Proverbs 12:4, Supportive or Destructive!
Perhaps few men knew more about women than Solomon! There are a number of proverbs that make frequent references to the character of the female. The Hebrew word for Virtuous (chayil) is multi-faceted. It includes the ideas of wealth, strength, power, army, ability, or efficiency. It often involves, as here, moral worth, as also in the case of Ruth (Ru. 3:11). Women were held in a subordinate position in the past, and even in some countries are still held down. This woman is a woman of strength, “no doll or plaything” (Maclaren). As we might say, She has a lot in her. Wordsworth described her poetically: