Proverbs31:31

Translation

Bestow

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on her the fruit of her hands and let

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her deeds praise her in the gates.

Paraphrase

Everyone should acknowledge that the benefits brought about by her own hands are well deserved; her achievements cause her to be spoken well of by all the city leaders (especially her husband); what she has done warrants that such this should continue to happen for a long time.

Footnotes

1: Bestow:

Grammatically this is a command, but it is also an acknowledgment of something that is already a reality.

2: Let

The command to “let” or “may there be” has two aspects (or maybe more). It is a command that something should happen, but it is also the recognition of a reality that already exists. See my paraphrase for my attempt at expressing these two ideas.

WAS THIS A DESCRIPTION OF THE SHULAMMITE?

I believe it was a description of the favorite wife of Solomon whom he called the Shulammite (see my comments after Song of Solomon 1:2 about the names Solomon and Shulammite). I believe that she became so special to him because she fulfilled the picture his mother had placed in his mind. He sought for a wife outside of the nobility, someone from the working class, because he had been taught, and later experienced first-hand, the fickle nature of most women among the nobility. We are not told in Scripture that the Shulammite did the types of things mentioned in Proverbs 31, but we are indeed guided in understanding that their hearts beat as one, united on every level.

LESSONS TO BE LEARNED FROM THIS PASSAGE

  1. A husband and wife need to be able to trust each other completely.
  2. In your marriage, seek a unity which unites your hearts on every level.
  3. Work for the benefit of others, not yourself, and you will become a lovely person.
  4. Living God’s way is the only way to live in victory over self-centeredness.
  5. Life is hard and there is little room for laziness.
  6. Work toward being prepared for the future, don’t do the bare minimum to just get by for today.
  7. Always praise each other and lift each other up, don’t cut each other down.
  8. Make it a habit and a priority to help those around you that are in need.
  9. Teach your children to not fall for the world’s definition of beauty; the world’s kind of beauty is only skin deep and does not stay around permanently. Inward beauty does remain permanently if we continue to focus on the inward qualities that produce it.