Proverbs 31e

 This passage draws to a close the Book of Proverbs which is about human wisdom, such as it is, and God’s wisdom. The book began with a contrast between wisdom personified, someone called ‘Lady Wisdom’ (1:20), and her opposite, someone else called ‘The Loose Woman’ (2:16). From the biblical sense of two paths in life, down to Robert Frost’s “two ways diverged into the woods,” life is constantly presented to us as a choice. 

 Solomon said that these proverbs are “for learning about wisdom and instruction, for understanding and insight, for gaining instruction in wise dealing, righteousness, justice, and equity” (1:2-3). However, he says right up front that wisdom follows our relationship with God: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (1:7). 

 In an extended metaphor, sounding like a precursor to the internet today, Solomon says that Lady Wisdom “cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice,” but “simple ones,” “scoffers,” and “fools hate knowledge” (1:22). So it is with us, as the book-burners show disdain for checking the facts and justify spreading misinformation because they serve only one cause: winning earthly power.  

 So, now at the end of this collection of proverbs, Lady Wisdom is again on display, this time in the form of the ideal woman. And, once again, we are told that “a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.”

31: 28-31. Her children rise up 

and call her happy;

    her husband, too, 

and he praises her:

“ Many women have done excellently,

     but you surpass them all.”

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,

     but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Give her a share in the fruit of her hands, and

     let her works praise her in the city gates.

 This is quite a contrast to the long history of male-female relationships in Euro-American cultures. The many women who carry out the responsibilities they have been given usually have found out that theirs was a thankless task. Her husband grumbles, her children disrespect her; and all seem to make her work more difficult. Not very biblical of them; the burden of the family falls on one set of shoulders.

 Leaders who talk about being a Christian nation with biblical values want to put women in their place. If they really read Scripture, which I doubt, they would praise women for being able to carry out the tasks in this chapter: entrepreneurial work, running a household as well as running a business, building the reputation of her husband, ensuring that their children are well-fed and well-clothed; that is more irons in the fire than most men have. 

 According to the Bible, a woman, especially a woman who fears the Lord, deserves blessings from her children and praises from her husband. But there is more. 

 Her husband, her children, and her community are commanded, and this is the only command in this last chapter; they are commanded, to “Give her a share in the fruit of her hands.”

 In England, until the late 1800s, married women did not control any property they brought to a marriage, nor any earnings they made during the marriage. Not until the Married Women's Property Act 1870 and the Married Women’s Property Act 1882 did these laws change. It took until 1900 in America for each state to pass laws permitting women to own their own property; longer for Black and Hispanic women. However, it took until well into my lifetime for a woman to be able to take out a credit card in her own name without her husband co-signing. Yet, even today, there are still people telling women to stand back.

 The other half of the command is this: “Let her works praise her in the city gates.” The ‘city gates’ refers to the community in general, and to the legal and political realm in particular. While the first half of the command may be applied to the household, this command is more public. Her contribution is not to be claimed by her husband as if he were in command of everything. She deserves public praise for her works. No more men over- shadowing women and downplaying their work. 

 No more discrimination against women: the Bible says so.