Proverbs 31:20

The Virtuous Woman Ministers to the Poor and Needy

Review: So far we have learned several things about the virtuous woman:
→ Vs. 10 – She is valuable—like rubies.
→ Vs. 11 – She is trustworthy.
→ Vs. 12 – She did good deeds for her husband her whole life.
→ Vs. 13 – She was a willing worker and made clothing for her family.
→ Vs. 14 – She was a diligent and wise shopper.
→ Vs. 15 – She rises early to minister to her family and servants and organizes the day’s chores.
→ Vs. 16-17 – With the fruit of her hands she invests in and plants a vineyard to provide fruit and wine for her family.
→ Vs. 18-19 – She makes and sells good merchandise to help with family finances
→ Vs. 20 – She generously gives to the poor and needy

20a She stretcheth out her hand to the poor

1. The virtuous woman is a strong and noble woman.

a. The word “virtuous” means strong.

b. She is strong physically; she is strong in her work ethic; she is strong in love for her family; she is strong in her entrepreneurial spirit; she is strong in virtue.

c. Here we see her strength in loving, selfless, generous giving.

2. The implication in this proverb is that the virtuous woman set aside some of the money and/or goods that she earned and/or made, in order to give to the poor and needy.

a. Vs. 13 – She makes woolen yarn for knitting and linen cloth from flax.

b. Vs. 16 – She planted a vineyard—and has fruit.

c. Vs. 18-19 – She makes “merchandise” from her spindle and distaff. (cloth)

d. So far, Lemuel has described a hard working woman who makes many things.
• She is wealthy and has property and many material goods. Someone might assume her to be materialistic selfish, and greedy.
• This passage demonstrates just the opposite.
• She is loving and generous with her material wealth.

e. She makes various kinds of “merchandise” with her spindle. Then, from the fruits of her labors, she stretches out her hand to give to the poor and needy.

f. Eph. 4:28 – Her generosity is consistent with what Paul encourages for the believer today.
• “Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.”
• The righteous one works hard so that he may have enough to give to the needy.

3. She gave cloth or clothing to the needy—like Dorcas.

a. Acts 9:36 – “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.”

b. Acts 9:39 – “And all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.”

c. At her funeral it became apparent how deeply she was loved and why. She gave and served others.

4. Perhaps she gave fruit from her vineyard to the needy and hungry.

5. This kind of generosity was already described in Proverbs.

a. Prov. 31:9 – Lemuel’s mother encouraged Lemuel to be generous to the poor and needy.
• Now Lemuel describes this kind of generosity to the poor as characteristic of his ideal or virtuous woman.

b. Prov. 11:25 – “The liberal (generous) soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.”
• You reap what you sow.
• Those who show mercy to others will receive mercy from others.

c. Prov. 21:26b – “… The righteous giveth and spareth not.”
• Generous, selfless, sacrificial giving is characteristic of the righteous.

d. Prov. 22:9 – “He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.”
• The virtuous woman gave what she had to meet the needs of those less fortunate.
• It was encouraging to see the response of folks at Salem Bible Church to the needs of the orphanage recently mentioned in Haiti.

6. What a CONTRAST to the greedy and selfish already described in the book of Proverbs.

a. Prov. 30:14 – “There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men.”

b. Prov. 21:26 – “He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.”
• Vs. 25 – Who is it that covets greedily all day long? It is the slothful man. And his sloth is “killing” him. He refuses to labor.
• What a contrast to the virtuous woman. She gets up early to start her chores (working with her servants) and stays up late. “Her candle goeth not out by night.” (vs.18b)
• A clear contrast: The slothful man is selfish and greedy; the diligent, hard working woman is selfless and generous.

20b She reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

1. This is the second part of the proverb. It is a synonymous parallelism. The second part says basically the same thing as the first part.

2. “Stretching out” her hand is comparable to “reaching forth” her hands.

a. “Stretching out” defined: To scatter; to spread out to multiple points by casting.
• This term speaks of the fact that her giving was widespread.
• She didn’t just drop a dime here and there. She scattered her merchandise to a wide swath of people.
• Since this was characteristic of her whole life, she must have been a beloved woman in her community—like Dorcas.

b. “Reaching forth” defined: Send out; dispatch; let go; release; set free.
• This speaks of the fact that her hands were wide open to the poor and needy.
• She did not hold on to her wealth and her merchandise with a tight grip. She held everything loosely.
• She “let go” of her good. This speaks of giving willingly, freely, and generously… just as Christian giving is described in the New Testament.

c. Though they have a slightly different shade of meaning, these two concepts are virtuously synonymous.

3. The “poor” and the “needy” are also seen as being virtuously synonymous.

a. “Poor” defined: Afflicted; oppressed; lowly; a low status in society; usually persons in poverty; lacking resources of their own.

b. “Needy” defined: Persons in want; lacking essentials; persons who must live sparingly.

c. Again, the two terms are nearly identical – speaking of the same group in the community.

4. The virtuous woman was ACTIVE in her generosity.

a. The fact that she stretched out her hands indicates that she actively LOOKED for opportunities to help.

b. This woman is not focused on self; nor is she focused narrowly on her own family exclusively.

c. She looks beyond her own household for opportunities to minister to others.

d. She looks beyond “me, myself, and mine” to others.

e. This kind of generosity was incorporated into the Law of Moses.
• Deut. 15:7-8 – “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: 8But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.”

f. The virtuous woman was not passive in her giving. She knew she had an abundance; and she also knew that others did not.

g. Therefore she purposely looked for people with needs.

h. She observed when others were being oppressed.

i. If she saw children dressed in rags, she did something about it. She had cloth sitting around in her house that could be used to help meet that need.

j. If she saw a family that was hungry, she had a vineyard that she could use to help meet that need.

k. I John 3:17-18 – “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 18My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
• Love is a verb. Love doesn’t just FEEL sorry for others. It does something about it.
• The virtuous woman DID have this world’s goods. She was a woman of means.
• And she was also a woman of compassion with a tender heart.
• When she saw a neighbor in need, she did not “shut up her heart.” Instead, she opened her heart and she opened her hands.
• She didn’t love in word only; she loved in DEED.
• She was a woman who was strong in virtue.

l. We are all (men and women) challenged to follow this example: “But to do good and to communicate (share) forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” (Heb. 13:16)