A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
Parallel translations
- WEB Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above rubies.
- KJV Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
- NKJV Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.
- NASB ¶An excellent wife, who can find her? For her worth is far above jewels.
- NLT Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A truly excellent wife is a rare and priceless treasure, worth far more than precious jewels.
Overview
This begins the famous acrostic poem celebrating the worthy woman, each verse beginning with a successive Hebrew letter. Her worth surpasses material riches because her character and works are of lasting value. While honoring godly womanhood, the passage also paints a portrait of wisdom embodied, the practical fruit of the fear of the LORD lived out daily.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 19:14Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
- Prov 12:4A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- Prov 18:22He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
- Eph 5:25–33Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her
- Prov 3:15She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire compares with her.
- Song 6:8–9There are sixty queens and eighty concubines, and maidens without number,
- Ruth 3:11And now do not be afraid, my daughter. I will do for you whatever you request, since all my fellow townspeople know that you are a woman of noble character.
- Prov 20:15There is an abundance of gold and rubies, but lips of knowledge are a rare treasure.
- Eccl 7:28While my soul was still searching but not finding, among a thousand I have found one upright man, but among all these I have not found one such woman.
- Prov 8:11For wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire compares with her.
- Job 28:18Coral and quartz are unworthy of mention; the price of wisdom is beyond rubies.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 31:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.