Proverbs 31:12-13

12, 13. She will do him good This is a continuation of the thought in the latter part of the preceding verse. So far the terms are general. The speaker now descends to particulars.

Seeketh wool… flax Either from flock or field.

Worketh willingly with her hands Literally, with the delight of her hands. “Every kind of drapery for the person, the tent, or the house, was manufactured by the women at home, who made it a matter of pride to be able to boast that their husband and children were entirely clad by the labour of their own hands.” Kitto. Women of the highest rank, the wives and daughters of nobles and kings, in ancient times devoted themselves to spinning, weaving, and other processes in the manufacture of clothing for their own use, and that of their families, as also for sale in the markets. There are frequent allusions to this in the Scriptures, and in the Greek and Roman classics. While the pursuits of husbandry the labours of the field employed:

“The king and awful fathers of mankind,”

the women of their households managed the domestic affairs, preparing both the food and the clothing of their families. Where so much had to be accomplished in the home circle, we see the reason of the value attached to capability and energy in the wife, that she might attend wisely and well to the complicated arts of her establishment.