Proverbs 31:25

Pro 31:25 Strength and honour [are] her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

Ver. 25. Strength and honour are her clothing.] See Pro 31:22. She is not of those, quae fulgent monilibus, sordent moribus, that are well habited but ill mannered. No; she is inwardly decked with spiritual attire, such as rendereth her glorious in the eyes of God and angels. "The joy of the Lord is her strength," so that she laugheth at the time to come. This "daughter of Sarah, so long as she doth well," and hath the euge a good conscience, "is not afraid with any amazement," as women are apt to be. {1Pe 3:6} Gaudebat Crispina cum tenebatur, cure audiebatur, cum damnabatur, cam dacebutur. {a} So did Mistress Anne Askew, Alice Driver, and many other gracious women that suffered for the truth in Queen Mary’s days. Strength and honour were their clothing, and they rejoiced at the time to come: they went as merry to die as to dine, and cheered up one another with this, that although they had but a bitter breakfast, yet they should sup with Christ in joy.

{a} Aug. in Ps. cxxxvii.

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.

31:25-27 The noble wife’s character exemplifies wisdom. She is coolheaded as she faces future uncertainties. She gives advice in a winsome way.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

After that he had spoken of the apparel of the body, he now declareth the apparel of the spirit.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Strength and honour--Strong and beautiful is her clothing; or, figuratively, for moral character, vigorous and honorable.

shall rejoice . . . come--in confidence of certain maintenance.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 25. Strength and honour are her clothing]

16. All the articles manufactured by herself or under her care have a double perfection:

1). They are strong.

2) They are elegant; Strength and honour are her clothing; and on account of this she shall rejoice in time to come; she shall never have occasion to blush for any thing she has made, for any thing she or hers have worn, or for any thing she has sold. Besides, she has so conducted herself that she has reason to expect that the hand of the Lord shall be still with her, and shall keep her from evil that it may not grieve her.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(25) Strength and honour are her clothing.—She never parts with them; they serve her, like clothing, for protection and ornament. (Comp. Psa_104:1.)

And she shall rejoice in time to come.—Rather, smiles at the coming day; does not fear the future.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

25. she shall rejoice in] Rather: she laugheth at, i.e. so far from regarding it with apprehension, she can look forward to it with joyful confidence. Comp. “He laugheth at the rushing of the javelin,” in the description of Leviathan, Job_41:29.

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.

Strength and honour are her clothing,.... Strength, not of body, but of mind. The church is clothed with strength, as her Lord, head, and husband, is said to be, Psa 93:1; and which she has from him; for though she is the weaker vessel, and weak in herself, yet is strong in him; and is able to bear and do all things, with a fortitude of mind to withstand every enemy, and persevere in well doing: and she is clothed with "honour"; with honourable garments, suitable to her rank and dignity; in cloth of gold, in raiment of needlework; with the garments of salvation, and the robe of righteousness;

and she shall rejoice in time to come; Aben Ezra interprets it of old age, or of the world to come; and Jarchi and Gersom of the day of death: having fulness of food and clothing, she is not afraid of want in old age, or in any time of distress that may come; and having a good name, laughs at death, and departs in peace; so these interpreters. The church of Christ fears no want at any time, nor need any of her members; they have a clothing that never waxes old, a righteousness that will answer for them in a time to come; their bread is given, and their waters are sure; they shall want no good thing; all their need is supplied from Christ; they have hope in their death, and rejoice then and sing, "O death, where is thy sting?" Co1 15:55; they will have confidence in the day of judgment, and not be ashamed; shall come to Zion with everlasting joy; and shall rejoice with Christ, angels and saints, to all eternity.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Shall rejoice in time to come - Better, rejoiceth over the time to come; i. e., looks forward to the future, not with anxious care, but with confident gladness.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Clothing: it is very beautiful, or wisdom and virtue surround her. --- Day. She fears not death, (Calmet) or future distress of hunger, &c. (Jansenius)

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).

Strength; not strength of body, which is no ornament of that sex, save only as she preserves her health and strength by sobriety and exercise, which other men waste by intemperance and idleness; but strength of mind, magnanimity, courage, resolution, activity.

Honour; either,

1. Her prudent, and pious, and amiable behaviour, in which true honour principally consists. Or,

2. That good name and honourable esteem which she hath gained amongst all that know her by her virtuous disposition and carnage.

Her clothing; these, and not her rich garments mentioned before, are her great ornament and glory.

She shall rejoice in thee to come: the sense is either,

1. In her old age she reaps the comfort and benefit of her youthful labours, Or rather,

2. She lives in constant tranquillity of mind, and a confident and cheerful expectation of all future events, how calamitous soever, partly because she hath laid in provisions for a rainy day, and chiefly because she hath the comfortable remembrance of a well-spent life, and, which follows thereupon, a just confidence in God’s gracious providence and promises made to such persons.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

25. Strength and honour — Or, beauty; (the abstract for the concrete;) her clothing is strong and beautiful, both that which she wears and that which she sells; and, therefore, she has no depressing solicitude for the future.

Shall rejoice in time to come — Rather, rejoices, or is cheerful for the future; literally, she laughs at the after day. Fearing God and working righteousness, pursuing a lucrative business and blessed of Providence, she is cheerful in view of the future.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

AYIN. Strength and honour are her clothing (ver. 17); iscu euprepeian , Septuagint. She is invested with a moral force and dignity which arm her against care and worry; the power of a righteous purpose and strong will reveals itself in her carriage and demeanour. And thus equipped, she shall rejoice in time to come; or, she laugheth (Job_5:22 Job_39:7) at the future. (Isa_30:8) She is not disquieted by any fear of what may happen, knowing in whom she trusts, and having done her duty to the utmost of her ability. The Greek and Latin versions seem to take the expression as referring to the day of death; thus the Vulgate, Ridebit in die novissimo; Septuagint, "She rejoices in the last days (en hmeraiv escataiv ). But it is best interpreted as above. The true servant of God is not afraid of any evil tidings, his heart being fixed, trusting in the Lord. (Psa_112:7)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Strength - Strength of mind, magnanimity, courage, activity. Her clothing - Her ornament and glory. Rejoice - She lives in constant tranquillity of mind, from a just confidence in God's gracious providence.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The description is now more inward:

25 ע Strength and honour is her clothing;

Thus she laugheth at the future day.

She is clothed with עז, strength, i.e., power over the changes of temporal circumstances, which easily shatter and bring to ruin a household resting on less solid foundations; clothed with הדר, glory, i.e., elevation above that which is low, little, common, a state in which they remain who propose to themselves no high aim after which they strive with all their might: in other words, her raiment is just pride, true dignity, with which she looks confidently into the future, and is armed against all sorrow and care. The connection of ideas, עז והדר (defectively written, on the contrary, at Psa 84:6, Masora, and only there written plene, and with Munach), instead of the frequent הוד והדר, occurs only here. The expression 25b is like Job 39:7, wherefore Hitzig rightly compares Job 24:14 to 25a. יום אחרון, distinguished from אחרית, and incorrectly interpreted (Rashi) of the day of death, is, as at Isa 30:8, the future, here that which one at a later period may enter upon.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

at the last day On the day of her death, she departs with a good name.

and she laughs all her life about the day of her death, that it should be honored with a good name.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.