more than rubies

"he who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD." (proverbs 18:22)

"a wife of noble character who can find? she is worth far more than rubies." (proverbs 31:10)

noble
1. having eminence, renown, fame, etc; illustrious
2. having or showing high moral qualities or ideals
3. having excellent qualities; superior
4. grand; stately; splendid; magnificent
5. chemically unreactive; precious or pure (actually a chemistry definition, but it still fits)

it seems like a lot of people look at one verse to get an idea of what the bible says women are to be: "wives, submit to your husbands as to the LORD." (ephesians 5:22) i'm not arguing against this verse in any way, but a discussion on it is for another time.

because of this verse, it seems most people get the idea that the women of the bible (and therefore women of God) are weak, docile, and completely domesticated...for lack of a better word. if you were to look at verses 10-12 and 27-29 of proverbs 31 there really wouldn't be anything to change your opinion. when the rest of the passage is taken into consideration, though, you get a much different picture: she is...

picking out the materials for her family's clothes

getting up before daybreak to get food ready for her household and those who work for her

picking out a field and buying it--and then turning it into something profitable

strong enough to do all the things that are asked of her

working long into the night

spinning her own yarn

helping those less fortunate

making bedspreads

making and selling clothes

watching over her household
      ...wow--i'm exhausted just thinking about that "to do" list!

this woman is definitely wonder woman. she can do it all, and she does on a daily basis from before dawn until after nightfall.
she is strong
talented
hard working
wise
and extremely capable,
traits most people tend to attribute to men. she is helping others, teaching, and bringing respect and honor to her husband. definitely a hard example to live up to, if you ask me...

you know what is pretty amazing to me? in this world where so much emphasis is put on appearance this is a bit of a foreign idea, but there is only one verse in this passage that even mentions her looks:
"charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." (verse 30)

one verse about her looks, and basically it is saying that those traits don't matter.

wow...kind of a relief and a gut punch all at once, huh?

to end on a nice note, rubies are worth somewhere between $1,200 and $20,000 per carat.

doesn't this pile of rubies look like a razorback? surely i'm not the only one...

one carat is 200 mg.

150 pounds is approximately 68,000,000 mg.

let's just say that we are worth somewhere around a midgrade ruby, so about $10,600 per carat...don't want to get to conceited, right?

...that means the average 150 pound wife, on today's ruby market, would be worth somewhere around $3,604,000,000 (if you don't want to decipher the place values, that's over 3 billion!)

;0)