Part X
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies….She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
Proverbs 31:10,24
I have heard many sermons preached about the Proverbs 31 Wife, or Wife of Noble Character over the years. There are numerous blogs and even entire ministries built around this particular passage of scripture. These messages generally focus on the woman’s character and duties as a wife and mother; I don’t want to diminish that focus in any way. It is both valid and important.
However, there is a major aspect of the Proverbs 31 Woman that is widely glossed over, and even totally ignored. This relates to her business acumen and the way she manages her finances. Here are the facts. Of the twenty-two verses in the passage, seven are comments for the reader’s benefit or general praise from her husband and children (E.g. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her – vs28). While these are interesting, they don’t actively describe her character. The remaining fifteen verses focus explicitly on her character and actions.
Of the fifteen verses that actively describe her character and actions, only two actually focus on how she acts toward her husband. Another three focus on how she cares for her children and household….
And no less than six verses focus on how she conducts her financial life. How can we, in good conscience, read this passage about the ‘Ideal Godly Woman’ and simply disregard 40% of what the Bible tells us about her!
What the Bible Says About Money in Proverbs 31
She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
Proverbs 31:24
The preceding verses in this passage have already established that the Proverbs 31 Woman is more than a wife and homemaker. Lest there was any doubt, verse 24 slams that message home one more time.
We have seen that she buys raw materials for her business (vs 13). We have seen that she manages her employees (vs 15). We have seen how she invests her own earnings and manages her investments (vs 16). We have also seen how she labors tirelessly to make her business profitable (vs 18) and that she works alongside her employees on the factory floor (vs 19). Together, these verses offer valuable insight into what the Bible says about money and how we should manage it.
Now, in verse 24, we see that her business makes fine linen garments and sashes, which she sells to the merchants. The word ‘merchants’ is actually ‘Canaanites’ in the original Hebrew. In other words, the Phoenician merchants. Put in a slightly more modern context, this verse tells us that she manufactures high-quality fashion products and sells these to Phoenician merchants for export across the known world.
Girdles, in particular, were richly worked and highly valued. Good quality items would fetch a high price.
This verse is the culmination of the preceding ones. All the preceding verses that describe her various business activities are setting the foundation for verse 24. Together they paint the picture of a woman who — while managing her household duties, being a good wife and mother, serving her community and giving to the poor — is building a business that spans the supply chain and sells its wares for export to an international client-base.
And the Bible commends her for it. This is in stark contrast to many traditional Christian beliefs when it comes to what the Bible says about money. Perhaps this is why most studies of this passage either gloss over, or simply ignore these verses.
As I have stated previously in this series, I don’t believe that this takes away from any of the character traits and values that our Christian tradition usually chooses to hold up as the Biblical standard for the Ideal Godly Woman. All I am saying as that this verse and the five others mentioned in this post are right there alongside the ones that focus on her roles as a wife and mother. They are right there alongside the ones that focus on her wisdom and general work ethic…
… and together, these are the attributes that the Bible holds up as the character traits and actions that make her the Godly woman she is.
Verses like this show very clearly that what the Bible says about money cannot be distilled down to a Poor Good, Rich Bad mentality. Nor can we disregard financial matters as irrelevant in our Christian walk. I agree that our focus should always be first and foremost on God and his kingdom. However, we cannot ignore the financial aspects of our life when focusing on Godly character. Our view of money and the way we manage it are as much a part of who we are in relation to God as any other area of our lives — sometimes even more so.
A right view of money and how God wants us to manage it in our lives is essential to our success in this world and in God’s kingdom. The Bible offers a wealth of wisdom on this subject and we ignore verses like these, in Proverbs 31, at our peril — both in this life and the life to come.
Jesus told us to seek first the kingdom of God in this life — and how we manage our money will either lead us closer to, or further away from that goal.