As most of you know (since many of us have the same blog friends), Kristen Jenkins has spearheaded a wonderful online Bible study opportunity for women. For starters, we will be studying Prov. 31:10-31, one verse per week. Check out Far Above Rubies if you’d like to participate in this Bible study. I’ll be using my blog to post my comments about each week’s verse. So, here we go. 🙂
Introductory Thoughts About Proverbs 31:10-31
Sometimes we lose some of the beauty of the Hebrew language, once it has been translated.
It is fascinating to learn that Proverbs 31:10 is the beginning of an alphabetical poem.
Each verse begins with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
King Lemuel’s mother imparted these words of wisdom to her son, knowing that such a wife would be a life-long blessing. Even though these writings are ancient, all women can make application to their own lives, regardless of when or where she lives.
Every Christian woman ought to make it her goal to be like this woman.
“But I’m not married” a single girl might say.
To that I say “Then you have a head start!”
The earlier you start applying these attributes,
the easier it will be for you to make them a lifelong habit.
the easier it will be for you to make them a lifelong habit.
As we will see in subsequent studies,
there are ways to practice these principles even before you are married.
there are ways to practice these principles even before you are married.
Mothers today would do well in teaching these truths to their sons, so that they will choose a woman who is striving to emulate these characteristics in her life.
Mothers of daughters should instill these attributes in their daughters,
so that they will be a worthy woman.
so that they will be a worthy woman.
It’s interesting to compare different translations.
ASV – “A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies.”
ESV – “An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.”
KJV – “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.”
All of these descriptions give us the idea that this woman we are going to learn about is a rare jewel. This kind of woman is hard to find, but when she is found, she is a treasure!
Becoming a Proverbs 31 woman is a lifelong task.
As long as we are living,
we have work to do on ourselves.
But here comes the hard part –
we’ve got to DO it; not just talk about it.
Are you ready to get to work?
The text speaks of finding a worthy woman. I believe that my loving God providentially sent me a lovely gift over 25 years ago! Joy, I praise you by saying: "Many daughters have done worthily, But thou excellest them all." Love, George
Thanks for sharing, Mom! This is such a good study. I love how each verse corresponds to a letter in the Hebrew alphabet – I kinda wish it did in English!
Thank you so much for posting your thoughts! I am so excited about this study! I really, really want to be that treasure for my family, but mostly for God!