Proverbs 31:10
A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
BSB
ASV
A worthy woman who can find? For her price is far above rubies.
KJV
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
ON THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER, ORATION 18:7 (390)
I have heard sacred Scripture saying, "Who shall find a valiant woman?" and also that she is a gift of God, and that a good marriage is arranged by the Lord. Those outside, too, have the same thought—if indeed the saying is theirs: "There is no greater boon for a man than a good wife, no worse, than the opposite." It is impossible to mention anyone who was more fortunate than my father in this respect.
Who can find a virtuous woman,.... This part of the chapter is disjoined from the rest in the Septuagint and Arabic versions; and Huetius (t) thinks it is a composition of some other person, and not Lemuel's mother, whose words he supposes end at Pro 31:9; but it is generally thought that what follows to the end of the chapter is a continuance of her words, in which she describes a person as a fit wife for her son.
Who can find a virtuous woman? - This and the following verses are acrostic, each beginning with a consecutive letter of the Hebrew alphabet: Pro 31:10, א aleph; Pro 31:11, ב beth; Pro 31:12, ג gimel; and so on to the end of the chapter, the last verse of which has the letter ת tau.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Proverbs 18:22He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
leads to
A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your…
But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
Through
Proverbs 19:14Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
leads to
He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.
Through
Proverbs 12:4A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
leads to
A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.