Proverbs 31:26

She openeth her mouth with wisdom,.... When she opens her mouth, for it is not always open, she expresses herself in a discreet and prudent manner; as well as speaks of things not foolish and

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 openeth her mouth with wisdom; she is neither sullenly silent, nor full of vain and impertinent talk, as many women are, but speaks directly and piously, as occasion offereth itself. In her tongue is the law of kindness; her speeches are not froward and provoking, as those of foolish women frequently are, but most obliging and amiable, as being guided by wisdom and grace, and not by inordinate lusts and passions. And this practice is called a law in her tongue, because it is constant and customary, and proceeds from an inward and powerful principle of true wisdom, which in a manner necessitates and constrains her to discourse like herself, so that in a moral sense she cannot speak otherwise, unless she offer violence to herself, or the nature of the thing require sharp and severe expressions.

Proverbs 31:26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue [is] the law of kindness.Ver. 26. She openeth her mouth with wisdom.] Her mouth is not always open, but duly shut and discreetly opened - her words are few, true, and ponderous; the stream and current of her conference tends either to wisdom or kindness - that is, to duties either of piety or charity. The Jesuits forbid women to speak of God and his ways, either in good sort or in bad, and to meddle only with the distaff. But the good women in both Testaments, Abigail, Hannah, Esther, the Virgin Mary, Priscilla, Lois, &c., never heard of this new doctrine. Tatianus tells us that in the primitive Church every age and sex among the Christians were Christian philosophers; yea, that the very virgins and maids, as they sat at their work in wool, were wont to speak of God’ s word. And Nicephorus writes that the Christians, even as they laboured or journeyed, were wont to sing psalms, and that thereby there was at a certain time a Jew converted. It were surely a great grace, saith Lambert the martyr: if we might have the word of God diligently and often spoken and sung unto us in such wise that women and children might understand it. Then should it come to pass that craftsmen should sing spiritual psalms sitting at their work, the husbandman at his plough, the good housewife at her wheel, as wisheth St Jerome. And in her tongue is the law of kindness.] It is worthy the mark, saith the chronicler, that Edward I and his grandson, Edward III, the best of our kings, had the two best wives, ladies of excellent virtue, that drew evenly with them in all the courses of honour that appertained to their side. The first of these Edwards being traitorously wounded while he was yet prince in the Holy Land, as they called it, by the poisoned knife of an assassin, the Lady Eleanor his wife extracted the poison with her tongue, licking daily, while her husband slept, his rankling wounds, whereby they perfectly closed, and yet herself received no hurt So sovereign a medicine is a wife’ s tongue, anointed with the virtue of kindness and affection. Hist. Eccles., lib. iii. cap. 37. Acts and Mon., fol. 1015. Dan, 262. Speed, 646; Cavid. in Middlesex, fol. 432.

(26) She openeth her mouth with wisdom.—She is not a mere household drudge, with no thought beyond providing food and clothing for her family. She cares for their higher interests, and knows how to guide them with her wisdom. In her tongue is the law of kindness.—Kindness is the law by which she regulates all her words.

Verse 26. She openeth her mouth with wisdom] 17. He comes now to the moral management of her family. 1) She is wise and intelligent; she has not neglected the cultivation of her mind. 2) She is amiable in her carriage, full of good nature, well tempered, and conciliating in her manners and address. In her tongue is the law of kindness.] This is the most distinguishing excellence of this woman. There are very few of those who are called managing women who are not lords over their husbands, tyrants over their servants, and insolent among their neighbours. But this woman, with all her eminence and excellence, was of a meek and quiet spirit. Blessed woman!

26. the law] “Or, teaching,” R.V. marg. The wise instruction and counsel she gives is so combined with kindness, as to win rather than compel obedience. Comp. “the gracious words which proceeded out of His lips.” Luke 4:22.

Law of kindness - The words which come from the lips of the true wife are as a law giving guidance and instruction to those that hear them; but the law is not proclaimed in its sterner aspects, but

26. With wisdom — She has not neglected the cultivation of her mind, consequently she is no idle talker, no mere prattler; spends not her breath in trifling gossip; but converses with intelligence and discretion.