The Meaning of Proverbs 31:17 Explained

Proverbs 31:17

KJV: She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

YLT: She hath girded with might her loins, And doth strengthen her arms.

Darby: She girdeth her loins with strength, and maketh strong her arms.

ASV: She girdeth her loins with strength, And maketh strong her arms.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

She girdeth  her loins  with strength,  and strengtheneth  her arms. 

What does Proverbs 31:17 Mean?

Context Summary

Proverbs 31:10-31 - "her Works Praise Her"
The ideal woman, as portrayed here, is a wife. She is the stay and confidence of her husband. Not only when she comes as a young bride into his home, in the glory and beauty of her youth, nor only when her womanly beauty holds his admiration, but long after and to the end of life she does him good. She is always busy. She is thrifty in administering his earnings. If he brings the money to her, she expends it economically for their common weal. When a friend of mine was sixty, his wife came to him with an annuity which she had purchased for them both, by her wise administration of the money entrusted to her through forty years of married life.
It is in the home-place that the man's strength is gathered for public life. The woman in the home communicates the inspiration and strength which make him "known in the gates." Her secret, unobtrusive loyalty, counsel, and thrift inspire a growing depth of appreciation; so that the man who chose her in the spring will say of her amid the snows of age, "Other women may be good and true, but "˜thou excellest them all.'" [source]

Chapter Summary: Proverbs 31

1  Lemuel's lesson of chastity and temperance
6  The afflicted are to be comforted and defended
10  The praise and properties of a good wife

What do the individual words in Proverbs 31:17 mean?

She girds herself with strength loins and strengthens her arms
חָֽגְרָ֣ה בְע֣וֹז מָתְנֶ֑יהָ וַ֝תְּאַמֵּ֗ץ זְרֹעוֹתֶֽיהָ

חָֽגְרָ֣ה  She  girds  herself 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person feminine singular
Root: חָגַר  
Sense: to gird, gird on, gird oneself, put on a belt.
בְע֣וֹז  with  strength 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עֹז  
Sense: might, strength.
מָתְנֶ֑יהָ  loins 
Parse: Noun, mdc, third person feminine singular
Root: מָתְנַיִם  
Sense: loins, hips.
וַ֝תְּאַמֵּ֗ץ  and  strengthens 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person feminine singular
Root: אָמֵץ  
Sense: to be strong, alert, courageous, brave, stout, bold, solid, hard.
זְרֹעוֹתֶֽיהָ  her  arms 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural construct, third person feminine singular
Root: זְרֹועַ  
Sense: arm, forearm, shoulder, strength.