Verses 19-22 focus on the housewife’s provision for her own household and for the poor, especially the provision of clothing.

“She puts her hand to the distaff”: There is some doubt about the rendering of the last Hebrew word in this line, but most commentators and translators accept the meaning “distaff”. “The distaff” is a device used in the process of spinning thread from raw wool or flax. It is a rod or staff with a split end, which holds the wool or flax from which thread is drawn in spinning by hand. “She puts her hand to . . .” means that she “holds” (New International Version, Revised English Bible) or works with this device; but in translation it is probably more important to refer to the work that she does. So Good News Translation says that “She spins her own thread,” and this is a good model for translators to follow.

“And her hands hold the spindle”: “Her hands hold” has the same sense as “She puts her hands to” in the previous line. “The spindle” is another device used in spinning. It is a rod or shaped piece of wood, which twists the thread as it is spun, and on which the thread is wound. Although “the spindle” is strictly used in the spinning process and not in weaving, both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version apparently take the double reference to “distaff” and “spindle” to refer to the whole process of making cloth: “She spins her own thread and weaves her own cloth” (Good News Translation), “she spins her own cloth” (Contemporary English Version). These renderings may be regarded as culturally inappropriate since in Israel, as in other countries during Old Testament times, weaving was the work of men, not women.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .