Proverbs 14:1

Every wise woman ¹  builds ²  her household, ³  but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.

Ru 4:11; 1Ki 16:31; 1Ki 21:24,25; 2Ki 11:1; Pr 9:13-15; Pr 19:13; Pr 21:9,19; Pr 24:3,4; Pr 31:10-31

¹ tn Heb “wise ones of women.” The construct phrase חַכְמוֹת נָשִׁים (khakhmot nashim) features a wholistic genitive: “wise women.” The plural functions in a distributive sense: “every wise woman.” The contrast is between wise and foolish women (e.g., Prov 7:10-23; 31:10-31).

² tn The perfect tense verb in the first colon functions in a gnomic sense, while the imperfect tense in the second colon is a habitual imperfect.

³ tn Heb “house.” This term functions as a synecdoche of container (= house) for contents (= household, family).