the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
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New Living Translation
Proverbs 31:13
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
She searches for wool and flaxAnd works with her hands in delight.
She looks for wool and flax And works with her hands in delight.
She occupieth wooll and flaxe, and laboureth gladly with her handes.
She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She seeks wool and flax, And willingly works with her hands.
She seeks wool and flax, and she works with her hands with delight.
She is always gathering wool and flax and enjoys making things with her hands.
She seeks wool and flax, And works eagerly with her hands.
She seeketh wooll and flaxe, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She occupieth woll & flax, & laboureth gladly wt hir handes.
She looks for wool and flax And works with willing hands in delight.
She seeketh wool and flax, And worketh willingly with her hands.
She gets wool and linen, working at the business of her hands.
She seeks wool and flax, And works willingly with her hands.
She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She obtains wool and flax, and she is pleased to work with her hands.
and with her own hands she gladly makes clothes.
ד She procures a supply of wool and flax and works with willing hands.
She seeketh wooll and flaxe, and laboureth cheerefully with her handes.
She seeks wool and linen, and works willingly with her hands.
She seeks wool and flax, And works eagerly with her hands.
She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She looks for wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
Gathering wool and flax, she makes it serviceable with her hands.
She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands:
She hath sought wool and flax, and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands.
She seeks wool and flax, and she works with the diligence of her hands.
She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
She looks for wool and linen, And works with her hands in delight.
She looks for wool and flax and likes to work with her hands.
She keeps herself busy making wool and linen cloth.
She selects wool and flax and works with willing hands.
Sche souyte wolle and flex; and wrouyte bi the counsel of hir hondis.
She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands.
She hath sought wool and flax, And with delight she worketh [with] her hands.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
worketh: Genesis 18:6-8, Genesis 24:13, Genesis 24:14, Genesis 24:18-20, Genesis 29:9, Genesis 29:10, Exodus 2:16, Ruth 2:2, Ruth 2:3, Ruth 2:23, Isaiah 3:16-24, Isaiah 32:9-11, Acts 9:39, Acts 9:40, 1 Thessalonians 4:11, 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12, 1 Timothy 5:10, 1 Timothy 5:14, Titus 2:5
Reciprocal: Proverbs 31:24 - General
Cross-References
Then the Lord said to Jacob, "Return to the land of your father and grandfather and to your relatives there, and I will be with you."
"The angel said, ‘Look up, and you will see that only the streaked, speckled, and spotted males are mating with the females of your flock. For I have seen how Laban has treated you.
Three days later, Laban was told that Jacob had fled.
Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac—O Lord , you told me, ‘Return to your own land and to your relatives.' And you promised me, ‘I will treat you kindly.'
Jacob built an altar there and named the place El-bethel (which means "God of Bethel"), because God had appeared to him there when he was fleeing from his brother, Esau.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
She seeketh wool and flax,.... To get them, in order to spin them, and work them up into garments; she stays not till they are brought to her, and she is pressed to take them; but she seeks after them, which shows her willingness to work, as is after more fully expressed. It was usual in ancient times for great personages to do such works as these, both among the Grecians z and Romans: Lucretia with her maids were found spinning, when her husband Collatinus paid a visit to her from the camp a: Tanaquills, or Caia Caecilia, the wife of King Tarquin, was an excellent spinster of wool b; her wool, with a distaff and spindle, long remained in the temple of Sangus, or Sancus, as Varro c relates: and a garment made by her, wore by Servius Tullius, was reserved in the temple of Fortune; hence it became a custom for maidens to accompany newly married women with a distaff and spindle, with wool upon them d, signifying what they were principally to attend unto; and maidens are advised to follow the example of Minerva, said to be the first that made a web e; and, if they would have her favour, to learn to use the distaff, and to card and spin f: so did the daughters of Minyas, in Ovid g; and the nymphs, in Virgil h. When Alexander the great advised the mother of Darius to use her nieces to such employments, the Persian ladies were in great concern, it being reckoned reproachful with them for such to move their hands to wool; on hearing which, Alexander himself went to her, and told her the clothes he wore were wrought by his sisters i: and the daughters and granddaughters of Augustus Caesar employed themselves in the woollen manufacture by his order k; and he himself usually wore no other garment than what was made at home, by his wife, sister, daughter, and granddaughter l. The Jews have a saying m, that there is no wisdom in a woman but in the distaff; suggesting, that it is her wisdom to mind her spinning, and the affairs of her household: at the Roman marriages, the word "thalassio" was often repeated n, which signified a vessel in which spinning work was put; and this was done to put the bride in mind what her work was to be. Now as to the mystical sense of these words; as of wool outward garments, and of flax linen and inward garments, are made; by the one may be meant external, and by the other internal, acts of religion; both are to be done, and not the one without the other: outward acts of religion are, such as hearing the word, attendance on ordinances, and all good works, which make up a conversation garment that should be kept; and they should be done so as to be seen of men, but not for that reason: and internal acts of religion are, the fear of God, humility, faith, hope, love, and other graces, and the exercises of them, which make up the new man, to be put on as a garment; and these should go together; bodily exercise, without powerful godliness, profiteth little; and pretensions to spirituality and internal religion, without regard to the outward duties of religion, are all vain. Hence Ambrose, on the text, observes that one may say,
"It is enough to worship and serve God in my mind; what need have I to go to church, and visibly mingle with Christians? Such a man would have a linen, without a woollen garment, this woman knew not; she does not commend such works.''
She sought all opportunities of doing good works externally, as believers do; and sought after the kingdom of God, inward godliness, which lies in peace, righteousness, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Not that such garments are to be joined with Christs robe of righteousness, to make up a justifying one; a garment mingled with linen and woollen, in this sense, is not to come upon the saints, Leviticus 19:19;
and worketh willingly with her hands; or, "with the pleasure of her hands" o; as if her hands took delight in working, as the church and all true believers do; who are made willing in the day of the Lord's power upon them, to serve him, as well as to be saved by him; in whose hearts he works, both to will and to do; and these do what they do cheerfully: these do the work of the Lord, not by the force of the law, nor through fear of punishment, but in love; not by constraint, but willingly, having no other constraint but the love of God and Christ; and not with mercenary selfish views, but with a view to his glory; and they find a pleasure and delight in all they do; Christ's ways are ways of pleasantness; his commandments are not grievous, his yoke is easy.
z Vid. Homer. Iliad 3. v. 125. 6. v. 490, 491. & 22. v. 440. Odyss. l. v. 357. & 5. v. 62. a "Cujus, ante torumn calathi, lanaque mollis erat", Ovid. Fasti, l. 2. prope finem. b Valerius Maximus, l. 10. p. 348. c Apud Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 8. c. 48. d Plin. ibid. e Pomponius Subinus in Virgil. Cyrin, p. 1939. f "Pallade placata, lanam mollire puellae discant, et plenas exonerare colos", Ovid. Fast. l. 3. prope finem. g Metamorph. l. 4. Fab. 1. v. 34, 35. h Georgic. l. 4. i Curt. Hist. l. 5. c. 2. k Sueton. in Vit. August. c. 64. l lbid. c. 73. m Vid. Buxtorf. Lex. Rabbin. col. 1742. n Varro apud Chartar. de Imag. Deorum, p. 88. o בחפץ כפיה "cum voluptate altro neis manibus", so some in Vatablus, Tigurine version so Cocceius, Michaelis, Piscator, Gejerus, Schultens.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Worketh willingly with her hands - Or, worketh with willing hands. The stress laid upon the industrial habits of Israelite matrons may perhaps belong to a time when, as under the monarchy of Judah, those habits were passing away.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Proverbs 31:13. She seeketh wood and flax, and worketh willingly, c. —
II. This is the second part of her character, giving the particulars of which it is composed.
1. She did not buy ready woven cloth: she procured the raw material, if wool, most probably from her own flocks if flax, most probably from her own fields.
2. Here she manufactured; for she worketh willingly with her hands. And all her labour is a cheerful service; her will, her heart, is in it.
It needs no arguments to prove that women, even of the highest ranks, among the Greeks, Romans, and Israelites, worked with their hands at every kind of occupation necessary for the support of the family. This kind of employment was not peculiar to the virtuous woman in the text.
