Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laugheth [at] the coming day.
Comentário deste versículo
Setting
Proverbs 31:25 — "Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come" — falls within the famous acrostic poem (verses 10–31) that paints a portrait of the worthy wife. Commentaries read this verse on three levels at once: a literal pattern for godly women, a moral picture for every saint, and a prophetic shadow of the church arrayed in righteousness for the day to come.
The Saint's Practical Clothing
The first reading is moral and practical. Whatever a believer puts on outwardly, the inner garment is to be a settled strength of character that refuses every compromise of Christ's name.
Magazines"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.
The clothing is therefore not what the world admires but what God values — a moral wardrobe of firmness and dignity that costs something now but pays in joy later.
Provision That Looks Forward
A second commentator reads the verse in its near context (vv. 21–24) as the climax of her household providence. Her strength is shown in foresight; her rejoicing is the calm of one who is ready for whatever lies ahead.
C KnappShe has made ample provision for the future of those dependent on her. Not 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.
So the verse links present strength with future joy by way of stored-up treasure — practical care for one's own, and the laying up of heavenly treasure that even the poorest believer can share in.
The Pattern for the Christian Wife
The same words are held up as the divine standard for the believing woman in her own home. The whole stanza, beginning with verse 25, is given as the mirror she should look into often.
Edward DennettOther special directions need not be enlarged upon; but combined with the foregoing Scriptures, they present the divine standard for the wife; hence every Christian woman who occupies this position will use these special Scriptures as her mirror, and into it she cannot look too often. It is a wondrous sphere she is called upon to fill; and her occupation of it, in obedience to the word "as unto the Lord," is the one thing given her to do.
Strength and honour, then, are not optional finery — they are the working dress of the woman who serves her household as unto the Lord.
The Wider Picture: Christ and His Assembly
A further line of teaching takes the whole acrostic prophetically. The "worthy wife" follows directly upon "the words of the King," and so points to the assembly devoted to Christ, with everything she possesses being the result of His grace.
H J VineThis principle explains Proverbs 31 also for us; and today the assembly puts on Christ; so that He becomes everything and in all. He is made unto us righteousness from God (1 Cor. 1:30); as well as wisdom, sanctification, and redemption.
The "rejoicing in time to come" then opens out toward the marriage of the Lamb, when the bride's clothing will be openly displayed:
H J VineTruly it is said, in the last verse, "Let her own works praise her in the gates"; and thus also shall it be when the marriage of the Lamb is celebrated publicly; for we read, "To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, bright and pure; for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of the saints" (Rev. 19:8, New Trans.). Nevertheless, she will be conscious that it is all the result of His own grace.
What is woven privately now in strength and honour will be worn publicly then in shining linen, and the bride will know it is all His grace.
Summary
- Inward clothing. Strength and honour are not outward show but a settled moral firmness that refuses anything that compromises Christ's name.
- Future joy. "She shall rejoice in time to come" promises that the Lord honours those who honour Him; present cost is repaid in coming gladness.
- Forward provision. Her strength includes foresight — laying up treasure in heaven against the time to come, a privilege open even to the poorest believer (1 Tim. 6:19).
- Mirror for wives. Verses 25–29 form the divine standard the Christian wife should look into often, serving her household "as unto the Lord."
- Bride's portion. Prophetically, the verse anticipates the assembly arrayed in fine linen at the marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 19:8) — works displayed, yet all credited to His grace.