What Are the Marks of a Godly Woman?

What are the marks of a Godly woman?

If you were to ask me, I'd point to my wife Janan. In fact, even as I was working on this devotional amid a busy week, I received a text from her saying, "Just wanted you to know I appreciate you, and I was praying for you on my walk this morning. Thank you for all the extra work you've been doing on the lawn on top of your already heavy workload. Love you!"

So when I read 31:10-31, I read it through the lens of someone in my life who models it well. Someone who is trustworthy, diligent in managing her household, and compassionate toward those in need. She speaks with wisdom and kindness, and her strength and dignity are evident in all she does.

A Virtuous Woman

This description echoes much of what has been previously said about the good wife in contrast to the evil woman (5:15–20; 12:4; 18:22).

Additionally, when we consider this description alongside earlier references to Woman Wisdom (1:20–33; 8:1–36; 9:1–8), we see that this noble woman reflects Woman Wisdom, symbolizing God's wisdom and even God himself. Essentially, she embodies godly wisdom.^[1] 

The Jewish Study Bible notes, “this woman has considerable independence in interacting with outsiders and conducting business, even in acquiring real estate; this may reflect the reality of women in the Persian period.^[2]

Isn't This Antiquated Thinking?

To many modern Western readers, this passage feels antiquated and chauvinistic. However, as John Goldingay writes, “One consideration we have to bear in mind is that women (and men) in the West are the victims of a cultural assumption linked with urbanization and industrialization that not only divided the world of home and family from the world of paid employment and the public world but also implied that the latter was the world that counted.”^[3] 

In other words, for a woman to really be whole, she must be out in the workforce, while those who remain at home aren’t living up to their full potential. But this couldn’t be further from the truth and certainly wasn’t what the author of Proverbs 31 had in mind. Goldingay writes,

Proverbs presupposes a different sort of society—not necessarily wholly better or wholly worse, but different. Imagine an Israelite village of a couple hundred people belonging to three extended families which then comprise a number of households. Each extended family has its senior male figure, and the households also have one. The males of the family spend the daylight hours out in the fields, while the females spend their days in the village baking, cooking, sewing, and looking after the children who are too young to go out into the fields. There’s no implication that the skilled work the women do in the village is less important than the skilled work the men do in the fields. Presumably the senior figures among the men and among the women exercise the leadership as people go about their tasks. It will then be vital to a woman that her husband knows what he’s doing and vital to a man that his wife knows what she’s doing.^[4]

One isn’t better than the other. They work hand in hand. This was and remains God’s intent.

A Challenge to Act Like Christ  

While the primary intent of Proverbs 31 is not to paint a picture of Christ’s relationship with his people, the virtues this woman displays work as a beautiful example for the bride of Christ. 

Like the Proverbs 31 woman, we are to be virtuous, diligent, and faithful. We are to be committed to our households and faithfully walk in union with God. As we do this, we make much of our groom—Jesus.

So, regardless of whether you are male or female, the virtues of the Proverbs 31 woman should speak to your life. As Raymond C. Ortlund Jr. writes of this woman, “Her ultimate regard is not for her beauty, goodness, or accomplishment, but for the One who provides for her every need and loved one....We are prepared by such an example to remember that God must make us sufficient for what we face and for what he requires. Ultimately, in Christ, he does so.”^[5]

Our wholeness does not come from our activity, status, or worldly stereotypes. It comes from knowing God and being in relation with him.

^[1]John H. Walton and Craig S. Keener, eds. NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible. Accordance electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), paragraph 7037.

^[2]Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, eds. The Jewish Study Bible: Second Edition. Accordance electronic ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014), 1486.

^[3]John Goldingay, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs for Everyone, vol. 13 of Old Testament for Everyone. Accordance electronic ed. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 154-155.

^[4]John Goldingay, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs for Everyone, vol. 13 of Old Testament for Everyone. Accordance electronic ed. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2014), 155.

^[5]Bryan Chapell, eds. Gospel Transformation Study Bible Notes. Accordance electronic ed. (Wheaton: Crossway, 2013), paragraph 2736.