How Should We Describe Her?

It's no secret that words have power, and some are more powerful than others.

It’s no secret that words have power, and some are more powerful than others. While two English words might have similar (or identical) meanings, they often can create different feelings or mental pictures. Think of house versus home. These words illustrate the difference between the concepts of denotation and connotation. Denotation is how we describe a word’s direct meaning or definition. Connotation is how we define the ideas or meanings associated with it.

For example, the word “homework” refers to schoolwork done outside of school—that’s its denotation. For many young people, the word has a negative connotation, meaning it gives them the bad feeling of having to do homework when they’d rather be doing something else. This concept is particularly important when reading the Bible, especially when not reading in the original Hebrew, Chaldean, Greek, or Aramaic. If you are, then you have my deepest respect!

To expand on this, let’s take a little two-part quiz. Don’t worry; it’s easy, no grades will be given, and there will be no wrong answers.

Part One:

Consider the following Biblical words. What mental pictures emerge, and what feelings do you associate with them? For the moment, ignore the numbers as we’ll get to them later.

 

 

These English words don’t have identical denotations (definitions), but their connotations (ideas/feelings) are all similar. They conjure images of fighters, soldiers, superheroes, billionaires, and collections of important people. It’s hard to describe their connotations without using one of the words themselves, but I’m sure you get the idea.

These are all words from the King James Bible used to translate the Hebrew word GHAH-YIL’ (# 2428). What about the numbers? They represent the total occurrences of those words used to render that one Hebrew word. I’ve grouped them into categories with the same or similar denotations. But these aren’t the only English words the KJV used. According to the Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament,¹ GHAH-YIL’ shows up 243 times. In addition to the list above, there are 33 different instances of different translations, each used less than five times. The translators decided to use so many English words to “connotate” various meanings of the word, based on the context in which it appears.

This GHAH-YIL’ word is used to describe things as varied as Pharaoh’s soldiers, the wealth of the sons of Jacob, Joshua’s men of valor, Jonathan, both David and his mighty men, King Saul, and others. It’s impossible to look at these words and not see the theme that runs through them. They all refer to, dare I say, something “manly.”

Part Two:

Let’s look at one of the 33 less-frequently used English words used in the KJV to translate that singular Hebrew word.

Virtuous (3)

These are also the verses describing the person who has come to be known to us as the “Virtuous Woman.”… I see her as a kind of “everywoman,” not someone on a pedestal, but a composite that embodies the full potential of women.

What does this word conjure up in your mind? Ethical, godly, well-behaved, empathetic, meek, esteemed or the like? Whatever image it creates, it’s hard to see it as synonymous with any of the words in Part One. Now consider three women in the Bible, Ruth “thou art a virtuous woman” (Ruth 3:11) and two unnamed women described in Proverbs “a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband” (Proverbs 12:4) and “Who can find a virtuous woman?” (Proverbs 31:10). These three are the only Biblical characters (male or female) so described in English.

What’s the result of this little quiz? It intends to help you understand the importance of connotation in Scripture. Because all the English words in Part One and Part Two are translations of the exact same Hebrew word. Yet the KJV translators used a unique English word to describe the women in the Bible to whom this Hebrew word is applied. While it may be clear that it shouldn’t be translated as “army” or “host” (more on this later thought), the context doesn’t suggest the need for a unique word. More modern translations of Proverbs 31:10 use more gender-neutral words like “excellent” (ESV and NASB), “noble” (NIV), and “capable” (NRSV).

Proverbs 31:10-31 takes on the familiar Hebrew construction of an acrostic, with each verse beginning with a letter from the Hebrew alphabet (from aleph to tav). This format was familiar to the Jews. It occurs 14 times in the Bible, including the entire book of Lamentations and all of Psalm 119. This linguistic tool probably helped the Jews memorize those sections of Scripture. These are also the verses describing the person who has come to be known to us as the “Virtuous Woman.” Some see her as an actual person, usually Bathsheba, others as an idealization of womanhood or the church. I see her as a kind of “everywoman,” not someone on a pedestal, but a composite that embodies the full potential of women. While being virtuous is something we all should strive for, it does seem to sell short the “Virtuous Woman” of Proverbs 31. Considering her merely as virtuous seems to limit her; what if she were thought of as a woman of valor, or strong, or powerful, or a force?

This woman is not limited to what we might think of as “women’s roles,” but takes on a full range of activities, both within and outside the home. If she were writing her own modern skills-based resume, she might highlight the following talents:

• Interpersonal Skills: the relationship between the woman and the man displays partnership and mutual respect: “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.” (v. 11).
• Business Development: She is active in business ventures, including agriculture: “She seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands.” (v. 13).
• Real Estate Development: “She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands, she planteth a vineyard.” (v. 16).
• Sales Management: She works in both a retail and wholesale setting: “She perceiveth that her merchandise is good” (v. 18) and “She maketh fine linen and selleth it; and delivereth girdles to the merchant.” (v. 24).
• Production and Logistics: She has a manufacturing facility: “She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands to the distaff.” (v. 19).
• Human Resources Management: She is a manager of a staff: “She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household and a portion to her maidens.” (v. 15) and “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.” (v. 27).
• Community Outreach: She cares for the less fortunate: “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.” (v. 20).
• Strategic Planning: She makes provision for the future: “She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household is clothed with scarlet” [margin: double garments—warm clothing for the coming winter]. (v. 21).
• Team Player: She is not merely a doer, ticking off a list, but rather is considerate “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life” (v. 12), wise and kind “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” (v. 26) and well-regarded “Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her. Many daughters have done virtuously [same word], but thou excelleth them all.” (vv. 28-29) and “Give her the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.” (v. 31)
  

Remember the chart from Part One of the quiz? The most common translation of this Hebrew word was “army.” Somehow, it does feel like she is like an army—a one-woman army!

How does she manage all of this? Is she Uber-Woman? Possessor of Super-Powers? No! Psalm 31 tells us the reason she can fully use her many talents. Consider verse 30: “A woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” She demonstrates the fear of the LORD!

This fear is why she is so capable across many disciplines. However, this concept is neither feminine nor masculine. Rather, it is universal, an attribute all people can show. The Bible tells us in many places why the fear of the LORD matters:

It is fitting that Proverbs opens and closes with thoughts about wisdom and how to get it. “To know wisdom and instruction; To perceive the words of understanding;” (Proverbs 1:2) and how “A woman that feareth the LORD she shall be praised.” (Proverbs 31:30). The question is, what exactly is the fear of the LORD? We know it is not the usual meaning of fear. In the Bible, fear has a few meanings: something frightening, respect for a superior, awe in the presence of greatness. The fear of the LORD is all these things. GotQuestions.org puts it this way: “the continual awareness that our loving heavenly Father is watching and evaluating everything we think, say, and do.”² I think this captures the essence of the idea well.

We must recognize God for who and what He is, not who we would like Him to be. Fear of the LORD is seeing God in His majesty, power, and greatness. We may be created in God’s image, but God is not “one of us.” He is as much “otherness” as possible. Wisdom is seeing life from God’s perspective and responding accordingly.

Without the fear of the LORD, we tend to make decisions based on our faulty human understanding: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways, acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The fear of the LORD can make each one of us a Valiant Woman or a Virtuous Man.

Kevin Flatley,
Pittsburgh Ecclesia, PA