When we celebrated the start of the new academic year, I asked if you knew some truly wise people. Last week, I spoke about one such person in Christian history – Helena, the mother of Constantine I. While we empathize with her story, it’s hard to imagine the life of a Roman Empress in all its fullness. Today, however, we read a poem which predates Helen by up to a 1000 years, yet gives us something much closer to home. “A Capable Woman/Wife” (Prov 31:10-31) is also translated as “virtuous, ideal, excellent, truly good, of noble character, or “a woman of strength”. We all know some such capable women and men who seem to balance and fulfill all sorts of work, family, and social obligations with faith and grace. The operating word is, perhaps, “seem to”, as we may tend to think that others have a better handle on life than we do. Nonetheless, it’s safe to say that such people truly embody strength, compassion, and yes, wisdom. 

Does wisdom reside in our head or heart? Do we have it since birth, or gain it over a lifetime? Does it come “from above” or through experience? Most cultures are fascinated with wisdom, and some consider it to be the divine force that creates the world, maintains its order, and connects us to God. In the ancient Near East, she became personified as a woman: a prophet, guide, and desirable, faithful partner. Lady Wisdom of ancient Judaism is parallel to Egyptian Maat, Canaanite Astarte, and Babylonian Ishtar. In medieval Judaism, she became called Shekhinah (God’s presence). In Christianity, she might have lent a feminine quality to the Holy Spirit. More strikingly, the prologue to the Gospel of John marries Jewish theology with Greek philosophies by introducing the Logos (Son of God) with the words identical to those from the OT Baruch, where Wisdom “in the beginning, was with God”, and then “dwelt among us” (3:37). Further, Jesus invited his friends to eat his bread and drink his wine, just as Lady Wisdom said, “come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed” (Prv 9:5). It seems “wise”, then, to spend some time with this ancient concept, since it has influenced our beliefs and religious symbols. And the Jewish scriptures have no shortage of aphorisms, poems, and parables devoted to her. The most well-known sapiential OT text is called Proverbs – an imperfect equivalent for its Hebrew title mashal – which contains not only the rules for living with supporting examples, but also two highly allegorical poems. 

In Proverbs, Wisdom is a prophet who, like Jesus, sets her wedding table with the bread and wine. There is also the age-old contrast between Lady Wisdom and Madam Folly, which teaches us to choose life and virtue over death and immorality. Lastly, the Epilogue to the book we read today, personifies wisdom as the Capable Wife, who embodies practicality and efficiency at home and work. She manages staff, feeds, comforts and clothes her family, leads the community, is physically strong and charitable, laughs, teaches, and fears God. As an acrostic in which every line begins with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the poem represents a busy life literally, from aleph to taw. It grounds the prophetic and mystical Lady Wisdom in daily, earthly living, perhaps, showing us that there’s no task in life that is too base. As another sage said, “whatever you do will be insignificant; but it is very important that you do it” (Mahatma Gandhi). 

I should note that this poem is not some early feminist text that proves that women can do it all. Clearly, both the Capable Wife and Dame Wisdom are objectified as the prizes to possess, like a jewel, sweet fruit, or attractive woman. But, I do not believe that it orders us back to our “place in the kitchen” either, as the #tradwife proponents insist. In the Bible, practical day-to-day activity isn’t exclusively a women’s domain. Elsewhere, the Teacher – in Hebrew Qoheleth, or in Greek Ecclesiastes, familiar to us from the traditional funeral reading – describes in similar terms how he built houses, planted vineyards, gardens, parks, and orchards, made reservoirs to water them, owned herds and flocks, hired musician, and amassed silver and gold (Eccles 2:4-8). May these texts discourage those of us who dream of nobler life purposes from seeing our day-to-day jobs as simply “menial”. 

With one caveat. The Teacher said, “with much wisdom comes much sorrow” (Eccles 1:18). Why? Because it’s tempting to think that “everything is meaningless ” (Eccles 2:11). Indeed, everything we work hard for, we “must leave to the one who comes after” (Eccles 2:18). Likewise, “charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting” (Prov 31:30a). So one may wonder whether all is “vanity” (Eccles 1:2) – a “chasing after wind” (2:26). And it may well be, if we mistake the goddesses of today – Science, Education, Growth, Productivity, Appearance – for Wisdom, the hypostasis of the divine Creator. The quest for the former is driven by pride, power and profit. But with wisdom, there is truly “a time for everything under the sun”: a time to be bursting with youth, beauty, and energy, or to barely keep head above water as we balance work and family obligations, and eventually to let go and embrace the quiet and stillness. At funerals, we never read far enough into Ecclesiastes to hear the sage finally realize the source of life’s true meaning: “remember your Creator”  with which he concludes the book (Eccles 12:1). Or, as both Lady Wisdom or Capable Wife say, “the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 9:10, 31:30b). And what would Jesus say? Simply, “be like the little one” (Matt 18:3) – I think. Which means, live moment-by-moment, remain open and curious, recognize our limits and respect the mystery, and learn to make every decision, great or small, with purpose and integrity. Those who live out of this kind of wisdom, the truly capable women, men, and children are not some ancient, fictional figures. They are sitting in the pews right in front of me, and inspiring me to live with integrity in the real, complex world of today.

Questions to Consider

1. The word “chayil” as applied to a woman/wife in the opening line of
Proverbs 31:10-31 has been translated in several ways: capable,
excellent, of noble character, of strength, truly good, virtuous,
accomplished… But when applied to male warriors elsewhere in the
Bible, it usually reads as valorous or strong. Do you think these
differences affect (or reflect?) how we perceive the rest of this
poem, meant to personify wisdom in female form?

2. How do you use your influence, skills, resources, and position to
bless and uplift others, and what legacy are you building through your
character?

3. What does the “fear of the Lord” mean, as embodied by the Capable
Woman of Proverbs 31:30, or as in “the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom” (Prov 9:10-12)?