31 Give ye to her of the fruit of her hands, And her works do praise her in the gates!
The labour of thy hands thou surely eatest, Happy `art' thou, and good `is' to thee.
The fruit of the righteous `is' a tree of life, And whoso is taking souls `is' wise.
From their fruits ye shall know them; do `men' gather from thorns grapes? or from thistles figs?
for the poor always ye have with you, and whenever ye may will ye are able to do them good, but me ye have not always; what she could she did, she anticipated to anoint my body for the embalming. Verily I say to you, wherever this good news may be proclaimed in the whole world, what also this woman did shall be spoken of -- for a memorial of her.'
And Peter having risen, went with them, whom having come, they brought into the upper chamber, and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing coats and garments, as many as Dorcas was making while she was with them.
what fruit, therefore, were ye having then, in the things of which ye are now ashamed? for the end of those `is' death. And now, having been freed from the sin, and having become servants to God, ye have your fruit -- to sanctification, and the end life age-during;
And I commend you to Phebe our sister -- being a ministrant of the assembly that `is' in Cenchrea -- that ye may receive her in the Lord, as doth become saints, and may assist her in whatever matter she may have need of you -- for she also became a leader of many, and of myself. Salute Priscilla and Aquilas, my fellow-workmen in Christ Jesus -- who for my life their own neck did lay down, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the assemblies of the nations --
salute Tryphaena, and Tryphosa, who are labouring in the Lord; salute Persis, the beloved, who did labour much in the Lord.
in like manner also the right works are manifest beforehand, and those that are otherwise are not able to be hid.
for God is not unrighteous to forget your work, and the labour of the love, that ye shewed to His name, having ministered to the saints and ministering;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Proverbs 31
Commentary on Proverbs 31 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 31
This chapter is added to Solomon's proverbs, some think because it is of the same author, supposing king Lemuel to be king Solomon; others only because it is of the same nature, though left in writing by another author, called Lemuel; however it be, it is a prophecy, and therefore given by inspiration and direction of God, which Lemuel was under in the writing of it, and putting it into this form, as his mother was in dictating to him the matter of it. Here is,
Pro 31:1-9
Most interpreters are of opinion that Lemuel is Solomon; the name signifies one that is for God, or devoted to God; and so it agrees well enough with that honourable name which, by divine appointment, was given to Solomon (2 Sa. 12:25), Jedediah-beloved of the Lord. Lemuel is supposed to be a pretty, fond, endearing name, by which his mother used to call him; and so much did he value himself upon the interest he had in his mother's affections that he was not ashamed to call himself by it. One would the rather incline to think it is Solomon that here tells us what his mother taught him because he tells us (ch. 4:4) what his father taught him. But some think (and the conjecture is not improbable) that Lemuel was a prince of some neighbouring country, whose mother was a daughter of Israel, perhaps of the house of David, and taught him these good lessons. Note,
Now, in this mother's (this queen mother's) catechism, observe,
Pro 31:10-31
This description of the virtuous woman is designed to show what wives the women should make and what wives the men should choose; it consists of twenty-two verses, each beginning with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in order, as some of the Psalms, which makes some think it was no part of the lesson which Lemuel's mother taught him, but a poem by itself, written by some other hand, and perhaps had been commonly repeated among the pious Jews, for the ease of which it was made alphabetical. We have the abridgment of it in the New Testament (1 Tim. 2:9-10, 1 Pt. 3:1-6), where the duty prescribed to wives agrees with this description of a good wife; and with good reason is so much stress laid upon it, since it contributes as much as any one thing to the keeping up of religion in families, and the entail of it upon posterity, that the mothers be wise and good; and of what consequence it is to the wealth and outward prosperity of a house every one is sensible. He that will thrive must ask his wife leave. Here is,
Twenty chapters of the book of Proverbs (beginning with ch. 10 and ending with ch. 29), consisting mostly of entire sentences in each verse, could not well be reduced to proper heads, and the contents of them gathered; I have therefore here put the contents of all these chapters together, which perhaps may be of some use to those who desire to see at once all that is said of any one head in these chapters. Some of the verses, perhaps, I have not put under the same heads that another would have put them under, but the most of them fall (I hope) naturally enough to the places I have assigned them.