Proverbs 31 Commentary
Wife Of Noble Character
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KEY THOUGHT: But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. [Proverbs 31:30b NKJV]
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Proverbs 31 NKJV
The Words of King Lemuel’s Mother
31 The words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him:
2 What, my son?
And what, son of my womb?
And what, son of my vows?
3 Do not give your strength to women,
Nor your ways to that which destroys kings.
4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel,
It is not for kings to drink wine,
Nor for princes intoxicating drink;
5 Lest they drink and forget the law,
And pervert the justice of all [a]the afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to him who is perishing,
And wine to those who are bitter of heart.
7 Let him drink and forget his poverty,
And remember his misery no more.
8 Open your mouth for the speechless,
In the cause of all who are [b]appointed to die.
9 Open your mouth, judge righteously,
And plead the cause of the poor and needy.
The Virtuous Wife
10 Who[c] can find a [d]virtuous wife?
For her worth is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband safely trusts her;
So he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
13 She seeks wool and flax,
And willingly works with her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
She brings her food from afar.
15 She also rises while it is yet night,
And provides food for her household,
And a portion for her maidservants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
From [e]her profits she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms.
18 She perceives that her merchandise is good,
And her lamp does not go out by night.
19 She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hand holds the spindle.
20 She extends her hand to the poor,
Yes, she reaches out her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of snow for her household,
For all her household is clothed with scarlet.
22 She makes tapestry for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies sashes for the merchants.
25 Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.
Footnotes
a. Proverbs 31:5 Lit. sons of affliction
b. Proverbs 31:8 Lit. sons of passing away
c. Proverbs 31:10 Vv. 10–31 are an alphabetic acrostic in Hebrew; cf. Ps. 119
d. Proverbs 31:10 Lit. a wife of valor, in the sense of all forms of excellence
e. Proverbs 31:16 Lit. the fruit of her hands
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Commentary
The Book of Proverbs sits between a prologue in Chapter 1 and an epilogue in the last chapter. In between are numerous teachings targeted at just about every occupation: farmers, neighbors, friends, relatives, fathers, mothers, businessmen, leaders, and ordinary members of the community.
Chapter 1 introduces us to Solomon as the source of the material in the volume. The Book, therefore, shares with us the wisdom that the LORD gave Solomon upon asking.
So what is this wisdom? The teachings? Probably yes. But there is more behind the gold wrappings. That’s the subject of Proverbs 31.
The story of the wife of noble character concludes and also summarizes the Book of Proverbs. The saint becomes the wife of noble character when he or she embraces Wisdom.
The groom is the LORD Jesus Christ – the title that the LORD rightly assumes in the Book of Revelation. Or the household of faith is the bride that the Groom is pleased with.
The woman in this story is an impossibly perfect piece of creation. She plans and executes her plans. She is a businesswoman. She is a family woman. Her children are proud of her. She doesn’t eat the bread of idleness. She invests. Check it again: she is the church, or the individual saint who has gained wisdom – wisdom as taught in this book.
Her husband is pictured seated among the elders at the city gate. The thought of the 24 elders around the Lamb of God may come to mind. He is in heavenly company!
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Verse 30. The rest is foolishness, variously described as wickedness or stupidity, laziness, or greediness. That is what we are when we fail the godliness test – the wisdom test.
Charm may represent human intelligence and the means employed in the search for completeness. Beauty may represent worldly pleasures – the wrong fruit that looked great and tasty back in the Book of Genesis. They all mean nothing and amount to nothing despite having an appearance of value.
The chapter also contains a warning against drunkenness, which may possibly blind an individual. See vanity for what it is. See the emptiness of wickedness and seek Wisdom. It is a call to open the door of your heart to the one who is knocking: the LORD Jesus Christ – the Wisdom of God.
Taken together, this volume is about God’s standards and expectations. They provide rules to govern human conduct. But above it all, the greatest call is to embrace Wisdom. Then everything else falls into place.
The Book of Proverbs ends here. Coming up next is yet another volume of teachings of Wisdom, but packaged quite differently. Thank you for loving God’s word!
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