Proverbs 31:17

She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

King James Version · Read in your translation · Open the Explore console

Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
girdeth	חָֽגְרָ֣ה cha.ge.Rah	H2296	to gird on (as a belt · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular
loins	מָתְנֶ֑יהָ ma.te.Nei.ha	H4975	properly · noun, common masculine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular
strength	בְע֣וֹז ve.'oz	H5797	strength in various applications (force · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
strengtheneth	וַ֝תְּאַמֵּ֗ץ va.te.'a.Metz	H553	to be alert · conjunction + verb, piel sequential imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
arms	זְרֹעוֹתֶֽיהָ ze.ro.'o.Tei.ha	H2220	the arm (as stretched out) · noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person feminine singular

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Job 38:3 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Je…
1 Kings 18:46 And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Luke 12:35 Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
Ephesians 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
2 Kings 4:29 Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any…
Isaiah 44:12 The smith with the tongs both worketh in the coals, and fashioneth it with hammers, and worketh it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 31:10–end

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 (Ti1 2:9, Ti1 2:10, Pe1 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…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 31:17

To energy she adds a watchfulness in bargains, and a protracted and painful industry. The last clause may figuratively denote that her prosperity (compare Pro 24:20) is not short lived.

John Gill on Proverbs 31:17

She girdeth her loins with strength,.... Showing her readiness to every good work; and with what cheerfulness, spirit, and resolution, she set about it, and with what dispatch and expedition she performed it: the allusion is to the girding and tucking up of long garments, wore in the eastern countries, when any work was set about in earnest, which required dispatch; see Luke 17:8; the strength of creatures being in their loins, Job 40:16; the loins are sometimes put for strength, as in Plautus (r); and the sense is much the same with what follows; and strengtheneth her arms; does all she finds to do with all her might and main, as the church does; not in her own strength, but in the strengt…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 31:17

The poet has this augmented household wealth in his eye, for he continues: 17 ח She girdeth her loins with strength, And moveth vigorously her arms. Strength is as the girdle which she wraps around her body (Psa 93:1). We write חגרה בעוז; both words have Munach, and the ב of בעוז is aspirated. Thus girded with strength, out of this fulness of strength she makes firm or steels her arms (cf. Psa 89:22). The produce of the field and vineyard extend far beyond the necessity of her house; thus a great portion is brought to sale, and the gain thence arising stimulates the industry and the diligence of the unwearied woman.

The Church Fathers

"Valiantly girding her loins, she has braced her arms." Valiant she is indeed. Now we see if she is not also a maidservant. With what devotion she serves, and how readily! To prevent the flapping folds of carnal desires from getting in the way of her work she girds her loins, and so avoids treading on overlong skirts as she hurries about her work. There lies the chastity of this lady, tightly bound by the girdle of the commandment and always ready for good work.
— Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 37:10

"She girded her loins with strength," etc. Therefore the Church girded her loins with strength when, intent on the desires of the heavenly, she scorned to succumb to carnal allurements; she strengthened her arm when she prepared herself to perform works of virtue. And it is well said first to gird the loins with strength and then to strengthen the arm, because the action of a good work can in no way be acceptable to the Lord if one does not first restrain oneself from the indulgence of lust, in both body and mind. Hence the prophet says, "Cease to do evil, learn to do good" (Isaiah I). And the Lord Himself says, "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning" (Luke XII). By this, having girded loins signifies to not succumb to lust; by burning lamps signifies to shine with good works.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Poetry — Has been well defined as “the measured language of emotion.” Hebrew poetry deals almost exclusively with the great question of man’s relation to God. “Guilt, condemnation, punishment, pardon,…
Wife — The ordinance of marriage was sanctioned in Paradise (Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:4-6). Monogamy was the original law under which man lived, but polygamy early commenced (Gen. 4:19), and continued to prevail…
Writing — The art of writing must have been known in the time of the early Pharaohs. Moses is commanded “to write for a memorial in a book” (Ex. 17:14) a record of the attack of Amalek. Frequent mention is…
Commerce · Increased the wealth of nations and individuals — Increased the wealth of nations and individuals
Economics · HOUSEHOLD — HOUSEHOLD
Girdles · Used for: Strengthening the loins — Used for: Strengthening the loins
Industry · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Poetry · ACROSTICPs 25;34;37;111;112;119;145; — ACROSTICPs 25;34;37;111;112;119;145;
Wife · Domestic duties of — Domestic duties of
Wives · Good: Are diligent and prudent — Good: Are diligent and prudent
Woman · Good and virtuous, described — Good and virtuous, described
Women · Domestic duties of — Domestic duties of

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 31:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 31:10–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 31:17

John Gill on Proverbs 31:17

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 31:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 31:17

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 31:10–end

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 31:17

John Gill on Proverbs 31:17

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 31:17

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 31:16-18

Rashi on Proverbs 31:15