Give her of the fruit of her hands - This may be a prayer. May she long enjoy the fruit of her labors! May she see her children's children, and peace upon Israel!
And let her own works praise her in the gates - Let what she has done be spoken of for a memorial of her; let her bright example be held forth in the most public places. Let it be set before the eyes of every female, particularly of every wife, and especially of every mother; and let them learn from this exemplar, what men have a right to expect in their wives, the mistresses of their families, and the mothers of their children. Amen.

Give (p) her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the (q) gates.
(p) Confess her diligent labours, and commend her therefore.
(q) Forasmuch as the most honourable are clad in the apparel that she made.

Give her of the fruit of her hands,.... According to Aben Ezra, these are the words of her husband to her children; exhorting them to give her the praise and glory that is due unto her. Jarchi interprets it of the world to come; at which time, it is certain, the graces of the church, and of all believers, which are the fruits of the Spirit in them, and of their hands, as exercised by them, such as faith, hope, love, humility, patience, and others, will be found to honour and praise; and every such person shall have praise of God, 1-Peter 1:7; and also of men and angels; to whom these words may be an exhortation to give it to them;
and let her own words praise her in the gates; where her husband is known, in public assemblies; before angels and men, in the great day; when her works will follow her, and speak for her, and she will be publicly praised by Christ, as all the faithful and righteous will, Revelation 14:13. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "let her husband be praised in the gate"; see Proverbs 31:23; so Ambrose, who interprets it of the happiness of the saints in heaven.

The result of her labor is her best eulogy. Nothing can add to the simple beauty of this admirable portrait. On the measure of its realization in the daughters of our own day rest untold results, in the domestic, and, therefore, the civil and religious, welfare of the people.

31 ת Give to her of the fruit of her hands;
And let her works praise her in the gates!
The fruit of her hands is the good which, by her conduct, she has brought to maturity - the blessing which she has secured for others, but, according to the promise (Isaiah 3:10), has also secured for her own enjoyment. The first line proceeds on the idea that, on account of this blessing, she herself shall rejoice. תּנוּ־להּ (with Gaja, after Metheg-Setzung, 37) is not equivalent to give to her honour because of...; for in that case, instead of the ambiguous מן, another preposition - such e.g., as על - would have been used; and so תּנוּ, of itself, cannot be equivalent to תּנּוּ (sing the praise of), as Ziegler would read, after Judges 11:40. It must stand with כבוד, or instead of מפּרי an accus. obj. is to be thought of, as at Psalm 68:35; Deuteronomy 32:3, which the necessity of the case brings with it - the giving, as a return in the echo of the song of praise. Immanuel is right in explaining תנו־לה by תגמלו לה חסד or עשׂו עתה חסד וכבוד, cf. Psalm 28:4. The מן, as is not otherwise to be expected, after תנו is partitive: give to her something of the fruit of her hands, i.e., recompense it to her, render it thankfully, by which not exclusively a requital in the form of honourable recognition, but yet this specially, is to be thought of. Her best praise is her works themselves. In the gates, i.e., in the place where the representatives of the people come together, and where the people are assembled, her works praise her; and the poet desires that this may be right worthily done, full of certainty that she merits it, and that they honour themselves who seek to praise the works of such a woman, which carry in themselves their own commendation.

Give her - It is but just, that she should enjoy those praises which her labours deserve. Let her works - If men be silent, the lasting effects of her prudence and diligence will trumpet forth her praises. In the gates - In the most publick and solemn assemblies.