She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
Proverbs closes with a portrait of a wife, praised for seven qualities in turn. Verse 13 opens the part about her work, and the two things she gathers — wool and flax — carry as much meaning as the work itself.
The praise is ordered, not random. One writer counts the qualities and finds this verse opening the second:
The passage notes seven things about her — seven, the perfect number. Her faithfulness (vv. 11-12); Her industry (vv. 13-15); Her thrift (vv. 16-19); Her benevolence (v. 20); Her providence (vv. 21-25); Her moral excellences (vv. 26-27); and Her reward (vv. 28-31).
The poem also has a shape, and writers read the man and the woman in it as pictures:
This part of Scripture has various lessons to teach. Some apply to us as individuals. Others show the relationship of Israel and the church to Christ. In Scripture the man usually pictures the position God has given us. The woman shows the state or condition that belongs to that position. It is also interesting that these verses are written as an acrostic. Verse 10 begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each verse after it begins with the next letter in order.
Verse 13 falls to Daleth, the fourth letter of that alphabet. She buys no cloth. She hunts down the raw fibre and turns it into something usable, and that takes hours:
Proverbs 31:13 (Daleth). "She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." This loving service was for the whole household. Her seeking suggests the effort to get what her willing hands could turn into useful material for her home. Think of the hand labour and the time it took to spin this raw material into yarn for making garments. Oh that like her, we might always be watchful in devoted service to others! They are Christ's, and our service is for Him.
The two fibres are not the same, and one writer finds a pair of qualities in them:
Her clothing is not ready made, and neither is the fabric. In the east it was common for women to weave the fabric and make the clothes for the family. Wool is for warmth, the product of the sheep, the sacrificial animal. This speaks of the "work and labour of love," warm and affectionate, which Hebrews 6:10 tells us God will not forget. Flax is the material for weaving "fine linen," and that garment is cool compared with the wool. Revelation 19:8 explains it for us: "the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints." With the wool, the hands perform a work and labour of love. The linen speaks instead of works of righteousness, which spring from a living faith. How good to see these two lovely qualities in balance! Her working "willingly" too is in lovely contrast to any spirit of legality.
The verse ends with how she works. She is not driven. She works with delight, and that changes the character of the labour:
HER INDUSTRY is noted next: "She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands."… In Christ Jesus it is "faith working through love." The loving partner here works 'willingly', or with delight, as Young translates it. True love must be active while even one need of the one it loves is still unmet. It must be up and doing for the one it loves. "The labour of love" is never drudgery, but a delight, as here.
Her energy has a definite address. She spends it on the people under her own roof:
The model woman has a house to keep. God's command for women who would please Him is that they be "pure" and "working at home" (see Titus 2:5)… Food and clothing for her household take all her time. She prepares the wool and flax for spinning and weaving, and food for her people. She also gives out work to her servant girls, and lets none of them live with her in idleness.
- Seeking. Her work starts before the working. She goes after the raw wool and flax, so hidden effort meets the household's needs.
- Warmth. Wool comes from the sheep, the sacrificial animal. It pictures the warm work and labour of love that God does not forget.
- Righteousness. Flax becomes fine linen. Revelation 19:8 explains this as the righteous deeds of the saints. It is good to see warmth and righteousness in balance.
- Willingness. She works with delight, not under pressure. Labour of love is never drudgery, and it is the opposite of a spirit of legality.
- Household. Her whole effort lands on her own household: clothing and food for her people, with no one left idle.
She is like the merchants' ships she bringeth her food from afar;
This verse sits in the closing poem of Proverbs, a portrait of a woman of worth. It likens her to trading ships that sail far away for supplies. Why must her household's food come from so far? What does that distance teach?
One writer sets out two ways to read the poem, and the pattern it is built on.
This part of Scripture has various lessons to teach. Some of them apply to us as individuals. Others show the relationship of Israel and the church to Christ. In Scripture the man usually pictures the position God has given us. The woman shows the state or condition that belongs to that position. It is also worth noticing that these verses form an acrostic: verse 10 begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each verse after it begins with the next letter in order.
Another writer notes that the husband in this poem is away from home, and sees Christ in the picture.
We say absent husband, because here he is plainly away from home. This is a fitting picture of our Lord, who is absent from earth now. Like the nobleman in the parable, He has gone to a far country to receive a kingdom for Himself and to return. While He is away, His heart can trust in her whom He has left to look after His interests until He comes again.
Ships fetch what a household cannot grow nearby. The picture holds for the soul as well.
The picture in verse 14 is excellent too. Merchants' ships bring food from long distances. In the same way, she draws her provision from beyond what she can see. Of course the spiritual meaning is what matters. The believer does not find food for his soul in his local circumstances. The world around him is a wilderness. It is from the very presence of God that we must draw what our souls need day by day. Prayer, dependence and meditation are the means by which we may do this.
Ships bring more than bulk. They bring a range of goods no local market has.
Every household needs food, and its variety and presentation stir the appetite. The merchants' ships bring food in quantity and variety from other lands. We get the rich variety of heavenly food for the saints by keeping in touch with the One who is in the glory. Then the Spirit of God enables us to serve what we have received in a fresh and helpful way, to meet the needs and satisfy the desires of God's people.
So what is in the cargo? One writer answers by following the phrase "from afar" through other passages.
"She brings her food from afar." This is food to eat that the world knows nothing of. It is "bread of heaven" — Christ ministered in the power of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. The words "food from afar" remind us of Moses in his song before all the people of Israel: "May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew" (Deut. 32:2). "I will get my knowledge from afar", says Elihu, in Job 36:3. "The children's bread" is not fable or tradition, cleverly invented and craftily taught. It is "sound doctrine" drawn from the inerrant Word, the Holy Scriptures, inspired by God. Being "trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine" (1 Tim. 4:6) answers to this woman's "food from afar", the food she gives her household.
Long voyages cost effort, yet her work is never a burden. The same writer groups this verse with its neighbours under one heading.
HER INDUSTRY is noted next: "She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens." In Christ Jesus it is "faith working through love". The loving partner here works "willingly", or with delight, as Young's translation puts it. True love must keep working while even one need of the one it loves is still unmet. It must be up and doing. "The labour of love" is never drudgery, but rather a delight, as it is here.
- Absent. The husband in this poem is away. She does everything to care for his interests until he returns.
- Afar. Nothing local will feed her household. She fetches food from beyond what the eye can see, because the world around her is a wilderness.
- Means. The ships that make the journey are prayer, dependence and meditation. That is how a soul draws its daily supply from God's presence.
- Cargo. The cargo is not tradition or clever invention. It is sound teaching drawn from Scripture: Christ Himself, the bread of heaven.
- Delight. The voyage costs labour. Yet love with one need left to meet never calls the work drudgery.
And she riseth while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and the day's work to her maidens.
This verse catches the excellent wife at the one hour nobody sees her. She is up before dawn, while the house still sleeps. Commentators read the scene on two levels. It is a plain lesson in diligence. It is also a picture of care for others during the night of the Lord's rejection.
One writer finds more here than housekeeping, and notes how these closing verses of Proverbs are built.
This part of Scripture has several lessons to teach. Some apply to us as individuals. Others show the relationship of Israel and the church to Christ. In Scripture the man as a rule pictures the position God has given us. The woman shows the state or condition that goes with that position. It is also worth noticing the form of these verses. They make an acrostic: verse 10 begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and each verse after it starts with the next letter in order.
She is up early for a reason. The meal is ready, so the day's work can start the moment there is light.
She rises before dawn and feeds her household, ready to begin work with the daylight. This is the opposite of laziness and self-indulgence, which sleeps longer than the body needs. Many true servants of God have valued every hour, as this woman did. They spent their time seeking food for the saints, to sustain them for the Christian life. How much of our thought and energy do we give to the things of Christ each day?
One writer ties her giving to what the soul has first received. He finds the same pattern in the Lord Jesus.
The soul that has learned from God is filled with the purest good. Does it not then delight in sharing with others, and in denying itself to do so? Early in the morning the people came to the temple to hear the Lord Jesus, in the days just before His death. How precious that readiness to give the Word of God to souls in need! For He spent the nights on the Mount of Olives; for the sake of others He would not spare Himself (Luke 21:37-38). So too the excellent woman will rise before the night has passed. She is concerned for her household and her maidens.
Another writer asks what drives all this work.
In Christ Jesus it is "faith working through love". The loving partner here works "willingly", or with delight, as Young translates it. True love must keep working while even one need of the one it loves is still unmet. It must be up and doing for the one it loves. "The labour of love" is never drudgery, but a delight, as it is here.
The verse ends with her maidens. One writer reads their "portions" as work she plans for them.
Food and clothing for her household take up all her time. She also assigns work to her maidservants, and lets none live with her in idleness.
And her rank over them does not put her above serving them:
Her maidens are of course servants, yet she also will serve them when occasion arises. Has not the Lord of Glory Himself in grace come among us as the One who serves?
One writer takes the night in this verse as more than a time of day. It marks where we now stand.
Night comes on, but her candle still burns. It was said above, "She rises while it is yet night." It is now the night of our Lord's rejection, and no time for sleeping. But the morning dawns, thank God. "The night is far gone; the day is at hand," the watchman calls. May we never let the little candle of our testimony grow dim or go out. May it shine on "till the day breaks and the shadows flee away."
- Night — she rises before dawn. Commentators read this as the night of the Lord's rejection: a time to keep the candle burning, not to sleep.
- Rising — she is up early on purpose. This is the opposite of laziness that sleeps longer than the body needs.
- Receiving — she gives what the soul first learned from God. The giving follows the learning.
- Feeding — the household eats before daylight, so work starts on time. God's servants do the same, seeking food to sustain the saints.
- Sharing — the maidens get a portion and a task, and she leaves none idle. She even serves her own servants, as the Lord of Glory came among us as the One who serves.