Proverbs 31:12

She will do him good, and not evil,.... Or, repay good unto him, give him thanks for all the good things bestowed by him on her; will seek his interest, and promote his honour and glory to the

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. The praises of a virtuous woman; forming a Hebrew acrostic. The 22 years begin with the several 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet consecutively; M.

She will improve, and not waste his estate.

Proverbs 31:12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.Ver. 12. She will do him good, and not evil, &c.] She is constant in her conjugal affection, and sticks to him, as Sarah did to Abraham, in all changes and chances whatsoever. She "leaves not off her kindness to the living, and to the dead." See that notable example of the Lady Valadaura in Ludovicus Vives.

Verse 12. She will do him good] 4. She has her husband's happiness in view constantly. She recompenses all his kindness to her in beneficent acts. For kind words she returns kind deeds. 1) Her good is unmixed; she will do him good, and not evil. 2) Her good is not capricious; it is constant and permanent, while she and her husband live. His heart safely trusts in her, for she will do him good all the days of her life. This is her general character.

VIII. The Virtuous Woman. Chap. Proverbs 31:10-31 This short Appendix differs from the other Sections of the Book of Proverbs in having one subject throughout, and in being in form acrostic or alphabetical. Each verse begins with a letter, taken in order, of the Hebrew alphabet. There is nothing in the contents of the Section to throw light upon either its age or authorship. The alphabetical arrangement cannot safely be regarded as a proof of a late date of composition. A similar arrangement occurs in several Psalms and in the opening chapters of the Book of Lamentations; and some at least of these must be assigned to a comparatively early date. It is more probable that the arrangement in question, belonging as it does for the most part to didactic poems, was a device adopted to assist the memory. (See The Book of Psalms, Vol. i. Introd. p. xlviii. in this Series; and Bp Perowne on Psalms 25:1.) The LXX reverse the order of two letters of the Hebrew alphabet here. The same two letters are transposed in the Hebrew in three (chaps, 2, 3, 4) out of the four alphabetical poems in the Book of Lamentations. See Comm. on that Book in this Series. Introd. pp. 354, 5. The picture here drawn of woman in her proper sphere of home, as a wife and a mother and the mistress of a household, stands out in bright relief against the dark sketches of woman degraded by impurity, or marred by imperfections, which are to be found in earlier chapters of this Book (Proverbs 2:16-20; Proverbs 5:1-23; Proverbs 7; Proverbs 22:14; Proverbs 23:27-28, and Proverbs 11:22; Proverbs 19:13; Proverbs 21:19). Corruptio optimi pessima. We have here woman occupying and adorning her rightful place, elevated by anticipation to the high estate to which the Gospel of Christ has restored her. It is an expansion of the earlier proverb: “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22).

12, 13. She will do him good — This is a continuation of the thought in the latter part of the preceding verse. So far the terms are general. The speaker now descends to particulars.