“Many daughters have done noble things, but you surpass them all!”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Many daughters have done worthily, But thou excellest them all.
KJV
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
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This verse in Proverbs 31
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
Strength and honor are her clothing
on Proverbs 31:25-31
"Strength and honor are her clothing," 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.
This site's exposition
Many daughters have done noble things
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Many daughters have done mightily, but you have surpassed and outdone them all." You, he says, have surpassed them all, you have outdone them all. So who are these other daughters who have done mightily, whom this one has surpassed, and whom this one has outdone? And again, how have they done mightily, and in what way has this one surpassed them? There are, you see, bad daughters, namely, heresies. Why are they daughters? Because they too were born of this woman. But bad daughters, daughters not in the family likeness of their behavior but in the likeness of their sacraments. They too have our sacraments, they have our Scriptures, they have our Amen and Alleluia, most of them have our creed, many of them have our baptism. That's why they are daughters.But would you like to know what is said to this lady somewhere else, in the Song of Songs? "Like a lily in the midst of thorns, so is my darling in the midst of the daughters."
The Medieval Church2 voices
"Many daughters have gathered riches," etc. He calls many daughters the churches of heretics and crowds of the wicked; and the daughters of the Catholics or of Christ or the Church, for they too are reborn through the sacraments of the Lord, and received the …
"Many women have gathered together riches; you have excelled them all." …Heresies are generated from Christian seed; they are thorns because they have been nourished outside of God's paradise, that is, outside of the catholic church. This is proved not by any conjecture of my …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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
Many daughters have done virtuously,.... This, according to Aben Ezra and Gersom, is what was said by her husband and children, and which seems to be right; especially they may be thought to be the words of her husband. By these "daughters" may be meant false churches, such as the church of Rome and her daughters, who is the mother of harlots, Rev 17:17. These are "many", when the true church of Christ is but one, to whom she is opposed, Son 6:
2 more voices on this verse
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
Many daughters have done virtuously - This is undoubtedly the speech of the husband, giving testimony to the excellence of his wife: “Her husband also, and he praiseth her, saying, ‘many daughters,’ women, ‘have done virtuously,’ with due propriety as wives, mistresses, and mothers; ‘but Thou,’ my incomparable wife, ‘excellent them all;’ ואת עלית על כלנה veath alith al cullanah, but Thou hast ascended above the whole of them - thou hast carried every duty, every virtue, and every qualification and excellency, to a higher perfection, than any of whom we have ever read or heard.” And let the reader seriously consider the above particulars, as specified under the different heads and subdivisions; and he will be probably of the same mind. But high as the character of this Jewish matron stands in the preceding description, I can say that I have met at least her equal, in a daughter of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Annesly, the wife of Samuel Wesley, sen., rector of Epworth in Lincolnshire, and mother of the late extraordinary brothers, John and Charles Wesley. I am constrained to add this testimony, after having traced her from her birth to her death, through all the relations that a woman can bear upon earth. Her Christianity gave to her virtues and excellences a heightening, which the Jewish matron could not possess. Besides, she was a woman of great learning and information, and of a depth of mind, and reach of thought, seldom to be found among the daughters of Eve, and not often among the sons of Adam.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רַבּ֣וֹת | rabot | many | H7227 → | 454 times |
| בָּ֭נוֹת | banot | daughters | H1323 → | |
| עָ֣שׂוּ | ʾasu | they have done | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| חָ֑יִל | chayil | ability | H2428 → | 246 times |
| וְ֝אַ֗תְּ | veat | and you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| עָלִ֥ית | ʾalit | you have gone up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | above | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כֻּלָּֽנָה׃ | kulanah | all of them | H3605 → | 5413 times |
רַבּ֣וֹתmany
rabotH7227 →454 times
בָּ֭נוֹתdaughters
banotH1323 →
עָ֣שׂוּthey have done
ʾasuH6213 →2628 times
חָ֑יִלability
chayilH2428 →246 times
וְ֝אַ֗תְּand you
veatH859 →1094 times
עָלִ֥יתyou have gone up
ʾalitH5927 →890 times
עַל־above
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כֻּלָּֽנָה׃all of them
kulanahH3605 →5413 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Ephesians 5:27and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless.
it leads to
- Colossians 1:22
But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence—
- Hebrews 9:14
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!
- 1 Peter 1:19
but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.
- 2 Corinthians 11:2
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
- Ephesians 1:4
For He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His presence. In love
- Colossians 1:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 37:27; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Leander of Seville, HOMILY ON THE TRIUMPH OF THE CHURCH and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.