A Woman of Strength

It is still dark. The rest of the house is asleep. But a small clay lamp is burning, and a woman is already up, her hands busy with wool, planning the day ahead.

The last chapter of Proverbs opens in an unusual way. It says these are the words of King Lemuel, words his mother taught him. We don't know who Lemuel was or where he ruled. But we know his mother cared deeply what kind of man he would become. She told him to speak up for people who cannot speak for themselves, and to defend the poor and needy. Then the book closes with a poem, praising a woman of strength. In Hebrew the phrase means a woman of worth, capable and strong. It begins with a question: “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.”

Picture her life in an ancient Israelite town. Before sunrise she gets up to make sure everyone in the household has food, including the servants. She chooses wool and flax, and she works with willing hands, spinning thread on the spindle and weaving cloth. She is like a merchant ship, the poem says, bringing food from far away, which probably means she shops wisely at the market. She looks at a field, thinks it over, and buys it. With money she has earned, she plants a vineyard. She makes linen garments and belts and sells them to the traders. She sees that her work is good, and her lamp burns late into the night. This is not a quiet, idle life. She is strong, she is skilled, and she is a businesswoman.

But her strength isn't only about work. “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.” The same hands that hold the spindle are open to people in need. When winter comes and snow falls in the hills, she isn't worried, because her whole household is dressed in warm scarlet clothes. Her husband is respected when he sits with the elders at the city gate, and he trusts her completely. Then come two of the most beautiful lines in the poem. “Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” She can laugh at the days ahead. And “she openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” When she speaks, kindness comes out.

At the end of the poem, her family stands up to speak. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband praises her too: many women have done wonderful things, but you go beyond them all. And then the poem tells us her secret. Not her looks, and not how charming she is. “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” To fear the Lord means to honour and trust him with deep respect. That is where her strength comes from. The last line asks for her to be praised in public: give her the reward of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.

This poem is built like an alphabet. In Hebrew, its twenty-two verses each begin with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, from aleph to tav. This kind of poem is called an acrostic. It made a poem easier to learn by heart, and it carried a sense of completeness: a portrait of wisdom from A to Z. The book of Proverbs, which begins by picturing wisdom as a woman calling out in the streets, ends with this alphabet of a wise woman's life.

You'll find this poem in Proverbs chapter thirty-one, verses ten to thirty-one. A portrait of strength, skill, generosity and kindness, rooted in honouring God. So here is a question to carry with you. Who is someone strong and kind in your life, and how could you thank them this week?