Proverbs 31:12-20

31:12 She brings him ¹  good and not evil ² 

all the days of her life.

31:13 She obtains ³  wool and flax,

and she is pleased to work with her hands. ⁴ 

31:14 She is like ⁵  the merchant ships; ⁶ 

she brings her food from afar.

31:15 She also gets up ⁷  while it is still night,

and provides food ⁸  for her household and a portion ⁹  to her female servants.

31:16 She considers ¹⁰  a field and buys it;

from her own income ¹¹  she plants a vineyard.

31:17 She begins ¹²  her work vigorously,

and she strengthens ¹³  her arms.

31:18 She knows ¹⁴  that her merchandise is good,

and her lamp ¹⁵  does not go out in the night.

31:19 Her hands ¹⁶  take hold ¹⁷  of the distaff,

and her hands grasp the spindle.

31:20 She extends ¹⁸  her hand ¹⁹  to the poor,

and reaches out her hand to the needy.

[31:12]  ¹ tn The first word of the third line begins with ג (gimel), the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:12]  ² sn The joining of these two words, “good” and “evil,” is frequent in the Bible; they contrast the prosperity and well-being of her contribution with what would be devastating and painful. The way of wisdom is always characterized by “good”; the way of folly is associated with “evil.”

[31:13]  ³ tn The first word of the fourth line begins with דּ (dalet) the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The verb דָרַשׁ (darash) means “to seek; to inquire; to investigate.” The idea is that she looks for the wool and flax to do her work, but the whole verse assumes she has obtained it. This verb also occurs in the hymn of Ps 111, which says in v. 2 that “the works of the Lord are searched.” One word used in another passage is not that significant; but the cumulative effect of words and ideas suggest that the composition of this poem is influenced by hymnology.

[31:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “and she works in the pleasure of her hands.” The noun חֵפֶץ (khefets) means “delight; pleasure.” BDB suggests it means here “that in which one takes pleasure,” i.e., a business, and translates the line “in the business of her hands” (BDB 343 s.v. 4). But that translation reduces the emphasis on pleasure and could have easily been expressed in other ways. Here it is part of the construct relationship. The “hands” are the metonymy of cause, representing all her skills and activities in making things. It is also a genitive of specification, making “pleasure” the modifier of “her hands/her working.” She does her work with pleasure. Tg. Prov 31:13 has, “she works with her hands in accordance with her pleasure.”

[31:14]  ⁵ tn The first word of the fifth line begins with ה (he), the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:14]  ⁶ sn The point of the simile is that she goes wherever she needs to go, near and far, to gather in all the food for the needs and the likes of the family. The line captures the vision and the industry of this woman.

[31:15]  ⁷ tn The first word of the sixth line begins with ו (vav), the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:15]  ⁸ sn The word for “food” is טֶרֶף (teref, “prey”; KJV “meat”), another word that does not normally fit the domestic scene. This word also is used in a similar way in Ps 111:5, which says the Lord gives food. Here it is the noble woman who gives food to her family and servants.

[31:15]  ⁹ sn The word חֹק (khoq) probably means “allotted portion of food” as before, but some suggest it means the task that is allotted to the servants, meaning that the wise woman gets up early enough to give out the work assignments (Tg. Prov 31:15, RSV, NRSV, TEV, NLT). That is possible, but seems an unnecessary direction for the line to take. Others, however, simply wish to delete this last colon, leaving two cola and not three, but that is unwarranted.

[31:16]  ⁹ tn The first word of the seventh line begins with ז (zayin), the seventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from the fruit of her hands.” The expression employs two figures. “Hands” is a metonymy of cause, indicating the work she does. “Fruit” is a hypocatastasis, an implied comparison meaning what she produces, the income she earns. She is able to plant a vineyard from her income.

[31:17]  ¹¹ tn The first word of the eighth line begins with ח (khet), the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:17]  ¹² sn The expression “she makes her arm strong” parallels the first half of the verse and indicates that she gets down to her work with vigor and strength. There may be some indication here of “rolling up the sleeves” to ready the arms for the task, but that is not clear.

[31:18]  ¹³ tn The first word of the ninth line begins with ט (tet), the ninth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:18]  ¹⁴ sn The line may be taken literally to mean that she is industrious throughout the night (“burning the midnight oil”) when she must in order to follow through a business deal (W. McKane, Proverbs [OTL], 668); cf. TEV. But the line could also be taken figuratively, comparing “her light” to the prosperity of her household – her whole life – which continues night and day.

[31:19]  ¹⁵ tn The first word of the tenth line begins with י (yod) the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

[31:19]  ¹⁶ tn The verb שִׁלַּח (shilakh), the Piel perfect of the verb “to send,” means in this stem “to thrust out; to stretch out.” It is a stronger word than is perhaps necessary. It is a word that is also used in military settings to describe the firmness and forthrightness of the activity (Judg 5:26).

[31:20]  ¹⁷ sn The parallel expressions here underscore her care for the needy. The first part uses “she spreads her palm” and the second “she thrusts out her hand,” repeating some of the vocabulary introduced in the last verse.

[31:20]  ¹⁸ tn The first word of the eleventh line begins with כּ (kaf), the eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet.