Proverbs 31:29

The Verse

Proverbs 31:29 — "Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."

This is the twentieth verse of a 22-verse poem that closes the book of Proverbs. In the poem, the husband speaks these words about his wife.

The Acrostic Structure of Proverbs 31:10–31

Proverbs 31:10–31 is an alphabetic acrostic — a poem in which each of the 22 verses begins with a successive letter of the 22-letter Hebrew alphabet. Verse 29 begins with the letter tsade (צ), the 18th letter. The acrostic form is found elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible in several psalms (Psalms 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145) and in the book of Lamentations.

The acrostic form signals that this is a polished wisdom poem, not a spontaneous expression. It is structured to be memorized whole.

The Hebrew of Verse 29

The Hebrew reads: rabbot banot ʻasu chayil, v'at ʻalit ʻal-kullanah (רַבּוֹת בָּנוֹת עָשׂוּ חָיִל וְאַתְּ עָלִית עַל־כֻּלָּנָה). Word-by-word:

• Rabbot banot — "many daughters"
• ʻasu chayil — "have done chayil." The word chayil (חַיִל, Strong's H2428) is the same word used in verse 10 — "a virtuous woman" (eshet-chayil). Chayil is a military-and-economic term meaning "strength, valor, capability, wealth, army."
• V'at ʻalit ʻal-kullanah — "and you have gone up (or excelled) above them all." The verb ʻalit is from ʻalah (H5927), "to ascend."

A more direct translation: "Many daughters have acted with valor; you have ascended above them all."

The Word Chayil

The word translated "virtuously" in verse 29 — and "virtuous" in verse 10 — is not primarily an ethical or sexual-purity term in Hebrew. Chayil is used of:

• Military armies — "the host (chayil) of Pharaoh" (Exodus 14:4)
• Economic wealth — "substance (chayil)" (Deuteronomy 8:17)
• Physical strength — "valiant men of valor (bene-chayil)" (Judges 21:10)
• Capability — David described as a man "of valour" (ish-chayil, 1 Samuel 16:18)

The same Hebrew phrase used of David — ish-chayil, "a man of valor" — is applied to the wife of Proverbs 31 in the feminine form eshet-chayil, "a woman of valor." The poem's characterization of her is explicitly drawn from the vocabulary of military and civic strength, not traditional "feminine" descriptors.

The Speaker and the Context

The husband speaks verse 29. The preceding verse (v. 28) sets up the quotation: "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband [also], and he praiseth her." Verse 29 is his specific praise. The poem then closes (v. 30–31):

"Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates."

The Poem's Subject

Proverbs 31:10–31 is traditionally read as a description of the ideal wife. Some modern scholars read it as a personification of Wisdom — continuing the literary strategy begun in Proverbs 1–9 (where Wisdom is personified as a woman). On this reading, the "valiant woman" of chapter 31 is Wisdom herself, now embodied in daily life.

Either reading preserves the poem's core point: chayil — capable, productive, courageous, God-fearing life — is what the Hebrew wisdom tradition names as praiseworthy. Verse 29 is the husband's verdict: among all the women who have lived with that kind of valor, his wife has reached the summit.