My question is: If she gets up before sunrise and her light never goes out at night-when does she sleep?

Now, I realize we all need a higher standard of behavior to strive for in order to grow and mature. I believe in reaching higher than ourselves. God is in the business of growing people. But couldn't we have a role model that's not so perfect? That's not so unrealistic? Couldn't we have one that can identify at least a teensy bit with our world?

Unless, of course, we have misunderstood the real identity of this perfect, virtuous woman

Who Is This Virtuous Woman?
The book of Proverbs is a portrait of literature. Wisdom literature is the name given to parts of the Bible that are made up wholly or largely of individual proverbs, such as the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.¹ The proverb is a major literary form of the Bible. A proverb isn't merely a catchy little phrase that makes something memorable. A proverb is a high point of human insight. It is a moment of epiphany-like those moments in your life when you are 39 years old and suddenly the thought occurs to you: So this is what my mother was trying to tell me when I was 10 years old!

The first nine chapters of the book of Proverbs constitute an encomium-a work of literature written in praise of an abstract quality.² These chapters introduce a cast of characters. First, they introduce us to two women. These two women are engaged in a prolonged conflict that continues through chapter 9. Who are these women? Wisdom and Folly. The cast then adds father and son. The father is instructing the son about choosing the right woman. He's a wise father in that he is engaged in helping his son make choices and showing him the results of those choices-not merely telling him what to do. I believe this is a very important lesson for us to learn. Innocence and virtue are not the same thing.

Throughout chapters 1-9 his son has two choices: the way of wisdom-"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge"-and the way of folly, rejecting wisdom and instruction (1:7). This gives us our first clue that these two women are not real women-they are abstract qualities of moral choices personified as women.

Chapter 31 of Proverbs is also organized via a literary device known as an acrostic poem. An acrostic poem is a composition, usually in verse, in which sets of letters (as the initial or final letters of the lines) taken in order form a word or phrase or a regular sequence of letters of the alphabet. What this means is that beginning at verse 10 of this poem-the verse in which the virtuous woman shows up on the scene-the initial letters of the verses are arranged alphabetically according to the Hebrew alphabet. I would guess that most of you here have created an acrostic poem. Another name for the acrostic is an acronym.

For example, how many of you have taken the word "mother" or "husband" or "daughter" and from the letters of that word created an acronym-phrases that described that particular special person in your life? (Example: M is for the Many nights you stayed awake with me while I was sick, O is for . . . ) Well, that's what has been done here. The letters of the Hebrew alphabet have been arranged to create an acrostic poem-a Hebrew acronym for defining wisdom.

In this summary chapter of Proverbs I believe the author has taken the principles of wisdom that were taught throughout the book and has placed them in an acrostic poem personifying wisdom as a woman in order to help us remember and emulate them.

The Real Virtuous Woman
To begin viewing Proverbs 31 with new eyes, let's look at a few verses and discover clues about this woman of wisdom.

Verse 10: "A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies."

If you turn back to Proverbs 3:13-15, you will find a similar description of wisdom: "Blessed is the [one] who finds wisdom . . . for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies."

Another important element of Proverbs 31:10 is the meaning of "noble character." The literal translation is "woman of strength." And Ecclesiastes tells us that wisdom gives a person more strength than 10 rulers in a city (Eccl. 7:19).

I believe verse 10 starts off by telling us that she, the way of wisdom, is a treasure to be discovered and is strength.

Verse 11: "Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value."

A husband and wife are intimate companions-they belong to each other, they embrace each other, and they dwell with each other. Those who become intimate companions with wisdom-those who choose to belong to her, embrace her, and dwell with her-will have confidence and will have everything they need.

Verse 13: "She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands."

In this agricultural society, working with the hands meant, for the men, working the land (Prov. 12:11); for the women, it meant domestic duties. In this verse we see "hands" used as a figure of speech, representing wisdom's skills and activities in working and making things. For our woman in Proverbs, working with wool and flax to create beautiful items of clothing for her family was pleasurable for her. In other words, wisdom seeks to create joyfully.

Some think of creating as only creating things. But it's much more. For me, one of the most pleasurable experiences is creating word pictures-taking the time to craft just the right word to communicate a thought clearly.

When I think of creating, I also think of a woman I read about in the newspaper several months ago. At the time of this article Ingrid Betancourt was a presidential candidate in the South American country of Colombia. Her country was experiencing war, and she was kidnapped.

In an interview with her 16-year-old daughter, Melanie, the daughter shared how it was difficult going to sleep at night because she was always thinking of her mother. The reporter then asked, "Will your mother's experience make you think differently about the involvement of women in politics?" Melanie's answer was what struck me.

"When you have a mother like mine, you cannot be someone who is compliant and is part of a society that just accepts everything. You have to fight for what you believe. That is what she has always done. Whatever I end up doing-politics or whatever-I have to help, to feel I am living for something. That is what she passed on to me."

This woman spent her life attempting to create a masterpiece-a better world. What about you? Whether it's creating a masterpiece of art, of words, of culinary delights; whether it's creating beauty in nature through gardening, or creating a better world, I believe that when we participate in the act of joyfully creating, we are acting in a godly way.

Verse 16: "She [Wisdom] considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard."

Land was-and is many times today, as well-passed down from generation to generation. It is an investment in the future of a family. It is the wise woman and man who plan for and invest in the future-physically and spiritually.

The summer after my freshman year at Shenandoah Valley Academy found my family unsure as to whether we could afford to send me back the following school year. I remember sitting next to my dad, asking despondently, "Daddy, am I going to be able to go back to SVA?" Daddy held me and replied, "Nita, we're not putting our money into pockets with holes in them. We're putting it into a bank that will last through eternity."

I graduated from SVA with a bill of only $25 because my parents were willing to sacrifice to invest in my future.

Verse 17: "She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks."

Throughout the book of Proverbs the results and consequences of indolence and laziness are revealed. This is so contrary to the get-rich-quick mentality in our society: "Find that lucky number, and you'll never have to work again."

It is wisdom that tells us to work hard. Work is a blessing to be embraced, not a curse to be avoided. Of course, all of us have some work we'd rather do instead of other types of work. But whatever kind we choose, work builds respect for self and others.

Verse 18: "She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night."

In well-ordered Eastern homes a lamp did not get snuffed out at night, and was extinguished only in times of calamity.³ In Scripture we know that light is used as a metaphor for righteousness: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Ps. 119:105, KJV). We see darkness used as a metaphor for unrighteousness: "If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth" (1 John 1:6).

Could it be that Proverbs 31:18 is telling us that wisdom, the fear of the Lord, is so powerful that the darkness cannot envelop it? That the effects of a life of wisdom will continue to shine throughout the darkest times of our lives?

Some of the most joyful people in the world have suffered the most. And I'm sure you too know people who in spite of their sad and sometimes tragic lives are the radiant ones who give the most joy to people around them.

Conclusion
Women, this doesn't mean we shouldn't look to her as a role model. This woman is Wisdom. We would do well to emulate the principles of wisdom found in her life. God needs strong, godly, wise women to join Him in His work of revealing His character to the world.

Men, this doesn't mean you can't use this woman to help to look for godly traits in a woman. This woman is Wisdom. You would be making a wise choice to choose her. Just realize that if the woman you are considering to be your companion is not a superwoman-does not make her own clothes, does not plant her own vineyard, and actually goes to bed at night-she can still be a wife of noble character.

The only difference, men, is that now this model of the virtuous woman applies to you, as well.

*Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this article are taken from the New International Version.

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¹ Leland Ryken, Words of Delight: A Literary Introduction to the Bible (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Co., 1987), p. 315.
² Ibid.
³The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 3, p. 1053.

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Bonita Joyner Shields is an assistant editor of the Adventist Review.