Who wrote Proverbs 31?

The chapter begins, “The words of King Lemuel—the revelation which his mother taught him” (Proverbs 31:1). Lemuel is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. Some readers take the poem in verses 10–31 as part of his mother's teaching, while others treat it as a separate poem that closes the whole book.

What does “her price is far above rubies” mean?

The King James Version of Proverbs 31:10 reads, “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” The NRSVUE translates it, “She is far more precious than jewels.” The line means that a wise, capable, and faithful person is worth more than any wealth.

Does Proverbs 31 say a wife should stay at home?

The woman in Proverbs 31 buys land, plants a vineyard, makes and sells linen garments, and supplies merchants. She also runs a large household. The poem praises her work both inside and outside the home.

Is the Proverbs 31 woman a real person?

The poem may describe an ideal more than a single historical woman. The Book of Proverbs pictures Wisdom as a woman who calls out in the streets and builds her house, and many readers see the woman of strength as Wisdom lived out in an ordinary life. Jewish mystics also read her as a picture of the Sabbath and of God's presence.

What Does Proverbs 31 Mean? | Mainline Christian

Proverbs 31:10–31 is a Hebrew acrostic poem praising an eshet chayil, a “woman of strength” or “woman of valor.” She buys a field, plants a vineyard, sells the cloth she makes, gives to the poor, and teaches with wisdom, and her husband trusts her completely. The poem closes the Book of Proverbs by praising “a woman who fears the Lord.” Jewish families sing it on Friday evenings. It is a song of praise that honors strength, generosity, and faith in God.

If you have ever measured yourself against the “Proverbs 31 woman” and felt you came up short, you are not alone, and the poem itself has kinder words for you than you may expect. Proverbs 31 is the last chapter of the Book of Proverbs, and it has two parts. Verses 1–9 record advice that a king named Lemuel learned from his mother. Verses 10–31 are a poem in praise of a remarkable woman, the “woman of strength” or “woman of valor.”

Many Christians know the poem as a description of the ideal wife, and many families have used it to honor the women they love. Read closely, it is a portrait of a wise, strong, and generous woman who runs a business, and at its center is a woman who fears the Lord.

What does Lemuel’s mother teach in Proverbs 31:1–9?

The chapter opens with “The words of King Lemuel—the revelation which his mother taught him” (Proverbs 31:1). Lemuel appears nowhere else in the Bible. His mother warns him against drink that would make a ruler “forget the law” (Proverbs 31:4–5), and she tells him what a king is for:

Speak out for those who cannot speak, for the rights of all the destitute. Speak out; judge righteously; defend the rights of the poor and needy.

Proverbs 31:8–9, NRSVUE

The chapter that ends Proverbs begins with a woman teaching a king about justice. Some readers take the poem that follows as part of her teaching, and others treat it as a separate poem that closes the whole book.

What does “woman of valor” mean?

The poem opens with a question:

A woman of strength who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm all the days of her life.

Proverbs 31:10–12, NRSVUE

The Hebrew phrase translated “woman of strength” is eshet chayil. The word chayil means strength, ability, wealth, or valor, and the Bible often uses it of warriors. When the angel greets Gideon as “you mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12), the Hebrew is gibbor hechayil. Boaz, the wealthy landowner in the Book of Ruth, is called gibbor chayil (Ruth 2:1), and Boaz in turn tells Ruth that everyone knows she is an eshet chayil, “a worthy woman” (Ruth 3:11).

The King James Version translated the phrase “a virtuous woman,” which many readers hear as a statement about modesty. The Hebrew points to strength and capability. “Woman of valor” and “woman of strength” are closer to the original.

Why is the poem an acrostic?

Proverbs 31:10–31 is an acrostic. Each of its twenty-two verses begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, from aleph to tav. Psalm 119 uses the same form on a larger scale. The acrostic shape signals completeness: the poem praises the woman from A to Z, as the English idiom puts it. English translations cannot reproduce the pattern, so most readers never notice it.

What does the woman in Proverbs 31 actually do?

The poem describes a woman with a wide range of work. She “seeks wool and flax, and works eagerly with her hands” (Proverbs 31:13). She rises before dawn to feed her household and to give “portions for her servant girls” (Proverbs 31:15). She trades:

She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night.

Proverbs 31:16–18, NRSVUE

She “makes linen garments and sells them, and delivers sashes to the merchant” (Proverbs 31:24). She “opens her arms to the poor; yes, she extends her hands to the needy” (Proverbs 31:20). She is also a teacher:

Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

Proverbs 31:25–26, NRSVUE

Her husband appears only briefly. His heart “trusts in her” (Proverbs 31:11), he “is respected in the gates, when he sits among the elders of the land” (Proverbs 31:23), and he praises her: “Many women do noble things, but you excel them all” (Proverbs 31:28–29). The poem says nothing about her obeying him. She is a businesswoman, a landowner, a manager, a giver to the poor, and a teacher of wisdom. For how the New Testament speaks about wives, see Should wives submit to their husbands?

Is the woman of valor a picture of Wisdom?

The Book of Proverbs pictures Wisdom as a woman from its first chapters. “Wisdom calls aloud in the street. She utters her voice in the public squares.” (Proverbs 1:20). “Wisdom has built her house. She has carved out her seven pillars.” (Proverbs 9:1). The book’s motto is “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7).

The poem in chapter 31 ends on the same note:

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the city gates.

Proverbs 31:30–31, NRSVUE

The Book of Proverbs begins with the fear of the Lord and ends with a woman who fears the Lord. Many readers therefore see the woman of strength as Wisdom herself, lived out in an ordinary household. On that reading, the poem shows what a life shaped by reverence for God looks like in practice. For other books of the Bible worth reading next, see Where should I start reading the Bible?

Why do Jewish families sing Eshet Chayil on Friday night?

In many Jewish homes, the poem is sung at the table on Friday evening as the Sabbath begins, before the blessing over wine called the Kiddush. The custom is usually traced to Jewish mystics of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, some of them in the town of Safed in Galilee. They read the woman of valor as a picture of the Shekhinah, the presence of God, and of the Sabbath itself. Over time the song also became a husband’s and family’s tribute to the woman of the house.

Is Proverbs 31 a standard every woman must meet?

Proverbs 31 is a poem of praise, and it ends by telling the community to honor a woman’s work in public. It was written to celebrate a life. Many women have been made to feel that they fall short of an impossible list of tasks, and the poem’s own conclusion points them to what matters: charm and beauty pass, and what lasts is reverence for God.

The qualities the poem praises are strength, diligence, generosity, wisdom, kindness, and the fear of the Lord. Scripture asks those qualities of men and women alike. Lemuel’s mother asked wisdom, justice, and care for the poor of her son the king, and the same word for strength describes Gideon and Boaz. For more on women’s leadership in Scripture, see Can women be pastors?, and on the care for the poor that runs through the chapter, see What does the Bible say about the poor?

The poem ends, “Give her of the fruit of her hands!” (Proverbs 31:31). Whatever work your hands do, at home or in the world, you can offer it to God with the words of Psalm 90, which its title calls a prayer of Moses: