Bible Strands
Proverbs 31:14
She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author addresses a ruler while cataloging the daily routine of the virtuous woman. The description follows her selection of materials and precedes her pre-dawn distribution of meals.
The words — תָּבִיא (ta.Vi') translates as she brings, and מִ֝/מֶּרְחָ֗ק (mi./mer.Chak) means from a distance. These terms anchor the simile of maritime trade to her domestic logistics.
The thread — The maritime trade motif appears in 1 Kings 9:26 regarding Solomon’s fleet at Ezion-geber, in Ezekiel 27:3 describing Tyre’s coastal commerce, and in Proverbs 31:24 where the woman delivers goods to merchants.
Why it lands — It demands recognition that competent provision requires strategic sourcing and relentless execution. The reader must measure domestic order against the efficiency of commercial networks rather than idealize the labor.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 9:26 King Solomon also assembled a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber, which is near Eloth in Edom, on the shore of the Red Sea.
- Ezekiel 27:3 Tell Tyre, who dwells at the gateway to the sea, merchant of the peoples on many coasts, that this is what the Lord GOD says: You have said, O Tyre, ‘I am perfect in beauty.’
- Proverbs 31:24 She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchants.
- 2 Chronicles 9:10 (The servants of Hiram and of Solomon who brought gold from Ophir also brought algum wood and precious stones.