31:23 Her husband is well-known 1 in the city gate 2
when he sits with the elders 3 of the land.
31:24 She makes linen garments 4 and sells them,
and supplies the merchants 5 with sashes.
1 tn The first word of the fourteenth line begins with נ (nun), the fourteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The form is the Niphal participle of יָדַע (yada’); it means that her husband is “known.” The point is that he is a prominent person, respected in the community.
2 tn Heb “gate”; the term “city” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
3 tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the preposition and a pronominal suffix that serves as the subject (subjective genitive) to form a temporal clause. The fact that he “sits with the elders” means he is one of the elders; he sits as a judge among the people.
4 tn The first word of the fifteenth line begins with ס (samek), the fifteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
5 tn Heb “to the Canaanites.” These are the Phoenician traders that survived the wars and continued to do business down to the exile.