What does Proverbs 31:23 mean?

This passage depicts a godly woman, called an "excellent wife" (Proverbs 31:10) who combines a rare set of valuable traits. Almost every description in this passage applies directly to her, but this reference is about her husband. Other comments note that this ideal wife supports her husband, seeks his good, and earns his absolute trust (Proverbs 31:11, 16, 27–28). This would reflect well on him, in contrast to a spouse marked by bitterness (Proverbs 21:19) or laziness (Proverbs 19:15). In response, her husband and children also speak well of her and enhance her reputation (Proverbs 31:28). It's likely this woman's husband can participate in public service thanks to her competence at managing the home.

At a city's gates, civil matters were decided by a community's elders. It was the common area used by almost all the residents, travelers, and merchants. The decision concerning Boaz's claim to Ruth as his wife was settled at Bethlehem's gate. Ruth 4:11 says, "Then all the people who were at the gate and the elders said, 'We are witnesses. May the Lᴏʀᴅ make the woman, who is coming into your house, like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel.'" Second Samuel 15:2 tells us Absalom "used to rise early and stand beside the way of the gate." He presented himself there as a would-be judge of disputes, garnering the people's favor in his conspiracy to overthrow David. Genesis 19:1 reports that Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom when two angels came to Sodom and urged him to escape before God's coming judgment.