A Husband of Valor: Who Can Find?

Perhaps fittingly for a book replete with pearls of sagacious instruction and admonition, Proverbs concludes with an extraordinary poem of aesthetic beauty and stirring imagery. This twenty-two line encomium has occasioned a plethora of exegetical commentary, midrashic interpretation, and philosophical allegorization, and remains a popular hymn in traditional Jewish homes to this day. The poem — often referred to as Eshet Ḥayil, after its opening phrase — both describes and praises the activities of the quintessential matron, the woman who manages all aspects of her home in a competent and prosperous manner. Numerous virtues are ascribed to this Woman of Valor (henceforth WV); she is generous, shrewd, diligent, business-like, dexterous, wise, pious, and above all, successful. In short, she exemplifies many of the character traits depicted as desirable throughout the book of Proverbs.

The poem’s aesthetic features are both striking and significant. Unlike some other instances of biblical poetry that employ alphabetical acrostics,¹ this poem is both complete and perfectly sequential, likely indicating a literate, well-educated audience.² This relatively short poem’s careful cultivation of alliteration, rhyme schemes, delicate chiastic structures, and consistent word-plays reflects a compositional mind that delights in exquisite wordsmithery.³ While there is little thematic sequence to the praises lavished upon WV in this poem, its cumulative effect paints a single cohesive portrait, rather like the overall effect of an impressionist painting.⁴

Dating this poem to the early post-exilic era,⁵ Yoder marshals considerable evidence to substantiate her theory that this poem is an eminently realistic composite that outlines all the traits of excellence to be found among wealth-producing women of that era. Women, in this socio-historical context, assumed a broad array of roles and responsibilities, mainly centered on the home, her base of operations in communal life.⁶ This included the production of many kinds of materials, buying and selling at the marketplace, and in general managing the household economy. Women of high rank in this society even owned and managed property.⁷ Despite its setting within the unmistakably male-dominated society of Ancient Israel, the household would have been considered the woman’s domain, within which she exercised considerable influence.

While many ancient, medieval, and modern commentators presumed that this poem, along with the entire book of Proverbs, was authored by King Solomon himself, modern academic scholarship has overwhelmingly rejected this authorial ascription. This essay will operate under the assumption that Yoder and Fox are correct, and that this poem — despite its allegorical and philosophical potentialities — is principally a grounded, realistic description of feminine excellence as understood by the Judean authors of the Persian or Hellenistic period. The purpose of such a poem would be to give young men a litany of qualities to look for in a potential spouse, and perhaps also to provide young women with an exemplar of Arete in whose image they may model their own activities and aspirations. With this assumption in mind, this essay shall address the following curiosity: what is the role of the husband in this poem? This question is especially salient once one considers the general domination of male concerns throughout the book of Proverbs. Yet within this valedictory poem, the husband appears to have melted into the background, apparently displaced from the centre stage by the gushing praise lavished upon his wife. What is the meaning of this conspicuous absence, and what role does the husband play — if any — in this encomium lauding his seemingly perfect wife?

There exists a range of plausible readings of this poem. Readers at one end of the spectrum might understand this poem as a strident, even subversive, proto-feminist paean, in which a strong, self-sufficient woman dominates the household at the expense of her marginalized, even absent husband. Those on the other end of the spectrum could read this poem as a kindly, patrician gesture towards a hard-working woman, who takes care of domestic activities for the benefit of her husband, who is himself busy attending to matters of greater gravity in the public arena. Proponents of both views will find themselves able to adduce textual evidence to bolster their readings, thus lending this question a dimension of complexity and subjective interpretation.

This essay seeks to adjudicate between these two types of readings, while noting that the language, form, and content of the poem lends itself to both a husband-centric and wife-centric reading, with varying degrees of plausibility. Although firm conclusions may prove elusive, it shall argue that, while the poem is too nuanced to allow for either extreme reading to be entirely correct, the poem is overall characterized by its depiction of an independent, competent, and widely lionized female protagonist.

The General Evidence

On the one hand, a case may certainly be made for viewing the husband as a central, even dominant figure within this poem. As with much of Proverbs, the addressee of the poem is a young man, in this case either a husband or prospective suitor — a member, evidently, of the land-owning and servant-employing classes — whose attention is directed towards the enumerated qualities of the WV. Her virtues, it must be noted, are consistently geared towards the benefit of the husband, and generally support his agenda.⁸ The husband is exhorted to trust in this woman, for through her he shall never lack for material comfort (v. 2).⁹ As a direct result of her efforts, the husband sleeps luxuriously (v. 22) and dresses regally (v. 21). This patriarchal slant is fairly typical of biblical wisdom literature in general, which measures a man’s competence by his own ability to prosper intellectually and economically, whereas woman’s excellence is measured by her ability to enrich her husband, household, and wider society.¹⁰ This point is underscored by the fact that — unlike the husband — the WV is not given a voice at any point in the poem. Plenty is spoken about her, including by her husband, but her own thoughts and articulations are omitted by the poet.

In a similar vein, some of the verses that ostensibly indicate the WV’s competence and independence may be read as confirming her reliance upon her husband. For instance, her purchasing of fields and vineyards (v. 16) is likely undertaken on behalf, and possibly at the instruction, of her husband.¹¹ Even her charitable works among the local poor has been read,¹² perhaps a tad cynically, as a shrewd tactical maneuver aimed at maximizing profit or fortifying her husband’s social standing. It is therefore possible to arrive at the conclusion, as Fox does, that a careful reading of the poem’s gushing praise of WV actually underscores her status as “an employee in a firm owned by her husband.”¹³

In addition, within a poem that pays such exquisite attention to structural detail, it is certainly not coincidental that the first and last verses focus upon the husband. The poem opens with verses addressing the prospective husband and stating that a virtuous wife will permanently underwrite his economic prosperity, while the final verses record the husband’s praising of his wife’s activities and declaring her worth to all around him. Appearing as the alpha and omega of this poem, the husband’s perspective is invested with a certain authority as the ultimate arbiter and ratifier of his wife’s worth.

Conversely, a strong case may be made that this poem, through promoting, expanding, and idealizing the wife’s persona and responsibilities, relegates the husband to the background. In terms of sheer textual space, the wife dominates. The sheer number of verses dedicated to enumerating and lauding her virtues, coupled with the relative absence of the husband in most of these verses, has been read by some scholars as indicative of her dominant role in the partnership.¹⁴ Her activities (vv. 13-25) span the full gamut of economic productivity, including cultivating raw materials, spinning them into desirable fabrics, selling them to merchants, investing the proceeds in property, and reaping the dividends of her financial savvy. She also exercises decisive control over other members of the household (v. 15), exhibits compassion towards the poor (v. 20), and consistently acts in a forward-thinking manner (vv. 18, 21). Most salient, perhaps, is the WV’s spiritual character: she articulates wisdom and kindly teachings (v. 26) and is lauded as a God-fearing woman (v. 30).

WV thus concretizes a great many of the virtues of wisdom that are promoted throughout the book of Proverbs, the sort of virtues that lead to a life of happiness and prosperity. WV is not only the ideal wife; she is the ideal person. It is not coincidental that the lexical and thematic parallels between WV and Lady Wisdom are numerous and obvious.¹⁵ The male addressee is enjoined to “find” such a woman, much as he is enjoined to “find” Wisdom itself, and thus be granted a life of prosperity. Through this idealized portrayal of his wife, the husband is implicitly cast as dependent upon WV — her competence, her wisdom, her virtue — for his own prosperity.

In addition, the poet’s description of WV interweaves a semantic field of vitality, majesty, and perhaps even martial strength. The initial verse invests the wife with the attribute of Ḥayil, a rather ambiguous term elsewhere used in the Bible to denote physical strength (Eccl. 10:10), wealth (Ez. 28:5), military might (II Sam. 11:16), warriorhood (Judg. 3:29), practical competency (Gen. 47:6), and stellar moral character (Ex. 18:21). She provides her husband with shalal (v. 11), a term that usually denotes booty or spoils of war, and her household with teref (v. 15), a term for provisions that frequently denotes “prey” or “plundered goods.”¹⁶ Such strength is also attributed to her domestic-related limbs, with her loins being described as “girded with strength” and her arms as “imbued with strength” (v. 17). This semantic field of strength and self-dependence complements the portrayal of a dominant matron, who oversees all aspects of her prosperity-producing household with a beady eye and a resolute grip.

Individual Verses

This section continues the analysis through a closer reading of some of the key verses that relate to the topic under investigation. Most of the verses in which the husband is either addressed or invoked occur at the start and end of the poem.

A woman of valor, who can find? Far beyond pearls is her worth (v. 10).¹⁷ The phrase “Eshet Ḥayil” does not lend itself to easy or widely agreed-upon translation. A brief survey of widely accepted translations includes such divergent offerings as “wife of noble character,” “virtuous woman,” “capable wife,” “diligent wife,” “valiant woman,” “woman of substance,” and “woman of worth.” Those who perceive the described woman as assertive and strong will translate Ḥayil in a commensurately valiant vein, whereas those who see her as dutiful and submissive would most likely stress her role as a capable or diligent wife. The phrase “who can find?” also invokes a textual quandary. Some¹⁸ favor a wistful connotation, with the poet lamenting the rarity of such a virtuous wife, whereas others¹⁹ read this simply as an exhortative statement. This verse may therefore be read in a variety of ways, but all of these readings place the primary power in the hands of the prospective husband, upon whose choice of marriage the woman ultimately depends.

Her husband’s heart trusts her, and booty he shall not lack (v. 11). This verse indicates that the WV’s excellence is such that her husband trusts her completely, allowing her untrammeled control over his property, servants, and household. In return, she proves unfailingly successful. Which is cause and which is effect? Is the husband’s trust the fuel that enables the WV’s achievements, or does she slowly gain his trust through asserting her own independent worth? Since the husband is portrayed as largely absent from the entire domestic scene, it seems most likely that the wife’s competence is displayed without his oversight or approval. It is further worth noting that the poet depicts the husband as placing his entire trust in his valorous wife, a description that appears to conflict with other biblical verses that polemicize against placing complete trust in mere mortals,²⁰ insisting that God alone is a worthy repository of faith. This anomaly becomes less mysterious in light of Lady Wisdom’s claim that he who obeys her shall dwell in safety, secure from fear of harm (Proverbs 1:33). To trust in the WV is to place one’s trust in wisdom itself.²¹

Her husband is known at the gates, when he sits with the elders of the land (v. 23). This verse, revealing and tantalizing in equal measure, lies at the crux of our investigation. It describes the husband as seated at the city gates — the locus of judicial proceedings and political discourse in Biblical Israel²² — and keeping company with the elders of the land. What, precisely, does it mean that he is “known” at the gates? It could signify either that he is a prominent member of the local leadership, or merely that he is of sufficient social status to be a known entity amongst those who truly wield power.²³ The major question this verse invokes concerns the root cause of the husband’s social position. Is he a prominent member of society because of his wife, or due to his own independent reputation? Some²⁴ perceive the husband as a detached figure who has ascended to the summit of the social ladder of his own accord, fortunate enough to have a wife capable of efficiently managing the “home front” of his operations. Others,²⁵ however, have argued that the husband achieves his social status precisely because of the prosperity, nobility, and peace of mind conferred upon him by his virtuous wife.

She opens her mouth in wisdom, and teachings of kindness are on her lips. She oversees [Tzofiah] the ways of her household, and never eats the bread of idleness (vv. 26-27). This verse shifts the encomium into a new dimension — the spiritual-intellectual qualities of the WV. Not only does she demonstrate expertise in practical matters, she also articulates wisdom and teaches kindness. The opening word of v. 27, “Tzofiah,” describing the WV overseeing her household, has been read by Wolters²⁶ as a play on the Greek term “Sophia,” the apotheosis of wisdom. With all practical, domestic, educational, and spiritual needs taken care of by the wife, the reader may be justified in wondering what is left for the husband to contribute.

Her sons rise and praise her, her husband — and he glorifies her: “Many women have done valorously, and you have surpassed them all. Grace is deceptive, and beauty is illusory, a woman who fears the LORD — she is to be extolled” (vv. 28-30). These verses are enigmatic. On the one hand, the husband is the only member of the household whose voice is heard in this chapter, while the wife’s own voice is conspicuously absent. On the other hand, the husband’s only recorded words amount to a fulsome praise of his wife’s virtues, indicating the central place of this woman’s success in his own life. It is also worth noting the husband’s failure to enumerate any of the WV’s practical capabilities, specifying only that it is her “fear of the LORD” that renders her praiseworthy — which may be a poetic synecdoche for her wisdom, since Proverbs elsewhere establishes that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (1:7, 9:10), or may instead reveal a husband who remains largely unaware of the true nature of what goes on inside his own home.

Give her from the fruits of her hand and may her deeds bring her praise at the gates (v. 31). This poem’s final rhetorical flourish enjoins the reader to fully acknowledge the extent of WV’s qualities. Even this closing verse lends itself to divergent readings. Some²⁷ have read “give her from the fruits of her hand” as a plea of compassion towards the husbands of such valuable wives, that they permit such loyal women to retain some of the fruits of their handiwork. Others²⁸ have read it not as an exhortation directed towards potentially stingy husbands, but as advice to “ascribe” the fruits of a virtuous woman’s labor to its correct source. This debate may hinge upon the vocalization of the verse’s first word: as “t’nu” (“give”) or as “tannu,” from the root T-N-H, meaning to “praise” or “recount in a laudatory fashion.”²⁹ The final point of interest is that WV is specifically praised at the gates, the place where her husband is depicted as spending his time — the wife’s virtuous reputation expands to the point that even the public square, the quintessential male domain, rings with her praises.

Conclusions

It is quite clear that this poem can be read, indeed has been read, in a variety of conflicting ways. The sparse, lyrical, and multi-faceted depictions of the WV provide space for the reader to cast this literary character in an array of divergent molds. Nonetheless, based upon the textual evidence reviewed in this essay, the most consistent reading centralizes the wife’s role and competence, thereby decentralizing the role of the husband. WV is the apotheosis — in the non-deific sense — of wisdom itself, and thus deserves all the adulation that her male counterpart can lavish upon her.

There is no doubt that this poem is rather unusual within the Hebrew Bible in general, and the book of Proverbs in particular. Women, in this textual milieu, have been aptly characterized as “permanent minors,”³⁰ frequently deprived of anything resembling autonomous agency and independent adulthood. The Woman of Valor’s independence, perhaps her most striking quality, is both anomalous and instructive. She acts assertively within numerous arenas, making consequential decisions and shaping the landscape about her, all without reference or deference to her better half. The husband seems to be granted little more than the space necessary to benefit passively from his wife’s proficiency and to extol her praises in his own domain, namely, the public square.

Despite this, one should avoid reading this poem, as some have,³¹ as a feminist, even subversive creation. The overall portrait bequeathed to the reader is simply far too traditional. The woman’s competence, remarkable though it is, still remains firmly within the realm of “womanly” activities, as would have been understood in her day. She exhibits no ambitions in the public, masculine arenas of politics, jurisprudence, military conquest, priestly ministration, or court intrigue. Her empire, while thriving and prosperous, is nonetheless firmly circumscribed by its traditionally feminine domesticity.

In sum, therefore, Proverbs 31 contains a remarkable poem, in which a romanticized yet generally realistic portrait of an ideal woman is presented to its young male audience, in the hope that their matrimonial choices and aspirations will conform to the principles of Wisdom, as outlined throughout the length and breadth of this book. On the one hand, the poem does go beyond the usual literary conventions of the Hebrew Bible, through depicting an immensely confident, competent, independent, and assertive woman, whose husband is somewhat marginalized by her expansive presence. On the other hand, her scope and potentialities remain delimited by the social conventions of her era, to which she submits uncomplainingly. The wife is certainly the dominant figure of this poem, although, perhaps a tad ironically, it is her husband who would be “laughing until his final day.”