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).
31:19
This verse describes the work of spinning the wool fibers into yarn or the flax fibers into thread. The two lines are almost identical in meaning, because the “distaff” and “spindle” are pieces of the same equipment. The woman reaches out and grasps both pieces at the same time. Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:
19a
She stretches out her hands to the distaff
19b and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
The parallel parts form a chiasm. The parts in 31:19a occur in the opposite order from the parallel parts in 31:19b. If a chiasm is not natural in your language, you may need to reorder the parts in one of the lines. For example, 31:19a could be reordered as follows:
19a
She holds the distaff in her hand
31:19a–b
These parallel lines are more literally “She stretches out her hands on the distaff and her palms grasp the spindle.”
She stretches out her hands…grasps…with her fingers: In Hebrew, the word translated hands includes the forearms as well as the hands. The word translated fingers is literally “palms.” It refers here to either hands or the fingers.
the distaff…the spindle: The distaff and the spindle are two parts of the equipment that is used to spin wool or flax. The distaff is a stick around which the wool or flax fibers are wrapped before they are spun. The spindle is a rod that is used to twist these fibers into yarn or thread. As the yarn/thread is spun, it also winds around part of the spindle.
Some other ways to translate these parallel lines are:
• Specify the parts of the body and the parts of the equipment. For example:
She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
-or-
Her hands ⌊skillfully⌋ place ⌊the unspun flax and wool⌋ on the distaff,
• Specify the parts of the body and the function of the equipment. For example:
Her hands are busy spinning thread,
General Comment on 31:19a–b
In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder the parallel parts in these lines. For example:
She uses her own hands to spin/make yarn and thread.
-or-
She works hard to spin/make yarn and thread.
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