Hola, so Im just doing a little study on proverbs 31 and this is the second part which will cover verses 10 & on! :) The first part is
here if you would like a recap :)
Im just gonna jump in because I already explained everything in the last post lol.
So for a while now, Ive been hearing the word "virtue" to describe a woman of God and how she should be. But I honestly didn't even really know the true meaning of it besides like someone who is honest... =/ which im sure isn't even the real definition of that word. But i always just brushed it off like yeah whatever "i got virtue" lol...
But the first verse that begins the "poem" (what we talked about before) calls the proverbs 31 woman virtuous! (not in the NIV version =/ )
From NLT it says "Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies." and in KJV it says " Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." When I read it I was like, IDK? Who can find a virtuous woman? ... Am I one of those? Do I fit the part?
And the craziest thing happend lol. I looked up the word virtuous in my handy dandy e-sword thingy and the Hebrew word for virtuous is the SAME as the hebrew word for strength. *drops jaw* WHOA!
Which is "a force of resources like virtue, valor or strength" Now I dont know if this is the same because of lack of information or what... but im sure that wouldn't happen you know, I dont believe in coincidences. Anyways I was just really blown away by that because I feel like strength is something that females just posses so well naturally.... THEN I think about myself lol, Im not saying im not strong, but I am very tenderhearted and sensitive so it was hard for me to see that I could still possess virtue, because I dont think our strength depends on our sensitivity but how well we are able to surrender all we have, want, need , everything to God. Theres true sacrifice that comes with surrender & its not easy giving it to an invisible God. But thats another post lol. What im trying to say is that I might not be virtuous completely and fully, but I am definitely pursuing it and reaching towards it because its a good characteristic to posses as a person in general not just as a "noble wife" just as many other girls are too! -
-One more thing : I think virtue cannot be necessarily defined through one definition, I think the rest of this proverb (from this verse on) paints a picture of what a true virtuous woman is and what a true woman of God should be! I hope by the end of this we can figure out even if its just a glimpse of what the bible tells us a part of our role is!
ALRIGHT so that was long, but stay with me! lol
Okay so were told that a virtuous woman is precious and her price; which means value, literally something you use to pay for, is FAR above rubies or any pearl! How special !! lol
In verse 11 KJV says "The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil." which pretty much is saying her husband can trust her & she will enrich his life. I was interested in the meaning of spoil in KJV. I loved the picture it painted in my head. It says the primitive root for spoil is " to let fall and be without purpose." And I really liked that. Referring to a wife and husband sort of deal I think it is important for the woman to help the man (thats actually what we were created it for lol) but I never thought of it in terms of the husbands purpose and spiritual life. We look so much for the man to be the spiritual leader sometimes we forget that women can be a spiritual helper and keep their husbands accountable . I just get the picture of like a woman helping her husband plan a big speech for his presentation at the office or message for his sermon and helping his PURPOSE in life be fulfilled. And just in general which I can obviously relate more to, just us girls being helpful with the lives around you, enriching the purpose of the people who you care about most!! :)
This can also be related to the next verse,12, which says in KJV " She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life" Good meaning something that is just plain good, there are sooo many synonyms the Hebrew dictionary gives for this words ; pleasant, sweet, a good thing, better, best, etc, etc. & evil meaning the opposite of good or "good for nothing & displeasing". This to me is something important for woman to posses, I feel a lot of times in todays culture girls are ALWAYS trying to live up to this "bad b****" mentality, and some actually do. But its not cute nor GOOD, as the bible calls us to be be. Good and not evil, life enrichers and not spoilers! Its sad to see so many young females my age in rebellion towards the Lord and failing at living out a biblically good life for ALL the days of their lives. We as woman of God have to once again SET an example of what a true virtuous woman should be!
Okay so the next couple of verses are talking about the work ethic of a woman, how she "works willingly with her hands" , "brings food from afar", "she wakes up at the crack of dawn and makes food for her household". While this might be something we normally would skip over if we were just reading it, i think it holds important (obvi lol). A good work ethic is an important thing in general and something that I myself stray away from a LOT! Especially now that i am in college and im paying for my education and not getting it for free, I should be putting my all into my work, and im not gonna lie I havent put EVERYTHING, all possible work ethic, into my school. This could also pertain to our relationship with God, do I get up early enough to have ample time to get a good devotion in? Or do I rush through it and sometimes forget? Yeah I do. While I am a human and I do make mistakes, the least I can do is WORK hard at it like it says in scripture. Im sure whoever this lady is who was "collecting flax" and whatnot wasn't in the mood for it sometimes but she did it anyway, her job was to do that for her household, im pretty sure God appreciated it!
Gosh this whole part just holds so much good stuff to me! Verse 16 -18 says in KJV"She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night." She makes sure that the stuff shes buying is worth it! Shes good with her money! She doesnt just buy any old land, or the one that looks the best or cost the most. She evaluates the land and her money and sees what she can get. I think thats super important, we gotta be good with our money too! Money is a good thing that the Lord provides but if we dont treat it right, it can rot everything around us! This is a good thing for me to always think of the next time I have to make a decision between the mall and the bookstore. Always beware that it still isn't your money, we dont know how much money this woman had & that dosent matter, what matters is how she spent it! I just think that puts a lot of things into perspective for me.
Verse 17 caught my eye a little, in the NIV version it says "She is energetic and strong,
a hard worker." How awesome! Like seriously! Even through all this working and budgetting the woman is still accounted for as being an energetic strong hard worker! The Hebrew defines what the KJV says is "strengtheneth" as "courage, steadfastness and to prevail." Think about it, in your own life, you wake up and go to class, that could take about 3 hours depending on how long class is and if you count in walking back and fourth, then you have another class, then you go to math lab , then you go home and do homework, write a paper, study for a quiz and by the time your done the day is over and you've had no down time! Thats probably equivalent to all the clothes making and flax spinning this woman does and yet she comes out of all of it with strength and being energetic! To me thats insane, usually im grumpy, tired and worn out! :( I think she does it by her virtue, maybe this is something I should put into practice?! I think so!
Verse 18 reiterates her work ethic and sort of points out that she's a planner and takes her day seriously. Thats sort of conviction for me, I cant tell you how many days I lay around and do NOTHING when there is always something to do. Whether its clean,study, read, pray, workout, make crafts, etc. like seriously it dosent have to be this extravagant task, but doing something is better than nothing.I understand those lazy rainy movie-watching days but I literally sat around for like week doing nothing. It says: "18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night." She works all day, she plans and "percieveth" in Hebrew means taste that her "merchandise" or profit is good enough for her family. She does it willingly and until shes done the job, she dosent just stop when its "time to go to bed". Now im not saying that we MUST stay up until the wee hours of the night and pray or something. But im more speaking to myself,like I said sometimes I lay around and procrastinate studying for chemistry or doing a devotional or running errands for my mom, or ill do them for like 30 min then take a 3 hour nap, wasting my day. I think this is just highlighting the fact that laziness is just plain wrong. lol We all know that, but as for me , I rarely practice it. Thank you mysterious Proverbs 31 woman, you've called me out on my laziness! lol
In the next couple of verses 19& on it again reiterates her work ethic and her drive to do EVERYTHING she can do for not only her household but the needy and poor. This is literally from verse 19-24.
Verse 25 is pretty popular among society today also. This is verse 25-27 in KJV: 25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
"Honour" in hebrew is hadar and means ornament or splendor and majesty. And I honestly just thought that was cool lol. i mean, majesty, crazy! Thats a word I use to describe God. But anyways I have honestly always looked at this verse (25) and been like...okaayy -_- yeah yeah yeah we're supposed to be "Dressed" in strength and honor and not be afraid of the future. Easy for YOU to say. And I still agree with the fact that everyday I should wake up and ask God to clothe me with strength for the day and honor in who He is and who He is molding me to be! I like that & thats something I encourage. But the whole future thing dosent come easy for me. I cant picture my self laughing at the future. In the KJV it says "rejoice". Which in Hebrew literally means to laugh, play or mock. Umm... MOCK??? How dare I mock my own future lol. Thats not something I think I would want to do. But now that I really sit and think of it , I can mock, and laugh at what I think the future holds. Because its not up to ME , it's all for God to plan. It would be selfish for me to sit in the corner and pout about what I want and what my future looks like to me. Which is what I do. lol
This verse puts a lot into perspective for me and I honestly think it can for everyone not just "Proverbs 31 'women' ". We have to be able to laugh and rejoice in what the future holds NO MATTER what we think it does. Life or death, its all up to God!
*phew* ALRIGHT! Almost done!! :)
This verse 26 is probably my favorite verse of all 31. I really really really love it. Im gonna put it on my wall! lol
First let me say that pretty much all these words in Hebrew are just the same meaning as they are in English. So like kindness, tounge, law, mouth... everything means what we think it means (unless you think differently!). To me is sooo encouraging and motivating to just be a kind person. The way this verse is written portrays is as such a strong and favorable characteristic to have. It is pretty much saying "When you speak, you are kind and flow with wisdom, with every word that comes out of your mouth and off of your tounge!" Oh Lawd! Imagine that ya'll EVERYTHING we said would be kind, gentle, good, skillfull, and bring people closer to God. The only way we could even have that be a part of who we are is if our hearts are right! 18 But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. All that comes from your mouth really comes from your heart. How can you be kind....if your heart is bitter and full of hatred you know?
And what'dya know verse 27 calls out laziness AGAIN! This woman never stops, she wont even dare to "eat the bread of idleness" : stop and be lazy or sluggish as the Hebrew for idleness says.
Goodness gracious, shes on top of things lol. Motivation or whhaaat?
FINNNALLLLYYYY!! The last 3 wonderful verses! :) .29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.s30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
29 is just wonderful praise to the woman. This woman, who I again would adore to meet, definitely should be praised you know? And not praised as in the way we praise God but like lifted up and encouraged. This verse says that many other woman have accomplished the mediocre efficiency and whatnot but this one ascends them ALL! Whoaa! I cant definitely agree lol! She's awesome :)
Now this is probably the most popular verse among 21st century women to date! lol
Verse 30.
A lot of people and girls especially sum up the whole proverbs 31 with this verse. Which I would see as debatable lol. But like I said in the first post, I feel like its very highly lifted up on this pedestal and whatnot. (Thats just ME!!) I think this is a great piece of scripture it IS very good to live by and use as guidance especially as women. And the fact that it is in the Bible written idk , 2000 years ago..? Like you would think that only women today struggle with vanity,deceit and reverence to the Lord, but obviously not! This was written forever ago and that, to me, just shows how real this whole topic is!
Alright, so in KJV it says "favour" which in hebrew means just as we would think, "charm, grace and elegance" while "decietful" means also what we would think, "disappointment or falsehood". This in and of itself is soo crucial for me to just get.through.my.head! lol It DOES NOT MATTER what type of elegance,charm, good looks, grace,acceptance, favor, big butt, big boobs, cute face, pretty smile, blah blah blah, that you or anyone else for that matter has. It honestly just dosent. And I see so many girls who are "popular" on twitter or facebook put themselves out there THROUGH those types of things. And I hope that they and myself could understand that all "That" is just plain old deceitful! Its misleading and dressed up in all those things, but what's lying beneath it is empty , hollow and thirsty. I believe that all that stuff is a bonus for your significant other inside the context of marriage (if you know what I mean) lol and dont get me wrong, I am convinced that a nice, welcoming smile can brighten up some else's day and it can be contagious, but its not what gives ANYONE worth. It still is deceitful when it is used to "lure" or "wave in" as "this is who I am, look at me". Last week, I saw someone retweet this reply to their own post about other people complaining about what she was wearing and how it was "wrong" or whatever. The replier said "Your body is Gods gift to us so nothing wrong". But to be honest I about SCREAMED when I saw that. UMMM NO! NEWS FLASH. Your body is not a gift to ANYONE outside of your husband or wife. Point blank. Period!! I dont know how that is logical in any sense. And PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE correct me if Im wrong yall, but hello!??! My body, your body, your mothers body is not a GIFT to anyone except our future spouses and your mothers husband lol. Like foreal, it kills me how much of a epidemic this whole vanity and beauty thing is. I guess what im trying to say through all of this is, everyday, as I surrender my life to God, I surrender my beauty, my desire for vanity, lust and everything I want people to see me as whether God glorifying or not TO God himself. (Im just being transparent here) Without that process, I too, fall into the category of a woman in vain from beauty and charm or favor. I encourage all of us, men and women to do the same!!
To the next part of the verse. - A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised-
We talked about the first part of this verse and I said my whole ramble on it, but without this part, it honestly means nothing. We cannot throw away our vanity and sickness for beauty if we do not fear the Lord himself. I have always known "Fearing the Lord" as similar to reverencing the Lord. Seeing him AS Lord, knowing that He is almighty and He can do anything at anytime because he is Lord!! lol Not NECESSARILY a fear like to be afraid or scared. But to have knowledge of who God is and what He can do through reverence. So now that thats clear, we should be able to put two and two together. Fear the Lord. Kill vanity and deceit. Be molded into a woman to be praised. Be known for your love and fear of God, rather than your body and image!
This final verse pretty much concludes everything Proverbs 31 says! Ill post it again so no need to scroll! .31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates. to Give her the fruits of her hands. Yay! All this work that this wonderful woman of God has done, all the works of her hands, has not gone in vain. This woman will indeed see the fruit of her labor. Something to keep in mind, no, dont let it become your motivation, we shouldn't work for a reward. We work for God and God alone. But it sure is nice to have the fruits of our labor when it is all for the Lord. And thats exactly the picture this woman paints, her own willful works will lead her to praise at the gates. "Gates" in Hebrew translates as heaven or entrance & palace! Notice that it says NOTHING about how pretty she is or what size jeans she was, but her work and her love for the Lord carries on until the end. Interesting to me. This verse really carries all the aspect of this chapter and sums it up in one! Amazingg :)
Welp, its been a long journey, and I apologize for the delay in this second part, I just slipped away from my blog completely over the last week. My badsies! :(
But I seriously hope you have enjoyed these Proverbs 31 post. I did put a lot of effort into it, and when I felt like not doing it, I did lol. I hope that it comes off as loving and honest, and I hope no one is offended at anything. Feel free to comment or tweet, facebook, text, whatever about this post and any others!
God bless!!!
