Knowing before Finding (1)

An excellent wife, who can find?
For her worth is far above jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
And he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil
All the days of her life.
She looks for wool and flax
And works with her hands in delight.
She is like merchant ships;
She brings her food from afar.
She rises also while it is still night
And gives food to her household
And portions to her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
From her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She girds herself with strength
And makes her arms strong.
She senses that her gain is good;
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She stretches out her hands to the distaff,
And her hands grasp the spindle.
She extends her hand to the poor,
And she stretches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
For all her household are clothed with scarlet.
She makes coverings for herself;
Her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates,
When he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
And supplies belts to the tradesmen.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
And she smiles at the future.
She opens her mouth in wisdom,
And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:
“Many daughters have done nobly,
But you excel them all.”
Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
Give her the product of her hands,
And let her works praise her in the gates.

- Proverbs 31

And since years back when my mentor studied (simple one) this passage with me, it stuck. It has never left my thought when I think of the possibility of entering a relationship in time to come. It has also become clearer and specifically to what I am reminded to look for in a partner.


Noteworthy points to self:
For her worth is far above jewels: The Bible just cannot over-emphasize this advice. When one finds that Godly and Faithful partner, it really is a BLESSING so much so the Bible describes it far above jewels. For me to find that God-matched is being able to give up everything for her sake.

The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain: Self-explanatory. Love always trusts (1 Cor 13). If I consider the previous verse, I suppose one way of looking at no lack of gain is the worth of a Godly wife.


She does him good and not evil all the days of her life: The mutual love and benefiting goes beyond the honeymoon years. The Bible declares it to be all the days to come, reminder for me that love comes down to commitment of a life of loving and devotion to someone as Christ loves me.

She looks for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight: Look then for a wife who works with wool? The Bible used wool and flax in this verse to highlight a worthy woman who firstly does not idle, and when she is at work, she does it with delight. The Dictionary defines Delight as a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy.

She is like merchant ships; She brings her food from afar: Leading up from the previous verse, a worthy woman brings provision and oversees the internal system of the family. This point may be quite subtle in the Bible but various help-books have put across this point in view of the wife releasing her husband from internal family concerns to serve in his calling.

I certainly wish there is resource out there that sheds light on this amazing scriptural passage. But meantime, I thought it be nice for me to consider carefully His Word. I'm going to leave this as part 1 with the first 5 verses (V10 - V14) and come back to this passage with a part 2. I will post this as a reminder to myself. But I pray that anyone who reads this, may be blessed.

The Word of the Lord gives Life.