Proverbs 31:

Proverbs 31:10-31 (NRSV)

¹⁰ A capable wife who can find?

She is far more precious than jewels.

¹¹ The heart of her husband trusts in her,

and he will have no lack of gain.

¹² She does him good, and not harm,

all the days of her life.

¹³ She seeks wool and flax,

and works with willing hands.

¹⁴ She is like the ships of the merchant,

she brings her food from far away.

¹⁵ She rises while it is still night

and provides food for her household

and tasks for her servant-girls.

¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;

with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

¹⁷ She girds herself with strength,

and makes her arms strong.

¹⁸ She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.

Her lamp does not go out at night.

¹⁹ She puts her hands to the distaff,

and her hands hold the spindle.

²⁰ She opens her hand to the poor,

and reaches out her hands to the needy.

²¹ She is not afraid for her household when it snows,

for all her household are clothed in crimson.

²² She makes herself coverings;

her clothing is fine linen and purple.

²³ Her husband is known in the city gates,

taking his seat among the elders of the land.

²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them;

she supplies the merchant with sashes.

²⁵ Strength and dignity are her clothing,

and she laughs at the time to come.

²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom,

and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

²⁷ She looks well to the ways of her household,

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

²⁸ Her children rise up and call her happy;

her husband too, and he praises her:

²⁹ “Many women have done excellently,

but you surpass them all.”

³⁰ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

³¹ Give her a share in the fruit of her hands,

and let her works praise her in the city gates.

Proverbs 31:10-31 concerns the ideal woman. The poem in verses 10-31 is an acrostic, with each Hebrew line beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and although the form can sometimes yield forced results, the present composition coheres admirably. The poem jumps from topic to topic because of the acrostic from.  The mental image that guides the author is that of the ideal wife and the general theme, but he does not directly connect to what precedes or follows.  It is a description of a wife of quality. Acrostics are beautifully and carefully constructed works of poetry, and this poem provides a fitting conclusion to a book extolling the virtues of wisdom. In fact, the woman described here is the living embodiment of the teachings of Lady Wisdom throughout Proverbs.[1] Collectively, these themes constitute the life of practical wisdom, the ideal of the entire book of Proverbs. As verses 10-31 make clear, the “oracle” was not, by definition, a spontaneous, unpolished outburst of divine revelation. If the compilers of the Hebrew canon intended the closing verses of the chapter to be considered part of the “oracle” that opens it, then the highly stylized literary form of the acrostic was understood in wisdom circles, at least, as a legitimate expression of prophecy. The woman here described is Vitruvian[2] in the proper proportions of her affections and deeds.

¹⁰ A capable[3] (ideal, strong (verse 3), excellent (verse 29)) wife[4] (woman of worth or noble character) who can find? In the present context, the word denotes the opposite of pampered, on the one hand, and wanton on the other; the background implication is balance or poise combined with ability. The range of her attributes and actions far exceeds the norm. The embodiment of practical wisdom described in proverbs generally and now in the ideal wife must have been such a rarity that the poem intentionally opens with a question rather than a statement. The question is rhetorical rather than pessimistic. She is far more precious than jewels, like wisdom herself in 3:13, 15. Such a comparison is common in wisdom literature. Precious jewels or pearls are scarce, which increases their value. Her values will make explicit the practical complementarity of the sexes. ¹¹ The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. This expression is emotionally evocative and doubtless true in many cases. The husband has complete confidence in her, for she is consistent and brings nothing but good. Yet, the statement is unusual in the theological context of the book of Proverbs. Elsewhere in the book, gain and prosperity come from trusting in the Lord or heeding wisdom (e.g., 1:20-33; 8:17-21). ¹² She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. She is of great value as partner for life. The woman described is striking in her entrepreneurial abilities. It must have been possible for people in ancient Israel to trade and sell the surplus of their flocks and fields. Yet, it was unlikely that much commercial venturing was typical for the majority. Her business executive behavior would be rare. The practical obstacles to female entrepreneurship — from the limited presence of literacy and numeracy among women to the heavily circumscribed nature of their sphere of activity — would have made the successful operating of even a home business by a woman difficult. Small-scale subsistence farming was the way of life for the vast majority of women and men alike in ancient Israel. The lifestyle described here is more like that of the woman of the manor than it is of an ordinary farm wife. ¹³ She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She can turn these raw materials into finished articles of various kinds. She is a weaver (vv. 13, 19, 22), which was an ancient Near Eastern profession dominated by women, so much so that the Egyptian hieroglyph for weaving features a female figure. One did not weave just for one's family; cloth was a valuable commodity that one might trade for items that one's own household did not produce. ¹⁴ She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from far away. She explores every possibility to get food. Her weaving is how she "brings her food from far away." She makes woven goods and sells them (vv. 18, 24). Like a merchant with a fleet of trading ships, she uses her weaving to allow her to trade for food produced elsewhere. ¹⁵ She rises while it is still night to perform her duties, and provides food for her household (unusual description) and she gives tasks for her servant-girls. In a society where male ownership and identification were the norm, to describe it as her household is striking. In verses 16-19, she has a capacity for sustained work. She is a good administrator in that she oversees a staff. Further, she is a good administrator in that ¹⁶ she considers a field and buys it. Even more than just acquisition, she uses the new property to expand further the production of the estate, for with the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard. She has a sharp eye for business opportunities. She earns money as a dressmaker that allows her to buy a vineyard.  The vineyard will produce grapes and wine for trade and consumption. This behavior suggests economic egalitarianism would be the ideal rather than typical. ¹⁷ She girds herself with strength, and makes her arms strong. ¹⁸ She perceives, like an executive, that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She makes the most of the business opportunities by burning the midnight oil. ¹⁹ She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle. Here is an attribute that is gender specific. ²⁰ She opens her hand to the poor, and reaches out her hands to the needy. Here is an attribute of significance for all persons, especially the ideal ruler. She is virtuous as well as competent. She takes care of her household while also caring for the households of others, especially the poor. ²¹ She is not afraid for her household (unusual description) when it snows, for all her household (unusual description) she clothes in crimson. She cares for the entire household, which includes servants and their families. Snow usually appears as a simile or other figure of speech Exodus 4:6; Numbers 12:10; 2 Kings 5:27; Psalm 51:7). It only occasionally as actual frozen precipitation (e.g., II Samuel 23:20 = I Chronicles 11:22; I Maccabees 13:22; and especially in the book of Job, e.g., 6:16; 24:19; 37:6; 38:22). ²² She makes herself coverings; her clothing is fine linen and purple. She makes fine quality cloths for her own wardrobe and warm clothing that withstands the snow. ²³ Her husband is known in the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land. The city gates were the location of most civic affairs, legal hearings and business transactions (see, for example, Ruth 4 and 2 Samuel 15:2), and as in most traditional societies, segregation of the sexes was the norm in ancient Israel, and the public presence of women of all classes was carefully regulated. A man’s reputation “in the city gates” and “among the elders of the land” was dependent upon his own actions; that his wife could enhance that reputation by her own was undoubtedly a fact “on the ground” in ancient Israel, but not ordinarily commented upon in the Bible. ²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them; and like an executive, she supplies the merchant with sashes. ²⁵ Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. ²⁶ She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She is wise and kind. ²⁷ She looks well[5] to the ways of her household (unusual description), and does not eat the bread of idleness. She works hard and is attentive to the needs of her household. ²⁸ Her children rise up and call her happy; her husband too, and he praises her: ²⁹ “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” ³⁰ Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is the one to praise. The fear of the Lord is the summit of human wisdom and involves the theological or theoretical aspect of wisdom in Israel. Most of this ode concerns practical matters. ³¹ Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works (of domestic competence and quality of family) praise her in the city gates. Recurrent themes sounded throughout the book of Proverbs — the fear of the Lord, thrift, kindness, honesty, the importance of a good reputation, the deceitful nature of charm and the ephemeral nature of human beauty — appear in rapid succession in verses 28-31. Collectively and put into practice on a daily basis, these themes constitute the life of practical wisdom, the ideal of the entire book of Proverbs.

It may well be that this description is impossible for a single human woman to fulfill. If so, we might speculate that this woman is Lady Wisdom. The female personification of wisdom begins the book of Proverbs as she promises wealth, happiness honor, and long life as the reward for following her prudent teachings. The Woman of Worth described here is the fulfillment of those earlier promises. 

Ironically, although this passage is perceived by many to advocate total domesticity for women, those who view it that way are forgetting how different the ancient Israelite domicile was, say, from a house in the American suburbs in 1950. The household this woman tends is more like a frontier homestead, where the farm that is your home is also the center of your livelihood, and the work done there and on other neighboring farms forms the core of the local economy. In this regard, the portrayal of this woman in primarily of her economic function is unique.^[6]

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[1] Carole Fontaine ("Proverbs," The Women's Bible Commentary, Sharon Ringe and Carol Newsom, eds. [Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1992], 151-52).

[2] This is a reference to the famous drawing of the male body by Leonardo Da Vinci, suggesting perfect proportions. Vitruvius was a Roman architect.

[3] The word translated "capable" also has many other connotations, a good number connected with warfare and the bravery of soldiers. For this reason, one often finds the term translated "valiant" or even "mighty" when applied to men. It can also mean "wealthy" or "strong," as well as "capable." The fact that both these words can have numerous meanings explains the many different descriptions of the woman being sought. In the KJV she is "a virtuous woman." In the Vulgate, she is "a strong woman" (mulier fortis). Fontaine prefers the translation "woman of worth" because the adjective, when applied to men, is used to describe "persons at the height of their powers and capacities." Roland Murphy, probably in an attempt to capture some of the ethical connotations of the adjective, decided upon "a wife of noble character." (R. Murphy and E. Huwiler, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs [New International Biblical Commentary; Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1999], Mass.: 154). What follows, however, is a description of a woman who is not only strong, virtuous and capable - she is the epitome of ancient Israelite womanhood.

[4] This verse's use of the word "wife," however, is not required in the Hebrew. The same word also means "woman."

[5] The word that begins verse 27, "she looks well," or "she watches out for," is pronounced "tzophia" - which sounds very much like the Greek word and name for personified wisdom, Sophia. (A. Wolters, "Sopiyya [Prov. 31:27] as Hymnic Participle and Play on Sophia," Journal of Biblical Literature, 104 [1985], 577-87).

[6] Carol Meyer (Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988], 180).