FROM THE HEBREW · PROVERBS 31:10
Eshet chayil: the “woman of valor” of Proverbs 31 in Hebrew
“A woman of valour who can find? For her price is far above rubies.” English Bibles call her virtuous, noble or capable. The Hebrew word chayil is stronger than all three.
Key Hebrew words
What chayil means
The word חַיִל (chayil) is a word of force. It describes an army (“Pharaoh’s chariots and his host,” Exodus 15:4), valor in battle, physical strength, and wealth. Moses is told to choose anshei chayil, “able men,” as judges (Exodus 18:21). So eshet chayil is not a quiet, merely virtuous woman. She is a woman of strength, capacity and substance. The 1917 JPS translation captures that with “a woman of valour.”
A poem from aleph to tav
Verse 10 opens the last 22 verses of Proverbs, a poem in which each verse begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, from א to ת. The woman it describes buys a field, plants a vineyard, trades, manages a household, speaks with wisdom and gives to the poor. In many Jewish homes the poem is sung on Friday night before the Shabbat meal.
Who else is called eshet chayil?
The exact phrase appears in only two other places: Proverbs 12:4, “a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband,” and Ruth 3:11, where Boaz tells Ruth that the whole town knows she is an eshet chayil. Ruth is a widow, a foreigner and poor, and still the title fits. It is about character and strength, not status.
What the classical commentators say
Ibn Ezra reads chayil as wealth: “a woman who acquires chayil and money through her wisdom, who can find her?”
Metzudat Zion defines the phrase as זְרִיזָה וִישָׁרָה, “energetic and upright.” Metzudat David adds that King Solomon, having finished recording his mother’s instruction, turns to praise the woman of valor “in honor of his mother, as a remembrance for her,” and that “who can find” means she is precious and rare.
Ralbag (Gersonides, 14th c.) reads the poem as an allegory of the body serving the mind, showing that the chapter was also read philosophically.
“Her price is far above rubies”
The word peninim is translated rubies in the King James and JPS, and pearls by Metzudat Zion. Either way the image is the same: if her worth could be sold, it would be far beyond the most precious jewels.
The poem’s last word
The poem does not end with her beauty. Verse 30 says “Grace is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised,” and the final verse asks that her own works praise her “in the gates,” the public square where the elders sat. Her worth is shown by what she does and how she lives, and it is recognized in public.
So what does it mean today?
Read in Hebrew, Proverbs 31 is not a checklist of domestic perfection. It is a praise poem for strength, competence and wisdom, used for a working mother and for a foreign widow. Eshet chayil is a title of honor that a woman earns by who she is.
Frequently asked questions
What does eshet chayil mean?
Eshet chayil (אֵשֶׁת חַיִל) means “woman of valor” or “woman of strength.” Chayil is a word for strength, valor, wealth and even an army. English Bibles also translate it “virtuous” or “capable.”
Is Proverbs 31 about a real woman?
The text presents her as an ideal portrait. Metzudat David connects it to King Solomon honoring his mother, and Ralbag reads it as an allegory. The same title is given to a real woman, Ruth, in Ruth 3:11.
Why is Proverbs 31 sung on Friday night?
In many Jewish homes Eshet Chayil (Proverbs 31:10-31) is sung before the Shabbat meal as a song of praise, often understood as honoring the women of the household.
What does woman of valor mean in the Bible?
A woman of strength, capacity and good character. The phrase appears in Proverbs 12:4, Proverbs 31:10 and Ruth 3:11.
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Sources: Hebrew text from the Masoretic text; English from The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text (Jewish Publication Society, 1917, public domain). Commentaries (Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Radak, Metzudat David, Metzudat Zion, Malbim and others) quoted from their Hebrew originals, in our own translation. Lexical notes from Brown-Driver-Briggs and Strong’s.