In her hand she holds the the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers
She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hand to the needy
Whack! and one child has hit the other yet again. Time out's ensue and then I restate that hands are not for hitting and I ask what are hand's for? We come up with a well rehersed and ever longer list. Hands are for stroking, hugging, eating, making, drawing, cleaning, washing, helping, sharing etc.
I think a lot about what we do with our hands. Hands can function as a really powerful image of our humanity. Just as our tongs can build up or destroy our choice of what to do with our hands is often about building up or knocking down.
We lose something of the poetry in our translations. My commentary would suggest the Hebrew is structured in a way so that the woman's hands are the central image.
Her hands she extends to the doubling spindle,
Her palms grasp the spindle.
Her palm spreads out to the poor,
Her hands she extends to the needy.
So her economic productivity benefits not only her but the wider community. She is not content to ensure the security of her own family but seeks to extend the benefit of her security to those for whatever reason are not able to provide for themselves.
Jesus said that we will always have the poor with us. The question then is how do we respond if we find our self in a place of material security? Do we build fences, shore up, pursue profit for profits sake, do we look for who to blame for poverty? Or like this women do we simply extend our hands in love and generous humility?
Hands are not for hitting they are for so much good. What are we doing with our hands today?
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