Proverbs 31:10–12
A portrait of a woman of worth whom her husband trusts
Study it word by word10A woman of worth, who can find her? And her price is far beyond pearls.
11The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will not lack plunder.
12She repays him with good and not with evil all the days of her life.
In its context
8Open your mouth for the mute, for the cause of all the sons of desolation.
9Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the afflicted and the needy.
…
13She seeks wool and flax, and works with the delight of her palms.
14She is like the ships of the merchant; from far away she brings her bread.
Its words in the original
- אֵשֶׁתeshet· woman, wife
Woman; with a possessive ("his woman"), wife. In Hebrew it is "ishah", which sounds like "ish", man.
- חַיִלchayil· strength; wealth, army
Strength, ability; depending on the passage, wealth, an army, or valor.
- יִמְצָאyimtsa· find
Find, come upon; also obtain, reach; in the passive, be found, be present.
- רָחֹקrachok· far, distant
Far, distant, remote, in place or in time; often "from afar".
- פְּנִינִיםpeninim· pearls, corals
Pearls or corals: a precious stone of uncertain identification. Only plural.
- מִכְרָmichra· price, value
Price, the value of what is sold; merchandise.
- בָּטַחbatach· trust
Trust: lean on someone or something and feel secure.
- לֵבlev· heart
Heart. In Hebrew it is not only the place of feelings: it is the center of the person, where one thinks, decides and wills; also the middle of something.
- בַּעְלָbala· owner, husband
Owner, master of something; husband. With another word it says who has that thing: "masters of a covenant" = allies; "master of dreams" = dreamer.
- שָׁלָלshalal· spoil, plunder
Spoil: what is taken from a defeated enemy.
- יֶחְסָרyechsar· lack, be lacking
Lack, be short of; decrease.
- גְּמָלַתְgemalat· wean, deal with
Wean: stop nursing a child, around two or three years of age. In other passages, deal well or ill with someone; ripen.
- טוֹבtov· good
Good in the widest sense: pleasant, beautiful, useful, right, of good quality. As a noun, "good", "good things", "well-being".
- רָעra· evil, bad, harm
Bad; evil. It includes what is morally wrong and also what does harm: misfortune, disaster, distress.
- יְמֵיyeme· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- חַיֶּיchaye· living, animal, life
Living, alive; also fresh (of water). As a noun, "living thing" or "animal" (above all wild animals); in the plural, "life".