The Meaning of Proverbs 31:23 Explained

Proverbs 31:23

KJV: Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

YLT: Known in the gates is her husband, In his sitting with elders of the land.

Darby: Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

ASV: Her husband is known in the gates, When he sitteth among the elders of the land.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Her husband  is known  in the gates,  when he sitteth  among the elders  of the land. 

What does Proverbs 31:23 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 31:23 mean?

Is known in the gates Her husband when he sits among the elders of the land
נוֹדָ֣ע בַּשְּׁעָרִ֣ים בַּעְלָ֑הּ בְּ֝שִׁבְתּ֗וֹ עִם־ זִקְנֵי־ אָֽרֶץ

נוֹדָ֣ע  Is  known 
Parse: Verb, Nifal, Participle, masculine singular
Root: דָּעָה 
Sense: to know.
בַּשְּׁעָרִ֣ים  in  the  gates 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שַׁעַר  
Sense: gate.
בַּעְלָ֑הּ  Her  husband 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, third person feminine singular
Root: בָּעַל 
Sense: owner, husband, lord.
בְּ֝שִׁבְתּ֗וֹ  when  he  sits 
Parse: Preposition-b, Verb, Qal, Infinitive construct, third person masculine singular
Root: יָשַׁב 
Sense: to dwell, remain, sit, abide.
זִקְנֵי־  the  elders 
Parse: Adjective, masculine plural construct
Root: זָקֵן  
Sense: old.
אָֽרֶץ  of  the  land 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: אֶרֶץ  
Sense: land, earth.