These verses open with a contrast, a gracious rather than graceful woman, and violent men; but in ver. 22 it is the very different image of a fair woman without discretion with its painful incongruity.
“A gracious woman retaineth honor, and the violent retain riches.
The merciful man doeth good to his own soul, but the cruel troubleth his own flesh.
The wicked earneth deceitful wages, but he that soweth righteousness a sure reward.
As righteousness [tendeth] to life, so to death he that pursueth evil.
The perverse in heart [are] abomination to Jehovah, but the upright in way [are] his delight.
Hand in (or, for) hand, evil man shall not be unpunished; but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.
As a gold ring in a swine's snout [is] a woman fair and indiscreet.
The desire of the righteous [is] only good; the wicked's expectation [is] wrath (or, arrogance)” (vers. 16-23).
The spirit that is “virtuous” is quite distinct from “gracious “; but the picture given in the latter part of chap. 31 is of a woman of whom the latter might be predicated as the former is. They are but different aspects of the same person. How can there be found a more vivid answer to one who seeks the meaning of her retaining honor? In fact it is well illustrated in the history of Abigail the Carmelite; as her husband Nabal shows how the violent retain riches. For the one a meek and quiet spirit is not only of great price in God's sight, but a blessing that endures; whereas what are the stoutest in holding their wealth before death? There is no discharge in that war.
It is obvious to every one how blessed mercy is to the needy and wretched. Here is shown the good it does to the man's own soul. Who that reflects can dispute this, or its moral importance? On the other hand equally certain it is that the cruel person does trouble not only his victims but his own flesh. Far from meaning it, he becomes in divine retribution a self-tormentor even now.
The force of ver. 18 seems to be, not only the deceitful work that the wicked man does, but the kindred and disappointing wages he earns. It deceives himself as much or more than those he injures. But he that walks consistently with his relationship to God and man sows and reaps accordingly. He has a sure reward. How fully the N.T. bears both out is evident from Rom. 8 and Gal. 6.
This is carried farther in terms still more general but no less sure and weighty in the verse that follows. Righteousness certainly tends to life, as he that pursues evil to his own death. The devil is not only a liar but a murderer from the beginning till his end come; and those who are swayed by him must share his doom, as they reject the Righteous One Who alone gives life to those that believe.
Then we hear of a class whose aggravated evil makes them offensive to God. For the froward or perverse in heart are declared to be “an abomination to Jehovah.” But it is a comfort to know from Himself that such as are perfect (or, upright) in way are His delight. It was man, independent and rebellious, that departed from Jehovah Elohim, before He drove him from the earthly paradise. Yet does His goodness lead the guilty to repentance and by revealed grace render him upright and guileless, but this only through His Son becoming not only the pattern man, but the sacrifice for our sins. What a joy to the believer that His complacency in man is beyond doubt, and according to His word! Yes, He delights in those whose way is marked by integrity.
“Hand to hand,” here and in chap. 16, is a phrase open to a variety of explanations. Even, to all generations, and certainly, have been suggested by some, while another refers it to terms in making a bargain. Whichever it be, an evil person shall not be scatheless in one version; in the other not only the righteous but their seed shall be delivered. Israel, as they have been, attest the one; Israel, as they shall be, will he the plain proof of the other. Jehovah can by redemption forget iniquities, but will remember and bless for the fathers' sake: in Christ He can afford to do so.
But bow unseemly a sight is a fair woman without that discretion which the weaker vessel needs in the world and the race as they are! Truly a jewel of gold in a swine's snout: a phrase purposely framed to convey incongruity and disgust.
Again, the desire of the righteous is only good. Begotten as they are of incorruptible seed through God's word, their affections flow from that new life. They have another nature prone to evil; but this they judge before God Who watches over His husbandry for good and the repression of evil. The expectation of the wicked is according to their unremoved evil and their deadly opposition to God, which only vexes them to wrath, and must end in outer darkness with its weeping and gnashing of teeth. Who can wonder that in chap. 11 we read, “the hope of the righteous shall be granted,” and that the fear of the wicked shall come upon him no less than his expectation?