PROV 31:22 Interlinear View

SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 31:10–31: This poem describes a capable wife who has good character

In Hebrew, this section is arranged in the form of an acrostic poem. Each of its twenty-two verses begins with a different letter, following the normal order of the Hebrew alphabet. The poem praises the character and abilities of an ideal wife. After an introduction that describes her value (vv. 10–12), the poem describes her activities and achievements in various areas (vv. 13–27). It concludes with praise by her family (vv. 28–29) and all the people (vv. 30–31). The last two verses also serve as the poet’s final conclusion. They summarize what is truly important in an ideal wife.Waltke (page 515) says that the final two verses are praise “by all.” Murphy (page 245) agrees that the “praise” in the final two verses is the “goal or purpose of the poem.”

Some other headings for this section are:

A good wife with many abilities

Description of a Worthy Woman (NASB)

A truly good wife (CEV)

Paragraph 31:19–22

This paragraph describes the wife’s work to provide clothing and bed coverings for her family (31:19, 21, 22). It also describes her generous help to the poor (31:20).

31:22

The first line describes materials to cover her bed. The second line describes her expensive imported clothing.

^22aShe makes coverings for her bed;

^22bher clothing is fine linen and purple.

31:22a

She makes coverings for her bed;

She makes/sews her own quilts/blankets to cover her bed.
She makes coverings to spread over her sleeping place.

She makes coverings for her bed: This line is literally “She makes coverings for herself.” These coverings probably refer to things like sheets, bedspreads or quilts that give her bed an attractive appearance and make it comfortable.Waltke (page 530), UBS (page 660). Some other ways to translate this line are:

She makes quilts for herself (GW)

She makes her own bedspreads. (NLT)

See 7:16. It has the related verb phrase “decked my bed with coverings.”

31:22b

her clothing is fine linen and purple.

She wears the best kind of linen clothing/tunic and an expensive purple robe/cloak.
Her clothes are very beautiful and expensive.

her clothing is fine linen and purple: This line refers to two kinds of clothing. Both kinds were worn by very wealthy people. The Hebrew word that the BSB translates as fine linen refers to the highest quality of linen cloth that was normally imported from Egypt. The word purple refers to woolen cloth that was dyed purple with rare imported dye from Phoenicia.Waltke (page 530), Whybray (page 428), Garrett (page 251). The NET footnote (b) refers to the story in Luke 16 about the rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen. According to the TN for Luke 16:19, the “fine linen” was used as a tunic or undergarment. The “purple” was used as an outer robe. According to various internet sources, women in the Middle East wore similar garments.

Some other ways to translate this line are:

Specify the two kinds of material that were used in her clothing. For example:
She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns (NLT)
She wears a tunic that is made of imported linen and a robe that is made of expensive purple wool.
Use a more general description. For example:
All her clothes are beautiful and expensive
She wears expensive clothes that are made from imported cloth.

uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

מַרְבַדִּ֥ים

coverings

Here, coverings refers to pieces of cloth used to cover beds. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state this explicitly. See how you translated coverings in [7:16](../07/16.md). Alternate translation: “blankets” or “cloth that covers beds”

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis

שֵׁ֖שׁ וְ⁠אַרְגָּמָ֣ן לְבוּשָֽׁ⁠הּ

fine_linen and,purple clothing_of,her

Lemuel’s mother is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a clause would need in order to be complete. You could supply these words from earlier in the sentence if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “she wears fine linen and purple for her clothing”

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

שֵׁ֖שׁ וְ⁠אַרְגָּמָ֣ן

fine_linen and,purple

Here, fine linen and purple both refer to very expensive cloth. Lemuel’s mother is using the two terms together for emphasis. If it would be clearer for your readers, you could express the emphasis with a single phrase. Alternate translation: “very expensive materials”

OET-LV English word order (‘Reverse’ interlinear)

Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.

Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.