I wondered, on reading the following comment from a reader, how many of us STILL have an incorrect view of the Proverbs 31 woman….much like the incorrect view we have of a homemaker.
I think it she plays in important role in helping us understand our role today (which is why I have a “ruby rebel” button on my sidebar!), for TWO reasons:
1. In the OT times, women truly were oppressed. This passage probably would have made people of the day gasp in horror at the thought of a wife earning income and being so exalted. It was very much against the cultural norm for women.
2. Secondly, many people use the passage to justify women “working outside the home”. Proverbs 31 reveals how a woman can have successful avenues of earning income, using her gifts and talents, dispelling the culture’s view of the “poor oppressed homemaker”, and still “keep” her home in every sense of the word.
Following is the reader’s comment and my reply:
“…On another note, it is a great disservice to tell women that Titus 2 forbids working outside of the home. Catherine R., the commenter, could be industrious as the Proverbs 31 woman was, who certainly went *out of her house* in order to make money (considered a field and bought it—real estate, planted a vineyard—wine business, farming, etc, sold her cloths in the market—sales and shopkeeping), and we are told she is someone worth emulating—that she is a wife worth far more than rubies.”
My reply:
“Interestingly, in your warnings to “not misinterpret Scripture”, you’ve done just that in the case of the Prov. 31 woman. I have used her many times before as the perfect example of the Keeper at Home.She beautifully demonstrates how a keeper is not a woman “chained to the confines of a house”, but understands that ruling her household is priority and gladly manages its affairs. She does not “work outside the home” in the sense that modern women do.
You said she sells garments in the marketplace…no she doesn’t. Read it again. She sells garments to the MERCHANTS. She is a wholesaler. THEY go to the marketplace. (Much like I do when I sell my homemade skin products to someone else for retail.) Buying real estate, planting a vineyard, those are all venues compatible with her duties at home. She doesn’t have to leave her house unattended for hours at a time. Her productivity flows outward from her home, not against it.
And most importantly, regarding her “home business”, is that she is still under her husband’s authority…she doesn’t subscribe to another man’s (or company’s) purpose, time frame or schedule. This is one of the keys in understanding why it so damaging for a wife to hold a career.”
The Proverbs 31 woman continues, even today, to dispel the culture’s understanding of the keeper at home! She is far too smart, elegant, and industrious for the feminists’ agenda!
