Who can find...

...a virtuous woman?

Pro 31:10  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

Find - H4672 - A primitive root; properly to come forth to, that is, appear or exist; transitively to attain, that is, find or acquire; figuratively to occur, meet or be present.

Which makes me think of this passage:

Pro_18:22  Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.

That means he's not sitting idle, playing video games, living in perpetual 'adolescence' - which by the way is NEVER mentioned in Scripture.  You were either a child or an adult, there wasn't any 'in-between' time.

The word 'find' denotes active engagement in the activity of actually looking, seeking, perusing, not sitting passively aside waiting and hoping for the 'right' woman to traipse along his path.  Scripture doesn't state an age for the man or woman, though we would seem to have encouragement from the Word:

Pro_5:18  Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Our current culture, and unfortunately the church appears to be following suit, seems to put requirements on a man (and woman) to 'acquire' education, career, money, house, etc. etc., prior to marrying.  Telling them to 'wait' - where is that in the Word?  Treating marriage as a capstone versus the cornerstone (not negating Christ obviously).

Are these requirements in Scripture?  Should a man and woman be prepared?  Yes.  Which should be done in childhood.  Are we so focused on the individual we've missed the beauty of what our Lord intended marriage?

So what is a virtuous woman?

The phrase 'virtuous woman' is found only 3 times in Scripture, in the passage above, and here:

Pro 12:4  A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

Rth 3:11  And now, my daughter, fear not; I will do to thee all that thou requirest: for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman.

virtuous - H2428 - From H2342; probably a force, whether of men, means or other resources; an army, wealth, virtue, valor, strength.

• H2342 - A primitive root; properly to twist or whirl (in a circular or spiral manner), that is, (specifically) to dance, to writhe in pain (especially of parturition) or fear; figuratively to wait, to pervert.

That's quite a word picture...hmmm...where, or how else is virtuous used in Scripture?  Well, only searching with 'virtuous' I get the same exact results - no additional passages with the word 'virtuous.'

Now, using H2428 - its used 243 times in 228 passages - the first usage is in Genesis 34:29 and translated as wealth.

The next passage (Genesis 47:6) as activity.  Subsequent usages are as:

host,

army or armies (that's an interesting thought, army versus armies - a plurality of plural men),

able (Exdous 18:21),

valiantly (uhm, I LIKE that word - it makes me think of men of valour!),

goods

substance, 

valour, 

worthily or worthy, 

strength or strong

power, 

men (1 Samuel 10:26, 1 Chronicles 5:18 - interesting), 

train (1 Kings 10:2 - the Queen of Sheba)

might or mighty

company (about the Queen of Sheba - 2 Chronicles 9:1)

forces

war

soldiers

riches

When you find a virtuous woman what then?  In the passages above which use the phrase 'virtuous woman' she's already married.  Does being married make her virtuous?  In the Ruth passage Boaz is stating something that is widely known about her, as a widowed woman.  Does that make Ruth single?  Interesting thought.  So ladies, whether married or single, are we striving to be virtuous?  Not for flesh and blood, but for the Lord?  Ruth is a wonderful example of a woman going about her daily tasks, trusting the Lord for His provision in all matters.

This post had already been drafted and I'd been mulling over the 'find' part, when a fellow saint posted about a couple of articles she read advocating marrying early versus waiting.
 to this point and hadn't finished tweaking it.

I may follow up on these in a later post:  

Her price is above rubies.

A crown to her husband.

Young Women and Discretion

“The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness…That they may teach the young women to be sober…To be discreet, chaste…that the word of God be not blasphemed.”—Titus 2:3-5

IN the fifth verse of the second chapter of Titus the aged women are to teach young women “to be discreet.” What does it mean to be discreet? It means to be prudent, judicious, cautious; wise in conduct and management, especially as to matters of propriety and self-control. A young woman who measures up to these qualities in mind, heart, soul, spirit and life, certainly rises above the degrading principles of sin and wickedness. Her life is one of nobility, beauty, usefulness and sublimity. She sets examples before her husband, children, and neighbors that are worthy of emulation. They know her life is hid with Christ in God. She possesses the Spirit of our Lord, and this enables her to discern between the evil and the good, and to avoid evil, error, and anything and all things that would mislead her. She likewise shields her husband and children from evils and errors, sins and wickedness, that they are environed with. At least she warns and cautions them against such, and shows them the higher, better, holier, and more beautiful and worthwhile things in life.

The discreet woman is possessed with the spirit and ability to adopt “means to an end,” and of course this means that which bring her and the family to a good end. She avoids the means that would injure her life, character, soul, and influence, and that would likewise injure her family and those about her. She must realize that what she takes into her life will have its effect, through the years—and will bring her to a good end, only as the means are good. She knows that good will work out right, while the bad will work out wrong. She realizes that the good is a means to a good end, but the bad is a means to a bad end. Therefore she takes into her very soul the good and rejects the bad. She is discreet. Those who know her realize that she is a woman of great and commendable discretion.

Her discretion includes prudence. She is careful about her conduct, her influence, her aims, plans and purposes. She guards her tongue, her temper, and her dress. She is decent in dress, upright in manners, and is careful to lead others right. She uses economy at home, seeing that nothing is wasted, and lives within her income. Extravagance is far from her. She is not stingy by any means, as there is a vast difference in stinginess and economy. Rather she is blessedly liberal, yet she is cautious to see that money is not foolishly and uselessly expended; that food and clothing are not wasted, and that anything usable is not cast into the rubbish heap and carried away as rubbish.

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