Proverbs 31:10-31
Watch the Video!
Listen Now!

This is one of the best loved pieces of wisdom literature in the entire Bible. The virtuous woman or excellent wife is a woman of great capacity. Depending on the context, this word can refer to great wealth, strength, or ability. David’s mighty men of valor were heroes of great capacity/excellence/virtue—same word used here.

No one can read this passage without wondering whether it describes some legendary super woman. “This exalted portrait . . . belongs in an art gallery, not in a house. ‘Who measures up to the ideal?’” ~Powell.

It is an ideal, a composite, a portrait of a strong and gifted woman whose rank and station in life give her opportunity to manifest her extraordinary capacity. I’ve heard more than one godly woman express some sense of failure at ever coming close to measuring up.

The last thing I want to do today is to make our sisters in Christ feel depressed. That would divert the passage from its purpose—to display what godly women are capable of as they are given opportunity and to call all of us to value their worth as we should. We do not want to rob the passage of its robust character, nor reduce the praise that women of such capacity deserve.

Not every woman is part of the wealthy class—this woman is. Not every woman is married to a community leader—this woman is. Our opportunities and our abilities vary, but there is much here that will manifest itself in every woman who really loves the Lord.