Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.
Parallel Translations
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Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.
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Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
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Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Cross-references (19)
Passages linked to Proverbs 31:30 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 1:7 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; but the foolish despise wisdom and instruction.
- 1 Peter 3:4-5 but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. For this is how in the past, the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands.
- Proverbs 11:22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout, is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.
- Proverbs 8:13 The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil. I hate pride, arrogance, the evil way, and the perverse mouth.
- 1 Peter 1:24 For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;
- Esther 1:11-12 to bring Vashti the queen before the king with the royal crown, to show the people and the princes her beauty; for she was beautiful. But the queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s commandment by the eunuchs. Therefore the king was very angry, and his anger burned in him.
- Psalms 147:11 Yahweh takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his loving kindness.
- 1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each man will get his praise from God.
- 1 Peter 1:7 that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ—
- Proverbs 6:25 Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
- Luke 1:6 They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord.
- 2 Samuel 14:25 Now in all Israel there was no one to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty. From the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no defect in him.
- Luke 1:46-50 Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord. My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has looked at the humble state of his servant. For behold, from now on, all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things for me. Holy is his name. His mercy is for generations of generations on those who fear him.
- Ecclesiastes 12:13 This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
- James 1:11 For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits.
- Exodus 1:17-21 But the midwives feared God, and didn’t do what the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the baby boys alive. The king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said to them, “Why have you done this thing and saved the boys alive?” The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women aren’t like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied, and grew very mighty. Because the midwives feared God, he gave them families.
- Romans 2:29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.
- Ecclesiastes 7:18 It is good that you should take hold of this. Yes, also don’t withdraw your hand from that; for he who fears God will come out of them all.
- Ezekiel 16:15 “ ‘ “But you trusted in your beauty, and played the prostitute because of your renown, and poured out your prostitution on everyone who passed by. It was his.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (16 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 31:30 Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain:…
Pro 31:30 Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Ver. 30. Favour is deceitful.] Some marry by their eyes, and some by their fingers’ ends. Dos, non Deus, makes such marriages, but they commonly prove unhappy. There is esh, esh, fire, fire, of debate and discord between that ish and ishah, that man and wife, where Jah is not the matchmaker, as the Cabbalists have collected. Favour will fade, and beauty wither; a herd of pox will mar the fairest face, and of a Nireus make a Thersites. Forma bonum fragile est, saith one poet; {a} Res est forma fugax, saith another. {b} But better than they both the prophet Isaiah, "All flesh is grass, and the glory thereof as the flower of the field." All these outward accoutrements are non tantum fallacia quia dubia, verum etiam insidiosa quia dulcia, saith Lactantius; because there is no trusting to them, so there is great danger in them, as Absalom and his sister Tamar found in their beauty.
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But a woman that feareth the Lord.] That is indeed the crown of all commendation, as that which makes one "all glorious within," amiable and admirable beyond belief. Nicostratus, in Aelian, himself being a cunning artisan, finding a curious piece of work, and being wondered at by one, and asked what pleasure he could take to stand gazing as he did on the picture, answered, Hadst thou mine eyes thou wouldst not wonder, but rather be ravished as I am at the inimitable art of this rare piece. So if men had saints’ eyes to see the beauty of holiness, the excellency of the new creature, they would prize and prefer it before the shining rubbish of all earth’s beauty and bravery. But as Augustus, in his solemn feasts, gave to some gold, to others gauds and trifles, so doth God to some give his fear, to others beauty, wealth, honour, and with these they rest contented. But what saith the Psalmist? "The Lord that made heaven and earth bless thee out of Sion," - q.d., The blessings that come out of Sion are choice blessings, even above any that come out of heaven and earth.
She shall be praised.] Shall live and die with honour. The body of honour is virtue, the soul of it humility. Whosoever rises without the one, or stands without the other, embraces but the shadow of a shadow; may be notable or notorious, cannot be truly noble.
{a} Ovid.
{b} Seneca.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Favour; comeliness; or, as the next clause explains it,…
Favour; comeliness; or, as the next clause explains it, beauty, which commonly gives women favour or acceptation with those who behold them. These are the words either,
1. Of her husband, continuing to praise her. Or,
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2. Of Bathsheba, giving the sum of what she had said in few words.
Is deceitful; partly, because it gives a false representation of the person, being ofttimes a cover to a most deformed soul, and to many evil and hateful qualities; partly, because it doth not give a man that content and satisfaction which at first view he promised to himself from it; and partly, because it is soon lost, not only by death, but by many diseases and contingencies.
That feareth the Lord; which character is here mentioned either,
1. As the crown of all her perfections. Or,
2. As a key to understand the foregoing passage of that wisdom, and fidelity, and diligence, which proceeded from or is accompanied with the fear of God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain,.... A well…
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain,.... A well favoured look, a graceful countenance, symmetry and proportion of parts, natural or artificial beauty, are vain and deceitful; oftentimes under them lies an ill natured, deformed, and depraved mind; nor is the pleasure and satisfaction enjoyed as is promised along with these; and particularly how do they fade (e) and consume away by a fit of illness, and through old age, and at last by death? And so vain and deceitful are the favour and beauty, the artificial paintings, of Jezebel, that whore of Rome; all her meretricious deckings, dressings, and ornaments; her gaudy pomp and show in her worship, and the places of it; see Rev 17:4. Jarchi interprets this of the grandeur and glory of the kings of the nations;
but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised; any single individual, man or woman, that fears the Lord; or a collective body of them, a society consisting of such persons, as the true church of Christ does; who have the grace of fear in their hearts, which is the beginning of wisdom, and includes the whole of religious worship, internal and external, private and public: such are taken notice of and highly valued by the Lord; his eye is upon them; his hand communicates to them much grace; and many benefits are bestowed upon them here, and great honour is conferred upon them, and great goodness is laid up for them.
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(e) "Forma bonum fragile est", Ovid. de Arte Amandi, l. 2.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain favour - Comeliness, which commonly gives women favour with…
favour - Comeliness, which commonly gives women favour with those who behold them. Deceitful - It gives a false representation of the person, being often a cover to a deformed soul; it does not give a man that satisfaction, which at first he promised to himself from it; and it is soon lost, not only by death, but by many diseases and contingencies.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 30. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain,…
Verse 30. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain, c.]
III. Here is the summing up of the character.
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1. Favour, חן chen, grace of manner may be deceitful, many a fair appearance of this kind is put on, assumed for certain secular or more unworthy purposes it is learned by painful drilling in polished seminaries, and, being the effect of mere physical discipline, it continues while the restraint lasts; but it is שקר sheker, a lie, a mere semblance, an outward varnish. It is not the effect of internal moral regulation; it is an outside, at which the inside murmurs; and which, because not ingenuous, is a burden to itself.
2. Beauty, היפי haiyophi, elegance of shape, symmetry of features, dignity of mien, and beauty of countenance, are all הבל hebel, vanity; sickness impairs them, suffering deranges them, and death destroys them.
3. "But a woman that feareth the Lord," that possesses true religion, has that grace that harmonizes the soul, that purifies and refines all the tempers and passions, and that ornament of beauty, a meek and quiet mind, which in the sight of God is of great price-
She shall be praised.] This is the lasting grace, the unfading beauty.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The last lesson of the book is the same…
The last lesson of the book is the same as the first. The fear of the Lord is the condition of all womanly, as well as of all manly, excellence.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Lord. Hitherto natural qualifications appear: but to these the…
Lord. Hitherto natural qualifications appear: but to these the Christian matron must add sincere piety: and thus Solomon completes the character of his mother, (Calmet) who had given him such excellent instructions, or of any accomplished woman. Outward beauty soon (Haydock) decays; but the fear of God is more deserving of praise. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Favour--or, "Grace" of personal manner.
Favour--or, "Grace" of personal manner.
beauty--of face, or form (compare Pro 11:22). True piety alone commands permanent respect and affection (Pe1 3:3).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 30. Favour — חן, (hhen,) grace; that is, gracefulness…
30. Favour — חן, (hhen,) grace; that is, gracefulness of person — comeliness.
Is deceitful — Illusive.
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And beauty is vain — “Elegance of shape, symmetry of features, dignity of mien, are all הבל, (hebhel,) ephemeral, a vanity, a breath. Sickness impairs them, suffering deranges them, and death destroys them.” — Clarke.
A woman that feareth the Lord — And, therefore, has in her own heart the principle whence all true womanhood springs.
She shall be praised — “She is to be praised.” — Gesenius. She should be celebrated for her many virtues. תתהלל, (tithhallel,) may be rendered, She shall glorify herself; that is, in a good sense, indirectly, by her excellent character and pious behaviour. She shall secure for herself immortal honour. It is to be observed here, that the book concludes, as it begins, with a significant emphasis on the fear of the Lord, which is now not merely the beginning of wisdom, but “the condition of all womanly as well as manly excellence.” — Speaker’s Commentary.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 30. that feareth the Lord] Thus does Wisdom, true…
30. that feareth the Lord] Thus does Wisdom, true ever to herself, return in her last utterance to her first (Pro_1:7), and place once again the crown on the head of the godly.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (30) Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain.—Outward graces…
(30) Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain.—Outward graces do not last; praise that will be real and enduring is for those only who fear the Lord, and, out of regard for Him, perform the duties of life as the “virtuous woman” here described.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain SHIN. The writer confirms the husband"s praise by assigning…
SHIN. The writer confirms the husband"s praise by assigning to it its just grounds. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain. Chen, "favour," may signify either the good will with which one is regarded, or gracefulness, beauty. As being in close parallelism with the next words, it is best taken as referring to loveliness of form. Mere gracefulness, if considered as a token of a wife"s work and usefulness, is misleading; and beauty is transitory and often dangerous. Neither of them is of any real value unless accompanied by religion. As the gnomic poet says Mh krin orwn to kallov alla topon . "Judge not at eight of beauty, but of life.
But a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. So we come back to the maxim with which the whole book began, that the foundation of all excellence is the fear of the Lord. (Pro_1:7) Such, too, is the conclusion of Ecclesiastes, (Ecc_12:13) "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Septuagint, "False are charms (areskeiai ), and vain is the beauty of woman; for a prudent woman is blessed, and let her praise the fear of the Lord.
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Rival attractions.
Lemuel"s mother warns her son against the fascinations of superficial charms in his choice of a wife, and points to the attractiveness of a God-fearing woman.
I THE VANITY OF BEAUTY.
1. It is but temporary. The bloom of beauty fades with youth; but a wife is to be a man"s helpmeet throughout life, and, if both are spared, his companion in age. In making a choice for life a man should consider enduring traits.
2. It is superficial. Beauty of face and grace of form are only bodily attributes, They may have no corresponding mental, moral, and spiritual merits.
3. It is deceptive. The fascination of a pretty face may delude a man into neglecting more important considerations in the woman of his choice. Ill temper may be taken for strength of character, frivolity for liveliness, mere softness of disposition for love. But the great disillusion of lifelong companionship will dispel all these mistakes, when the discovery is to, late to be of any use. On the other hand, there is no need to take refuge in a monkish contempt of beauty. All beauty is a work of God. It is the duty of a woman to make herself pleasing to others. The finest beauty is a product of health, good temper, and the expression of worthy sentiments all of them desirable things. Note: The vanity of beauty shows the mistake of pursuing "art for art"s sake," to the neglect of morality, duty, truth, and charity.
II THE GRACE OF RELIGION. The woman that feareth the Lord" is to be prodded. Though, perhaps, less beautiful in form and countenance, she has the higher beauty of holiness. The Madonna stands infinitely above the Venus. The grace of the God-fearing woman has its own true attraction for those who can appreciate it.
1. It is enduring. Beauty fades; goodness endures. This should ripen with years into a more rich and mellow grace.
2. It is deep. The prolonged acquaintanceship that reveals the utter hollowness and unreality of those attractions which consist only in bodily form and skin-complexion only makes more apparent the treasures of a true and worthy character. Trouble that ploughs fatal furrows in the cheek of the mere beauty unveils the tender grace of the truly godly woman. Those scenes wherein earthly beauty fails open up wondrous treasures of heavenly grace.
3. It is satisfying. A feverish excitement accompanies the adoration of earthly beauty; but the beauty of a sweet, true, generous soul is restful and comforting.
4. It is worthy of honour. Poets give us their dreams of fair women. A higher subject would be the praises of God-fearing women. How much of the world"s blessedness springs from the devotion of unselfish women the self-sacrifices of true wives, the toils and prayers of good. mothers!
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be…
Pro_31:30
A woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
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A woman worthy of praise
This text recognises the fact that a woman seeks admiration. She loves to be praised. What is so natural and universal cannot be wrong. Generally speaking, a woman who has lost the desire of praise is a lost woman. Her self-respect has gone, and she has parted with her strongest motive to strive after personal excellence. A. woman wins her way and strengthens her influence by the admiration she commands and the affection she inspires. Praise is more necessary to the right growth and happy development of human character than is commonly supposed. We do each other a moral wrong by withholding it when deserved. The desire to be commended may be thought an unworthy and selfish motive. It is unworthy when the heart is satisfied with the praise of foolish people. Very important it is whose praise we seek. All dishonest gains are bad. To claim commendation when we are conscious of not deserving it, or even to accept it without protest, is mean and destructive of personal integrity. To seek the honour that cometh from God, to deserve well of the good, can only spring from sympathy with goodness. The text glances at means of winning admiration which you must not rely on. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain. The praise these will bring you is not worth coveting. Beauty of form and feature is almost always a snare when it is not an index to beauty of soul. A woman should not place her worth in these outward advantages. She is to aim at a higher beauty, to seek to be beautiful in the eyes of Him who seeth not as man seeth. Three things should guide you in dress--truth, order, and harmony. You violate the rule of truth if you ever dress so as to be mistaken for what you are not. You should never purchase what will have an ill look when it is shabby. If you do you violate the law of order. You offend against the law of harmony if what you have on excites remark. A woman is dressed harmoniously when her dress seems part of herself. As the world is, marriage is the goal of a womans existence. Marriage makes or mars a woman. Girls whose chief talk is about young men merit severe reprobation. On this matter good advice may be summed up under three heads: Think little. Talk less. Do nothing. It will be time enough for you to think what your chances are and whom you will marry when the question comes before you in a practical form. This advice is based upon sound reasons and justified by manifold experiences. Piety is the bond of feminine virtues, the crown of womanly graces. A cold theology of intellectual ideas will never satisfy you. The religion that will command your devotion and obedience must offer a living person to your faith and loyal affection. The gospel offers you the Lord Jesus. Translate the description of fidelity, kindness, industry, and prudence given in this chapter into the language of to-day. Picture to yourselves this model of womanly excellence set in the duties and circumstances of your own lives, and then aim to be like her, for such will be the woman that feareth the Lord, and whom He will deem worthy of praise. (E. W. Shalders, B.A.)
Womans praises and virtues
I. Her virtues (Pro_31:11-27). Her conjugal fidelity; her kindness and constancy of affection; her housewifery and diligence; her thrift and management; her industry and assiduity; her charity and liberality; her providence and forecast; her magnificence in furniture and apparel; her reputation in public; her traffic and trade abroad; her discretion and obligingness in discourse; her care of home and good government of her family.
II. Her praise. At home; in public; through the whole country where she lives. Prove virtue to be the only praiseworthy thing. Favour and beauty are frail, and subject to decay in their nature and in the opinions of men. They are things that may be counterfeited and put on. They prove too frequently occasions of evil and incentives to sensuality. The good woman prizes favour and beauty under three conditions. Not so as ambitiously to seek them or fondly to vaunt them. Not so as to rely on them as solid goods. Not so as to misemploy them, but to guide them with virtue and discretion. Praise is sure to come to the woman that feareth the Lord. The woman has equal rights with man. A virtuous woman may mean a stout, valiant woman; or a busy, industrious woman; or a woman of wealth and riches; or a discreet woman. In its principle, this fear is a reverential fear. In its operations, like the warp, it runs through the whole web of all her duties. Such a woman shall be praised. (Adam Littleton, D.D.)
Beauty and goodness
I. The approbation to be desired. The love of approbation is at once a virtuous and a powerful motive. It includes the approbation of God and of good men. Some, however, cherish the love of approbation too much, and will sacrifice principle in order to obtain it. It is a dangerous thing to have the approval of every one; it is apt to make us careless, proud, or indifferent.
II. The false means which are sometimes relied on to secure this end. Favour means a graceful manner, demeanour, and deportment. Beauty refers to the countenance. We may thank God for beauty of person and elegance of manner as for any other of the blessings of this life. Used rightly, beauty may be a virtue, but perverted it becomes a source of great and awful evil.
III. The certain and only road to approbation. The woman who wishes to be praised must cultivate religious principle. Women are apt to attach undue importance to the external and to neglect the spiritual. Beauty without goodness passes away like a vapour, and leaves no trace behind; or if it succeeds in being remembered, it is only that it may be despised and abhorred. (Clement Dukes, M.A.)
Womans virtues
As virtues of the true matron there are named, above all, the fear of God as the sum of all duties to God; then chastity, fidelity, love to her husband without any murmuring; diligence and energy in all domestic avocations; frugality, moderation and gentleness in the treatment of servants; care in the training of children; and beneficence to the poor. (Melancthon.)
Womans influence
I. Favour is deceitful. Mens favour, the worlds favour, how fickle it ever is, how soon it changes, and what a short time it exists! How many souls have been ruined by the worlds favours! Flattery has produced pride, and has blinded the eyes and led the steps along the downward way.
II. Beauty is vain. We need not disparage beauty in itself. Beauty of form and feature is of God. But how short-lived mere beauty of face is! Sicknesses lessen it, increasing age denies it, afflictions spoil it.
III. What shall give us power and influence for good? Fearing the Lord. This makes the highest and grandest type of woman. (Uriah Davies, M.A.)
Lasting love
That love which is cemented by youth and beauty, when these moulder and decay, as soon they do, fades too. But if husbands and wives are each reconciled unto God in Christ, and so heirs of life and one with God, then are they truly one in God each with the other, and that is the surest and sweetest union that can be. (Archbp. Leighton.)
Woman retaining honour
A gracious woman retaineth honour. That is, a woman distinguished for her modesty, meekness, and prudence, and other virtues, will engage affection and respect when other accomplishments fade and decline. (B. E. Nicholls, M.A.)
Woman: her dues and her debts
There is among men no general agreement as to what exactly woman is, or means, and what precisely she is for, and rather less agreement among her own sex. Woman has been a great while in finding her place, and slow in even suspecting that any place of power and dignity is her due. Woman has been cautiously conceded to have powers of thought, or to be susceptible to a degree of discipline, but those susceptibilities have been regarded suspiciously and handled evasively. In higher social classes woman is considered rather in the light of a delicacy; as no true constituent of the bone and sinew of society; more an ornament than a utility, like the pictures we hang on our walls, or the statuary we range in our alcoves--a kind of live art. A womanly woman is feminine by nature, more feminine by grace, and will be consummately feminine by translation. What it lies in the nature of a thing to become is a providential indication of what God wants it to become by improvement and development. An uneducated woman is as much a mistake as an uneducated man is a mistake. By education is meant, first of all, womanliness, built out of alternate layers of intelligence sharpened by discipline and integrity, chastened by the manifold graces of God. A young woman, as much as a young man, belongs to her times. The beauty of a home and the strength of a home is that it is the product of affectionate co-operation and conspiracy between the prime partners to the contract. Society has not yet made any improvement on the marriage idea as it is laid down in the second chapter of Gods book--that the wife is to be her husbands helpmeet. The hope of civilisation is the home, and the hope of the home is the mother. Characterless mothers and enervated homes are to be dreaded more than outward assaults of immorality or insinuations of a gross philosophy; for it is the enervation of the home that gives to gross philosophy and bad morality the opportunity to take hold and do its corroding and poisonous work. Civilisation would be kept as grand as the home is kept, and the keystone of home is the mother. (C. H. Parkhurst, D.D.)
The virtuous woman
Note--
1. Her industry and activity.
2. Her benevolence and kindness.
3. Her prudence or discretion.
4. Her devotion to God.
The importance of true religion as the crowning grace of womanhood cannot be over-estimated. (Frederick Greeves, D.D.)
Our mothers
Writing in her diary soon after the birth of her babe, Margaret Fuller put these words, I am the mother of an immortal being. God be merciful to me a sinner! A true woman cannot feel other than seriously the import of such an experience. Somebody has said, She who rocks the cradle rules the world! The world is what those constituting it make it. Like mother, like child. How great and sacred are a mothers responsibilities! Her teaching and example are the most forceful agents in the formation of her childs life. Virtue is transmitted as well as evil. The good we do lives after us as potentially as the bad. The strong things in a mothers life pass on to the child as well as the weak. Let no mother say that her sphere is obscure or secondary. A noble ambition can fill no wider scope. Certain things are essential if you are wisely to fulfil your responsibilities of motherhood.
1. Endeavour to be what you would have your child become; in character, in morals, in religion.
2. Look well to yourself. Live what you teach.
3. Win the respect of your child.
4. Never let your child get beyond you in intellectual sympathy. Hearts may keep pace where heads cannot. Learn to sympathise with religious perplexities, and learn how best they may be eased and remedied.
5. Let your child be always certain of your love. Be faithful to your womans instinct. Deal patiently and lovingly with your child. Keep the home life bright for him. Learn to respect his rights. Allow him room for the free play of the varied powers God has given him. Are you not assured of grace sufficient for all your mother-needs? (George Bainton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain (See Scofield "Psa 19:9")
feareth
(See Scofield "Psa 19:9")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Elegance is deceptive
Elegance is deceptive
The abstract noun "elegance" can be translated as an adjective. AT: "A gracious woman can deceive people" or "A woman with good manners could really be evil" See how you translated this in Proverbs 11:16. (See: Abstract Nouns)
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beauty is vain
The abstract noun "beauty" can be translated as an adjective. AT: "a woman who is beautiful now will not always be beautiful" (See: Abstract Nouns)
she will be praised
This can be translated in active form. AT: "people will praise her" (See: Active or Passive)
the fruit of her hands
The money she has earned from the work she did with wool and flax (Proverbs 31:13) is spoken of as if it were fruit growing off a tree. The hands are a synecdoche for the person. See how you translated this in Proverbs 31:16. AT: "the money she has earned" (See: Metaphor and Synecdoche)
let her works praise her in the gates
She will be praised for her works, not by her works. Those "in the gates" are the important people of the city who conduct business and legal affairs near the gates of the city. AT: "may the important people of the city praise her because of the works she has done" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
deceive
vain
fear
Yahweh
praise
fruit
works
gate
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 31:30-31 The book concludes where it began, by affirming…
31:30-31 The book concludes where it began, by affirming the ultimate importance of the fear of the Lord (see 1:7). A woman’s character is more important than her physical beauty.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.