I. HER LOVE. Shown not in professions and demonstration of affection merely, but in trying to occupy faithfully her place. It is far better to show love than merely to speak it. So God wants to see our love to Him in its signs.

II. HER WORK. Kinds of work for women differ according to their condition in society; but every woman should have her work. A woman's work is first the feeding and tending of her household; beyond this she may be able to work so as to earn. Show how much there is that young women can do towards a living in these days. All should try to be independent.

III. HER CARE. In the ruling of her household; finding for each member work, food, and appropriate clothing. Watching that nothing is either wasted or lost, and everything made the best of.

IV. HER CHARITY. Caring for the poor, and distributing of her abundance to them. How important, as an example to the children, is a generous, charitable mother!

V. HER SPEECH. Always prudent and kindly. Never gossiping, never slandering, never hasty or passionate. Ever firm but gentle. See how often otherwise good characters are spoiled by the unbridled tongue.

VI. HER PRAISE.. It comes from her husband, from her children, and even from her God. "Supreme love to God, which is religion, is that which generates, animates, and adorns all other virtues of character."

(Robert Tuck, B.A.)

I. THE WORTH OF WOMAN. "Far above rubies." Let a man ask himself what would be the worth to his heart, to his home, to his children, to society, of such a woman as is described here — the ideal woman of God's Word, the woman that every woman would be if she only feared God, loved His Word, imbibed His Spirit, and moulded her character upon His most blessed teachings.

1. Consider the worth of such a woman as a daughter. This is the first relationship in life woman is called to fulfil. Who can estimate her worth to her parents, or to her brothers and sisters? She is not wilful, headstrong, passionate, selfish; but humble, respectful, dutiful, affectionate. The foundation of true womanly worth is piety, the fear and love of God. Without true religion the character has no basis. Where that is found we may expect all the virtues to flourish into beauty.

2. The worth of such a woman as a wife. Here is an elaborate description of her housewifely care and prudence, and industry, and economy, and the blessed effects of all this on the happiness of her husband's heart and home, and on his character, reputation, and prosperity. Oh, that young men would look for piety in their wives! Nothing like that to govern their tongues, and to sweeten their tempers, and to make them amiable, pure, and true.

II. THE WORK OF WOMAN. Home is her sphere, and her work is to make home happy. Some women think their work is to reform and regenerate the world. So it is, but the proper sphere for their reforming work is not in the publicities of the world, but in the privacies of the home, in their little children's nurseries, and by the side of the domestic hearth. I hold the worth of unmarried women in high esteem. They are of the greatest value to society, and especially to the Church of God. No single woman need pine in ennui for want of useful occupation.

(Richard Glarer.)

I. THE DOMESTIC QUALITIES OF WOMAN. The question of the text is indeed a warning that the kind of woman about to be described is a model not always attained. It is not every woman whose price is "far above rubies." In ancient times the women made the garments which their husbands wore. We call the unmarried woman a "spinster"; and the word wife means a "weaver." It is the woman who keeps the house together. This is the description which a woman gives of a woman's domestic qualities. She must be wife, she must be lady, she must be housekeeper.

II. THE PERSONAL QUALITIES OF THE MODEL WOMAN. It is said that she is strong. As far as her strength is the result of careful and conscientious attention to the laws of health, it deserves to be described as a virtue, and a virtue that ought to be cultivated. If the future race of men is to be strong, the present race of women must first he strong. Then she is industrious. She not only saves the money others have entrusted her with, and uses it well, but she uses her own energy until she sells her own merchandise, and her industry increases her possessions till they become such that the watch-lamp has to be lighted that at night they may be secure. Strong and industrious, she could afford to be generous. But though she is generous, she is provident. She is also elegant, a lover of beauty Ruskin says, "A woman's first duty is to please, and a woman who does not please has missed her end in life." She is beautiful in her speech. She should take an interest in everything that interests every man in the house. She is kind, but orderly. She keeps discipline.

III. LOOK AT HER REWARD. "Her husband praiseth her." "Her children call her blessed." The sweetest, daintiest, purest blossoms of a woman's heart will only flourish when she is praised by him she loves best. This is the true reward of the true woman. Her character is the secret of her power and her reward.

(W. J. Woods, B.A.)

2. The difficulty of meeting such an one. Good women are very scarce, and many that seem to be so do not prove so.

3. The unspeakable value of such an one, and the value which he that hath such a wife ought to put upon her, showing it by his thankfulness to God, and his kindness and respect to her, whom he must never think he can do too much for.

( Matthew Henry.)

I. AS A WIFE, REALISE YOUR INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY. The husband is the head of the household; but a wife's position does not imply inferiority. She is her husband's companion in life and for life, to be regarded by him as his equal. The husband is the bread-winner, the wife is the bread-keeper and distributor. In all the affairs of domestic life the wife should maintain her position and influence. She should insure her authority by proving her ability to do what the office of a wife demands. Never for a moment permit your husband to feel that he may not trust the concerns of home to your care. Act in such a way that instinctively he will know his property, his honour, his happiness, are safe in your hands.

II. CULTIVATE ALL WOMANLY EXCELLENCES. Strengthen and enlarge the best side of life, by developing everything in you that is good. There are certain virtues essential to the ideal wife. Be thoughtful. Be industrious. Be restful. Be loving. A sublime self-forgetfulness lies at the bottom of every noble life, and of every great service wrought for human good. Homely and commonplace as this ideal may seem, it will demand all your resources. What has been urged cannot be attained without time, judgment, care, patience, and the constant aid of Divine grace in adaptation.

(George Bainton.)

II. HER MANAGEMENT AS A MISTRESS. Notice her industry. Diligence in useful pursuits should be the grand lesson in all female education.

III. HER BLESSEDNESS AS A MOTHER. In the spirit, the character, and the lives of her children she meets with an ample reward for all her self-denying efforts to make them good and happy. Her children's lives are a grateful acknowledgment of all her kindness, and in their spirit and conversation she reaps a rich harvest of delight.

IV. HER GENEROSITY AS A NEIGHBOUR. Her sympathies are not confined to the domestic sphere. They overflow the boundary of family life — they go forth into the neighbourhood.

V. HER EXCELLENCE AS AN INDIVIDUAL. She was vigorous in body; elegant in her dress; dignified and cheerful in her bearing; devout and honoured in her religion. Religion was the spirit of her character, the germ from which grew all the fruits of her noble life.

(Homilist.)

(R. F. Horton, D.D.)

(W. E. Griffis.)

1. Her power both for good and evil is emphasised. She is recognised as important in the social structure.

2. Her position, as portrayed here, gives us a high estimate of the life of the Jews as a nation. You can always tell a nation's character from the character of its women.

3. The Jewish woman was a wife and mother. She took the place God made for her, and filled it excellently; and in that for any one in any place lies the highest success in life.

I. THE VIRTUE MOST DEALT WITH HERE IS INDUSTRY. Look at this model woman, accepting with a cheerful and masterly mind the place God has given her, bound to do her best to satisfy its conditions, and so destined to genuine content. To work is God's intention for us, and if we have any thought of wishing to live for Him, work will not be to us an episode so disagreeable that we are to escape from it as soon as possible, but rather that for which we are made and that in which we ought to be most at home.

II. THE MODEL WOMAN IS EFFICIENT IN THE MANAGEMENT OF HER HOUSEHOLD. The word "virtuous" refers not so much to purity as to adaptation to the place where God has put her. The meaning is, "Who can find a capable woman?" Her capability is shown in her addressing herself in strength to the exigencies of her place. It requires wisdom to do anything well. The ideal woman uses her good sense to advantage in the management of the home. Nothing is more worthy of one's most acute thought than the inconspicuous duties of the home.

III. THIS IDEAL WOMAN IS FULL OF ENTERPRISE. There is something very homely and natural in this portrait of the thrifty housewife turning an honest penny when occasion offers. This is the overflow of her exuberant interest in the prosperity of her household. Her business enterprise is not a sign of her seeking new interests outside of the home, but on the contrary a sign of her greater devotion to it. Home over everything, everything for the home, is her idea.

IV. THE IDEAL WOMAN IS SYMPATHETIC. She does not forget the poor. Her vigorous mind does not make her a hard, calculating person of business. She is still a woman, full of sympathy for the unfortunate, ready to help the unsuccessful. Back of the calculating mind lies the warm, throbbing heart, thrilled with the highest emotions.

V. THE IDEAL WOMAN IS WISE OF SPEECH. She is the counsellor of the household, giving good advice and teaching them that kindness which is life's truest wisdom. The easy running of home affairs makes a great difference in the happiness of every one. Home is where the character of the children is being formed. The widest empire does not offer a more dignified throne for the exercise of high wisdom than the mother's seat in the home. The results of such a good woman's life are visible. She has a happy husband. She has appreciative children. She has a good name. May God give to many a girlish heart a new dream — not of fair, but of good women, that shall reproduce itself in a strong, gentle, wise life.

(D. J. Burrell.)

(J. B. F. Tinling.)

(Memoir of J. Stuart Blackie.)

(Christian Treasury.)

2. But authority is quite as important as tact, and this is characteristic of one who has a "law" in her lips. Suppleness in management is of little value unless there be strength behind it. God never meant that women should be always yielding to other people's opinions, or that they should be swayed hither and thither by every passing breeze of emotion. As much as men they need firmness, the royal power of rule, for in the home, in the sick-room, and in the class they have a veritable kingdom in which to exercise authority for God.

3. It must not be forgotten, however, that the authority here spoken of is the law of kindness. Such, in the highest sense, is the authority of Christ over His people. The noblest rule requires, not the display of force, nor the terrors of foolish threats, nor the countermining of a suspicious nature, but the law of kindness, which is obeyed because it evidently springs from love and is enforced by love. Gentlest influences are by no means the feeblest. The spring crocus can be crushed by a stone, but, unlike it, the crocus can push its way up through the stiff, hard soil, until it basks in the sunshine. The light of the sun does not make noise enough to disturb an insect's sleep, but it can waken a whole world to duty. Those who have been able to win or to retain the affection and trust of others exercise a power which angels might desire.

(A. Rowland, LL.B.)

(C. Lamb.)

     5629   work, ordained by God
     5666   children, needs
     5681   family, nature of
     8252   faithfulness, relationships

Proverbs 31:10-19

     5847   enthusiasm

Proverbs 31:10-31

     5481   proverb
     5744   wife

Proverbs 31:13-16

     5967   thrift

Proverbs 31:13-18

     5587   trade

Letter Li to the virgin Sophia
To the Virgin Sophia He praises her for having despised the glory of the world: and, setting forth the praises, privileges, and rewards of Religious Virgins, exhorts her to persevere. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, to the Virgin Sophia, that she may keep the title of virginity and attain its reward. I. Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised (Prov. xxxi. 31). I rejoice with you, my daughter, in the glory of your virtue, whereby, as I hear, you …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Of the Practice of Piety in Fasting.
There are divers kinds of fasting--First, A constrained fast, as when men either have not food to eat, as in the famine of Samaria (2 Kings vi. 25;) or, having food, cannot eat it for heaviness or sickness, as it befel them who were in the ship with St. Paul (Acts xxvii. 33.) This is rather famine than fasting. Secondly, A natural fast, which we undertake physically, for the health of our body. Thirdly, A civil fast, which the magistrate enjoins for the better maintenance of the commonwealth. Fourthly, …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament