9 of 17

Write now Article Tools

It is hard to consider the concept of the virtuous woman without reflecting upon Proverbs chapter 31. While as a Christian woman I am ever striving to become virtuous. And while I always reference the Bible as the Word of God, I do not see this chapter in the book of Proverbs in the same light as many others do. Although this chapter gives us a list of what fruits a virtuous woman may produce, it is important to remember that in order to bear these fruits we must first have our eyes firmly fixed on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

When studying the thirty-first chapter of Proverbs it is very important to understand what type of literature it is, whom it was written too, and why it was written. So many times over the years I have heard teachers and Bible study leaders use this passage to heap unnecessary guilt and unrealistic expectations on young wives and mothers. It was not written for that purpose at all.

Once one carefully reviews the apologetics of Proverbs chapter thirty-one they will gain the knowledge that it was not intended to be a "to do list" for a wife and mother, but a "thank her for list" written to the faithful husband.

The thirty-first chapter of Proverbs is written in two sections. The first section, verses one through nine, are the wisdom of King Lemuel. The second section, verses ten through thirty-one, is a poem extolling the virtues of a worthy woman. It is an alphabetical poem, with most of the verses reading synthetically. On a small scale, the piece is instructional; written as advice from a mother to a son. On a larger scale, the piece supports the overall theme of the book of Proverbs, which is the wisdom found in the fear of the Lord.

The poem is considered alphabetical rather than logographic or syllabic. This is important to know because it supports the fact that the writer of the poem was Semitic. This could include Canaanites, Phoenicians, Midianites, Aramaaeans, Nabateans, and Israelites or Hebrews. Since the Isrealites were careful not to give themselves to graven images, they were one of the first peoples to develop an alphabetical form of communication.

Verses one and two offer an introduction to the chapter. In these first verses the mother addresses her son, King Lemuel. Most of the poem is considered synthetical because the second and third lines of each verse complete the first. For example verse nineteen reads, "She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff." A distaff is a type of spindle. It is,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Women and virtue?
We want to hear your view. Write now!