Thy wife [shall be] as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table.
Ver. 3. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine] Full of bunches and clusters of rich ripe grapes; so she of children, and those virtuous; the little ones hanging on her breasts, as grapes on the vine; the elder as olive plants, straight, green, fresh, and flourishing, Psalms 52:8, legitimate also; as the olive admitteth no other graft. Indeed, the olive set into the vine yieldeth both grapes and olives, whereby is represented the natural affection that is between the mother and her children. The vine and the olive are two of the best fruits; the one for cheering the heart, the other for clearing the face, Psalms 104:15; the one for sweetness, the other for fatness, Judges 9:13, both together implying that a great part of a man's temporal happiness consisteth in having a good wife and children. It is said of Sulla that he had been happy had he never been so married, Si non habuissem uxorem; and Augustus' wish was (but all too late), Utinam aut caelebs vixissem, aut orbus periissem, Oh that I had either lived single or died childless (Suetonius).
By the sides of thine house] Where vines are usually planted, that they may have the benefit of the sun. The modest wife is domiporta, found at home, as Sarah in the tent; not so the harlot, Proverbs 7:12 .
Thy children like olive plants] See the note before on this verse.
Round about thy table] Making a most delectable enclosure.