Proverbs 31, verses 21 and 22, clothed with scarlet

 

Proverbs 31:21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

The virtuous woman is not concerned about the winter snow discomforting her household. As the clause after the colon shows, it is because they are clothed in scarlet. Now, many commentators are befuddled by this verse because the color scarlet doesn’t protect anyone from inclement weather. So, they insert other words and comments rather than admit they don’t know because one of the conditions of the so-called scholar is that they often worship their own intellect.

Scarlet and crimson are synonyms.

Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

We think of dyed clothing as a wealthier person’s prerogative, but history tells us that even poor Hebrew women used vegetable dyes to color clothing and scarlet specifically came from an insect’s body which is a long story not necessary for our study. Scarlet, however, was something that important people wore (2 Samuel 1:24; Daniel 5:7; Matthew 27:28). This color was also found in the tabernacle as Exodus 26:31 shows and the ephod had scarlet in it (Exodus 28:6.)

So, going back to Isaiah 1:18 we have scarlet, red, and crimson as synonymous, and we understand they are all basically the same color. This color was a covering for the tabernacle in the wilderness. (Exodus 26:14; 36:19; 39:34). While the assumption you might make from this verse is that the preferred color of the outer cloke worn in the Ancient Near East, at least for women of some means such as our virtuous woman, was scarlet that wouldn’t help our spiritual application for the Christian of this verse written to ancient Hebrews under the Law given to Moses.

Quite often in the Bible snow represents purity and being cleansed from sin as in the verse I quoted in Isaiah. Why, in this verse, if we look at this from a prophetic view of the church, would the church be afraid of the snow for her household but for the scarlet that they are covered with, noticing it doesn’t say she covers them with it but simply that they are clothed with it? Snow not only symbolizes purity but in Western Literature it also symbolizes death as winter is a traditional time of nature’s silence. Snow covered trees are beautiful but show no signs of life. Snow is a covering like a funeral shroud. Also, Proverbs has referred to snow arriving in summer as out of place and unexpected.

Proverbs 26:1 As snow in summer, and as rain in harvest, so honour is not seemly for a fool.

Of the many possible interpretations of this Proverb for the church, could it be that the church is not afraid of death because her household are clothed in the the scarlet, red, crimson blood of Christ?

Proverbs 31:22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

If we’re talking about the lady literally in these passages we see her here making coverings of tapestry, then after the semi-colon which is similar to a comma, there is a further thought, her clothing is silk and purple.

Tapestries are often works of art and they provided the practical comfort of insulation for your wall or a divider for privacy around your bed (See Proverbs 7:16). They were not usually affordable to the poor either to purchase or to make. A Tapestry was traditionally made on a vertical loom or a floor loom. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length, called the warp, and those parallel to the width, called the weft or woof. See the directions on how to deal with a plague in garments in Leviticus 13 to see these words in use. This lady literally is a woman of means.

She wears silk, clothing of wealth, and purple, a color available only to the few. Tyrian purple, extracted from sea snails, was the color of royalty, prized all the more because it didn’t fade and even became more intense in sunlight. Lydia, the businesswoman in Acts 16:14, who provided a place for Paul, was a seller of this dye, so probably was very well off with a large household.

Since the secrets of silk making only reached Europe in the middle of the sixth century AD the existence of silk clothing shows the trade with China was established very early. China is mentioned in the Bible in Isaiah 49:12. The word for China, Sinim, can also be found in the name for the study of China, Sinology.

There are many applications possible from this verse to the church. Some commentators call the Tapestry, a covering around the bed earlier in Proverbs, as symbolic of the four gospels, and the silk and purple representative of the church’s relationship to the King of the Universe. I realize that when you get into the study of types in the Bible you are on very subjective ground and much of it is opinion.

Through prayer and thoughtful reflection my take on this is that the coverings of tapestry represent the words of God as found in the Bible, as a protection and a covering. It is deeply woven and layered, very complex and yet simple to understand and beautiful on the surface. The material and color of the clothing represents the church’s faith, royal and delicate, for the relationship the church has to the One who is Lord of all things. It doesn’t fade with persecution but grows even more intense like Tyrian purple when given to the sun’s rays, and gentle as silk is soft.

But, as in all of my comments I am still searching, praying, and thinking for a better answer, a more sure one. I’ll post if I come to that point.