Page 63 - No Apologies

enemy no occasion for reproach...

To a great many women today, the thought of staying at home is a very unpleasant
one. It conjures up images of extreme boredom. This is partly a byproduct of changes that
have occurred in the past century as women have exited the home en masse to pursue
careers or employment elsewhere. The home has been rendered impotent, bereft of life and
activity, no longer serving as the center of family life as God intended. Women have
consequently lost the multitude of skills that were once the hallmark of the successful
homemaker. The chain has been broken whereby homemaking skills were passed on from
mother to daughter, leaving many women today with no idea of the character of that life
their forebears knew.
In the past few generations much of the labor that took place in the home has been
agglomerated. Whereas women used to make their own clothes at home, this work has been
centralized into large textile manufacturers and clothing factories. Today the thought of
“homespun” cloth strikes most as antiquated, yet women in relatively recent times used to
use spindle and distaff to spin their own thread and yarn, to weave their own fabric, and to
sew their own clothes. In the book of Proverbs we find mention of women engaged in this
activity.

Proverbs 31:10, 13, 19-22, 24
An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels... She looks for
wool and flax and works with her hands in delight. She stretches out her hands to the
distaff, and her hands grasp the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor, and she
stretches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She makes coverings for herself; Her
clothing is fine linen and purple. She makes linen garments and sells them, and
supplies belts to the tradesmen.

These words in Proverbs describe what would be termed a “cottage industry” today.
Not only did the woman use her homemaking skills to clothe her own family, but she would
earn money at home by skillfully crafting products to sell to others. Following is an image
of a distaff and spindle.

Clarke's Commentary explains the use of these items:

"She gives an example of skill and industry to her household. She takes the distaff,