Proverbs 31:25 in the King James Version reads, “Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” It sits within the closing poem of Proverbs, the portrait of the “virtuous woman,” a passage presented as the kind of wisdom a mother teaches her son concerning what true excellence looks like in a life. The verse is not isolated praise for outward appearance or social status, but part of a larger moral and spiritual description of a woman whose daily conduct, fear of the LORD, and wise stewardship shape her household and her future. In that setting, Proverbs 31:25 functions like a summary statement of her inner character and its consequences.

When the verse says, “Strength and honour are her clothing,” it uses the language of garments as symbolism for what most visibly “covers” and identifies a person. Clothing is what others immediately see; it also protects, prepares, and suits someone for their work. By calling strength and honour her clothing, the verse portrays these qualities as not occasional accessories but her constant attire—what she habitually “puts on” in life. “Strength” in this context is more than physical vigor; it is moral fortitude, steadiness of will, diligence, endurance, and the capacity to bear responsibility. In the surrounding lines she is depicted as one who works willingly, plans ahead, provides for her house, and is not idle; strength is therefore the inward power that enables faithful action. “Honour” speaks to dignity, integrity, and worth that is recognized because it is real, not because it is demanded. It suggests a life that is weighty with goodness, marked by uprightness and reliability. Together, strength and honour describe a person who is not driven by vanity, fear, or instability, but by a settled excellence that makes her life trustworthy.

The second clause, “and she shall rejoice in time to come,” points to the fruit of such character. The phrase looks forward. It implies that her joy is not fragile or dependent on immediate circumstances, fashions, or the praise of the moment. Because her life is built on wisdom and fear of the LORD—a point the poem states plainly a few verses later—she can face what is ahead without dread. The “time to come” can include practical realities: the changing seasons of need, the uncertainties that threaten households, the outcomes of choices, and the long arc in which hidden faithfulness becomes evident. Her rejoicing is not naive; it is the quiet confidence that arises when a person has lived rightly, prepared diligently, and entrusted the future to God rather than to chance.

The verse also carries a gentle contrast to the more superficial ways people are often evaluated. Earlier in the poem there is mention of fine clothing and outward prosperity, but Proverbs 31:25 relocates true adornment to the soul. It suggests that what finally “wears well” is not mere appearance but character—strength that does not collapse under pressure and honour that does not compromise when tempted. In that sense the symbolism is theological as well as practical: wisdom literature repeatedly teaches that reverence toward God and disciplined living create stability, whereas folly produces shame and fear. “Strength and honour” are like spiritual garments because they are the visible expression of an inward life shaped by wisdom.

In the larger context of Proverbs, the verse also echoes a recurring theme: wisdom prepares a person to live confidently in God’s world. The virtuous woman is not anxious about the future because she has laboured faithfully in the present. Her rejoicing “in time to come” is therefore both a promise and a portrait: a promise that uprightness yields a kind of enduring gladness, and a portrait of wisdom’s calm resilience. Proverbs 31:25 thus signifies that the truest beauty of a godly life is steadfast character, and the truest security is a future faced with joy because one has walked in strength and honour before the LORD.