Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above 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.
- BSB A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than 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 19:14House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from Yahweh.
- Prov 12:4A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.
- Prov 18:22Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of Yahweh.
- Eph 5:25–33Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it;
- Prov 3:15She is more precious than rubies. None of the things you can desire are to be compared to her.
- Song 6:8–9There are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and virgins without number.
- Ruth 3:11Now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do to you all that you say; for all the city of my people knows that you are a worthy woman.
- Prov 20:15There is gold and abundance of rubies; but the lips of knowledge are a rare jewel.
- Eccl 7:28which my soul still seeks; but I have not found. I have found one man among a thousand; but I have not found a woman among all those.
- Prov 8:11For wisdom is better than rubies. All the things that may be desired can’t be compared to it.
- Job 28:18No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal. Yes, the price of wisdom is above 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.