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(Proverbs 31:10-31)
Did you know…?
The
extensive series of action verbs in Proverbs 31 describe an elite
woman’s activities; they suggest the dynamic nature of her life.
Chapter
31 is the last section of the book of Proverbs; it thus forms a bookend with
the personified Woman Wisdom who dominates the first part of the book (chapters 1-9).
This
framework suggests that women encompass the “wise” life set forth in
intervening chapters.
In Iron
Age society, the household was the workplace, in contrast to the
separation of home and work in contemporary industrialized societies. Being a
wife was not simply relational; it entailed major economic responsibilities.
Proverbs
31:10-31 directly follows a passage (Proverbs
31:1-9) containing
the instructions of a royal mother to her son.
Proverbs
31 as a whole thus includes pedagogy as an important component (alluded to
in Proverbs
31:26), of
a woman’s role.
In
traditional Jewish households men chant Proverbs 31:10-31 at the
beginning of the Sabbath; it is also sometimes recited at the funerals of
Jewish women.
Proverbs
31:10-31 is often read in churches on Mother’s Day and at women’s funerals.
Feminists
view Proverbs 31:10-31 both positively and negatively.
Some
take a present-day perspective, claiming that phrases like “more
precious than jewels” (verse 10) objectifies the woman and commodifies her
activities; and others emphasize that her independence in economic and other
matters is important for countering stereotypes about female subservience in
the period of the Hebrew Bible.
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The Woman Who Fears the Lord
Proverbs 31:10-31 English Standard Version (ESV)
10 An excellent 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 afar.
15 She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She dresses 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 of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
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 blessed;
her husband also, 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 of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
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 afar.
15 She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She dresses 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 of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
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 blessed;
her husband also, 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 of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
Footnotes:
a. Proverbs 31:10 Verses 10–31 are an
acrostic poem, each verse beginning with the successive letters of the Hebrew
alphabet
b. Proverbs 31:17 Hebrew She girds her loins
c. Proverbs 31:21 Or in double thickness
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers.
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