12 Virtues of the Proverbs 31 woman
Looking at the 12 qualities of a virtuous woman is a fascinating little peek at what virtue can look like in the life of a woman. The role model here is created by the mother of a king in the book of Proverbs to show him what the characteristics of a virtuous woman are so that he will find a good wife.
What are the Qualities of a Virtuous Woman?
She is..
- Trustworthy
- Hard Working
- Wise
- Strong
- Humble
- Loving
- Confident
- Respectful
- Skilled
- Beautiful within
- Gentle
- Efficient
- Reverant
Let’s see what God’s Word says about these qualities in this woman of virtue.
Proverbs 31:10-31
Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband doth safely trusteth in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
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.
She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
She make it herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
She maketh a fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She opened her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.
The 12 qualities that we cover here are in no way the extensive list. There is so much about the characteristics of a godly woman and her good works in this passage. This barely scratches the surface, but I hope you enjoy this little Bible study on what a virtuous wife, woman, and homemaker can be.
The 12 Qualities of a Virtuous Woman
Trustworthy
The heart of her husband doth safely trusteth in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
A virtuous woman is trustworthy. She can be safely trusted in relationships because she won’t go behind people’s backs and wrong them. People will feel safe and not feel like they have to keep their guard up with her.
She has the wisdom and discernment to know what to share with other people. Her husband could safely be trusted with an official position (he sat with the elders of the land) because he had a wife that could be trusted.
Hard Working
She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
This woman did things from scratch willingly probably because that was the only way her family could afford things.
She did not settle for less. She wanted the best for her household (which was not just her family but also included servants). She did right by them and served them all well.
She got up early while it is still dark. To wake up before she probably wanted to to tend to her household was a necessity.
Wise
She considereth a field, and buyeth it.
There is virtue in knowing how to weigh things out. This woman of wisdom stopped to consider the field. I wonder if this was the only field that she saw that day or if she had to wait sometime till the right one came along for her project. There was no rash decision by this virtuous woman.
Strong
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
Did you know it was virtuous to work out? I’m not entirely sure this is the point, but what does need to be addressed is that this woman actively made herself strong. A lot of it probably came naturally in the rhythm of working hard for her household.
Humble
She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
Unafraid of hard work and even though she had maidens, humility is displayed here because she again worked willingly with her own hands. She was not above doing the tedious hard work.
Loving
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
Compassion is not lacking in this example of virtue. We see here how the needs of other people outside of her household were met by her own hand. She took care of her family, but also loved on the poor and needy.
Confident
She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
The change of seasons was expected and the household was prepared well for it with quality items.
Respectful
She make it herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
You wouldn’t see this woman hanging out in her pj’s as is common in today’s world. First of all, because that would be scandalous back then. Secondly, because this would be disrespectful to her husband who was well-known and must have had some kind of position in the community.
Skilled
She maketh a fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
This ties in the qualities of humility and hard working, but also brings up the idea that she knew what she was doing. She was knowledgeable in the skill of making good quality and highly sought after linen enough to be able to sell it.
Inner beauty
Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
The character and virtues that reside in the heart of this woman is overwhelming. She is so beautiful being clothed with strength and honor beyond the physical beauty of her outward appearance and this brings happiness and rejoicing later on in her life. I have no doubt that she took the time to cultivate virtue and make it a reality in her life.
Gentle
She opened her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
This sweet and quiet spirit of gentleness and wisdom in her words beautifully compliments all the other characteristics of this woman. I find it interesting that her tongue had the LAW of kindness. It wasn’t a principle to be kind with her words. It was a law.
Efficient
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Efficient has to do with the idea of being effective and productive. It is in a sense the opposite of idleness. The virtuous woman is the perfect woman, an excellent wife, and she is also the ideal home maker. She is excellent at tending to her household.
Reverant
A woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised
The ideal woman reverences or has the fear of the LORD and she is praised for it.
Final Thoughts
This is the kind of woman with strength of character that we all aspire to be in our own lives. As christian women, we deeply desire to be known as virtuous women, to be known for our wisdom, our love, our kindness, our virtue.
No one wants to be known as the foolish woman, but rather a wise woman and a wise homemaker who looks after her home with skill and efficiency.
Sometimes when we look at this example set before us, it can be daunting to think of how we can get from where we are to were we need to be in this journey of becoming a virtuous woman.
It can seem hard and impossible; though, from what little I have studied on virtue, it is a good thing that it is hard because that hardness is what will refine us and create virtue in us.
It also does not happen in a day. Virtue takes an entire life. Hardly anything in life is a quick fix and even these specific qualities of the virtuous woman of Proverbs takes the time and the effort of implementing them in our everyday life.
I want to be this kind of woman, to learn to be a virtuous and excellent woman in all my homemaking, one that is worthy of her husband, a loving mother that spends quality time with her little children, and one that has the fear of God in her.
Do you long for this too? If not…
Will you join me in the challenge of becoming a woman of noble character? Will you join me in building virtuous homes for our families? It’s hard, but it’s worth it.
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Such wonderful things to alway be thinking about. I felt calmer and more at peace just reading through them. Thank you.
Such an important reminder!
Yes, I need it every day!
Beautifully said. Thank you 🙂
Thank you! I hope it motivated and encouraged you to be more virtuous!
What a beautiful article, walking in faith and doing my best to live up to those qualities everyday. Thank you!
Love the way you broke down proverbs 31! Such a great reminder!
Thank you! Yes, it was good for me to stop and take a look at it, too.
Such a nice look at the different virtues! I feel like this is such an important topic.
Yes, I am becoming more and more aware of how important it is in my own life so that it will show up in my homemaking.
What a beautiful breakdown of the virtuous women. I strive to be her everyday!
Me too!