31:16 She considers 1 a field and buys it;
from her own income 2 she plants a vineyard.
31:26 She opens her mouth 3 with wisdom,
and loving instruction 4 is on her tongue.
1 tn The first word of the seventh line begins with ז (zayin), the seventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
sn The word “considers” means “to plan carefully” in accordance with her purposes. The word is often used in the book of Proverbs for devising evil; but here it is used positively of the woman’s wise investment.
2 tn Heb “from the fruit of her hands.” The expression employs two figures. “Hands” is a metonymy of cause, indicating the work she does. “Fruit” is a hypocatastasis, an implied comparison meaning what she produces, the income she earns. She is able to plant a vineyard from her income.
3 tn The first word of the seventeenth line begins with פּ (pe), the seventeenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
sn The words “mouth” (“opens her mouth”) and “tongue” (“on her tongue”) here are also metonymies of cause, referring to her speaking.
4 tn The Hebrew phrase תּוֹרַת־חֶסֶד (torat-khesed) is open to different interpretations. (1) The word “law” could here refer to “teaching” as it does frequently in the book of Proverbs, and the word “love,” which means “loyal, covenant love,” could have the emphasis on faithfulness, yielding the idea of “faithful teaching” to parallel “wisdom” (cf. NIV). (2) The word “love” should probably have more of the emphasis on its basic meaning of “loyal love, lovingkindness.” It also would be an attributive genitive, but its force would be that of “loving instruction” or “teaching with kindness.”