Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laugheth [at] the coming day.
Kommentar zu diesem Vers
Here is the commentary on Proverbs 31:25:
"Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come." (Proverbs 31:25)
This verse belongs to the acrostic poem describing the "virtuous woman" in Proverbs 31:10-31. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet; verse 25 corresponds to the letter Ain. The writers draw out both its literal and spiritual significance — seeing in this woman not only a portrait of godly womanhood, but a picture of what ought to mark every believer, and ultimately the Church in her relationship to Christ.
"Strength and honour are her clothing"
The first half of the verse describes inward character that has become outwardly visible. Just as physical garments are what the world sees, so moral strength and dignity clothe this woman in the eyes of all who know her.
H. Taberner takes up this thought directly in his verse-by-verse exposition:
H. Taberner"Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come." Moral strength and divine honour should mark all the saints of God in their practical walk. We should ever be marked with the strength of character that refuses anything that compromises the honoured Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and if trouble comes to us because of this, we can be assured that we shall rejoice in a time to come, for the Lord will honour those who honour Him.
Taberner reads the "clothing" as a matter of practical walk — not outward adornment, but the moral qualities put on display in daily life. The strength in view is the strength of character that refuses compromise, even at a cost.
C. Knapp, in his study The Woman of Worth, places this verse under the heading of "Her Providence" and connects the clothing imagery with the broader passage:
C. Knapp"She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles to the merchant. Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come." A man who provides not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he is worse than an infidel, Scripture assures us (1 Tim. 5:8). The lauded housewife here does not come under the condemnation of this passage. She has made ample provision for the future of those dependent on her.
Knapp draws the contrast between the literal garments she has woven — silk, purple, fine linen — and this higher kind of clothing. The physical garments are the products of her industry; strength and honour are the garments of her character. The two go together: her diligence in temporal things is itself an expression of her moral fibre.
Knapp then presses the spiritual application, seeing in these garments a picture of the Church as the Bride of Christ:
strength and honourAnd what is the clothing of scarlet, the fine linen, the coverings of tapestry, her clothing of silk and purple, but the garments 'clean and bright' of the bride of Revelation, 'the Lamb's wife', who by her divinely energized providence had 'made herself ready'? (Rev. 19). It is "the righteousnesses of the saints" — their personally practised righteousnesses, as distinguished from that imputed righteousness by which alone they stood justified before God. This last is God's free gift, but the other is of their own prayerful, patient, persevering weaving, though taught and enabled, certainly, by the Holy Spirit.
"And she shall rejoice in time to come"
The second half looks forward. The woman clothed with strength and honour faces the future without fear — indeed, she laughs at the days to come (as the Hebrew may be rendered).
H. Taberner connects this directly to the promise that faithfulness now will be rewarded then:
H. Taberner...and if trouble comes to us because of this, we can be assured that we shall rejoice in a time to come, for the Lord will honour those who honour Him.
C. Knapp sees this as confidence born of diligent preparation:
C. KnappNot only is she prepared for the days of storm and snow, but "she shall rejoice in time to come", the delineator of her virtues says. "Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life", is the apostolic admonition concerning those that are rich in this world (1 Tim. 6:19). This, in measure, all may do, even if poor in this world's goods. To lay up for themselves treasure in heaven is the privilege even of those most indigent in the church.
She can rejoice in time to come because she has laid up treasure — both in the practical sense of providing well for her household, and in the spiritual sense of storing up what will endure into eternity.
The broader context: her husband and the Church
Edward Dennett, in The Christian Household, quotes verses 25-29 as the crowning summary of the wife's calling — the fruit of faithful obedience in the domestic sphere:
Edward Dennett"Strength and honour are her clothing; And she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom; And in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, And eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed Her husband also, and he praiseth her — 'Many daughters have done virtuously, But thou excellest them all.'" PROV. 31:25-29.
Dennett places these verses as the divine standard for the wife — the portrait Solomon paints of the woman who fills her God-given sphere in obedience "as unto the Lord."
A.J. Pollock, surveying the book of Proverbs as a whole, highlights this verse as the essence of her character:
A.J. PollockHe is warned against lust and drink, and then comes a wonderful description of a virtuous woman. Her husband's heart trusts her. She is industrious. She is farseeing. She rises early and retires late, so great is her energy. "Strength and honour are her clothing." Her speech is wise and kind. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her own works praise her in the gates.
Synthesis
Proverbs 31:25 holds together two things that belong together: present character and future confidence. The woman's "clothing" of strength and honour is not something she puts on for display — it is what her entire life of diligent, faithful, God-fearing labour has woven around her. And because her character is built on such a foundation, she faces what is coming not with anxiety but with joy.
Taberner sees in this the mark of every saint who refuses to compromise the Name of Christ and who can therefore look forward to a day of vindication. Knapp traces the "clothing" all the way to Revelation 19, where the Bride of Christ appears in "fine linen, clean and bright" — the righteousnesses of the saints, woven in this life by the Spirit's enabling, to be displayed in glory. The strength of this verse, then, is not self-confidence but the quiet assurance of one whose trust is in the Lord and whose works will follow her.