31:14

This verse describes the efforts of the wife to provide luxury foods for her family.

14a She is like the merchant ships,

14b bringing her food from afar.

The first line is a simile that compares the wife to merchant ships. The wife brings home food that comes from foreign countries (31:14b). Similarly, the ships bring home cargo that they obtained oversees.

31:14a

She is like the merchant ships: The phrase merchant ships refers to sailing ships that belonged to merchants or traders. These ships carried many kinds of cargo, including food, from foreign countries. Some other ways translate this line are:

She is like a trader’s ship (New Century Version)
-or-
She is like a ship filled with merchandise ⌊from other countries⌋ .

31:14b

bringing her food from afar: This line means that the wife buys special or expensive foods that came from other countries and brings it home from the market. It does not mean that the wife herself goes to foreign countries to buy food. Another way to translate this line is:

She brings home food from out-of-the-way places (Good News Translation)

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