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NASB | Proverbs 31:10 ¶ An excellent wife, who can find? For her worth is far above jewels. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Proverbs 31:10 ¶ An excellent woman [one who is spiritual, capable, intelligent, and virtuous], who is he who can find her? Her value is more precious than jewels and her worth is far above rubies or pearls. [Prov 12:4; 18:22; 19:14] |
Bible Question: Can anyone enlighten regarding the application of Proverbs 31 regarding the virtuous woman? I wonder how it applies in modern times? She is no longer the fulltime homemaker but has entered the working world of man. How to excel as a career woman and yet not threaten the love of her life for being the intelligent, wise, virtuous partner of his life? |
Bible Answer: Part I I am not a Bible scholar, only a layman but here is my "take" on the subject: Proverbs 31:10-31 The Virtuous Wife v10-11 One of the common issues I see arise in modern couples is trust, mostly in the area of finances. It is not usual for the woman to make more than the husband and while this should not be a problem it tends to make the wife less inclined toward mutual submission with her husband; likewise in the absence of joint goals and pooling of resources trust will be a factor whatever teh circumstances;finally recall "11The heart of her husband safely trusts her" He is comfortable sharing all he has inside without fear such will be discussed around the office -ever. v12 Just the husband has a duty and obligation to make his wife, her care, comfort and well being a priority so does the wife. No we are not talking June Cleaver here but the whole mutual submission keeps coming up, how so? let's face it in this society any level of womanly ambition requires her to have considerable focus, just as it does with her husband. Just as it would be wrong for the husband to be so focused on his career/business to be neglectful of his wife, likewise no woman can be akin to this Prov. 31 woman with a similarly narrowly focused drive. v13 After 4, 6 maybe 8 years of education can you still be enthusiastically willing to "work with [your] hands," in modern times such may be equated with repairing holey socks or burst seams or button replacement. The easy answer is to send it to the cleaners/tailoring/seamstress shop for repairs but wouldn't those resources be better used elsewhere? v14 DANGER AREA: Cooking! Can the "modern" woman do all she does and still be responsible for her family meals? Note: the question is not can she work full time and still do all the cooking (although that is what this Prov. 31 woman did) but is she willing to control what her family eats? can she make it easy/simple for her husband and herself to regularly prepare good -and interesting ("like the merchant ships, She brings her food from afar")- meals that they both or all would enjoy and would likewise be good for them? v16 within the realm of the marriage she uses her own resources to engage in astute transactions that do not remain hidden, kept discreet as part of some long term "exit strategy" but rather she not only sees a profit but uses the profit for yet another activity that will profit the family and by extension serve to glorify the LORD; |