Eshet Chayil

One of my favorite reads of 2012 was Rachel Held Evans' A Year of Biblical Womanhood.  In it, Evans spends a year tackling the tenants of the "Biblical Womanhood" movement.  In addition to regaling readers with her misadventures in domesticity, she does a thorough evaluation of how our gender roles line up to the scriptures in the Bible.  Equal parts studied and hilarious, it is a great look at the roles we have created for ourselves as women in society and a beautiful examination of our value to Christ.

The chapter that has resonated the most with me is the one on the "Proverbs 31 woman."  Evans writes:

In the evangelical Christian subculture there are three people a girl's got to know about before she gets her period: (1) Jesus, (2) Ronald Reagan, and (3) the Proverbs 31 woman . . . she's like the evangelical's Mary-venerated, idealized, glorified to the level of demigoddess, and yet expected to show up in every man's kitchen at dinnertime. (Evans, 96-97)

Out of her study of Proverbs 31, came the discovery that Proverbs 31 was not meant to be a checklist of things we modern women must live up to (because if my house is supposed to be clothed in scarlet, Sean is about to be walking around in some unfortunate looking sewing disasters), but instead a blessing of praise that a Jewish man would sing to his wife during the Sabbath in order to recognize her hard work.  The first verse "a wife of noble character, who can find" is written in the Hebrew as "eshet chayil" and translates most accurately as "woman of valor."

In Jewish culture it is not the women who memorize Proverbs 31, but the men.  Husbands commit each line of the poem to memory, so they can recite it to their wives at the sabbath meal, usually in a song.  'Eshet chayil mi yimtza v'rachok mip'ninim michrah,' they sing in the presence of their children and guests.  'A valorous woman, who can find? Her value is far beyond pearls.' Eshet chayil is at its core a blessing-one that was never meant to be earned, but to be given, unconditionally (Evans, 109-110)

In sharing this discovery, Evans exhorts her readers to look for opportunities to give a hearty "eshet chayil" to the women in their lives.  To bless one another and "take back" Proverbs 31 for ourselves.

So thus begins my first "series" on the blog.  I'll be taking the opportunity to give a shout out to some women of valor.  Each recipient of my "woman of valor" declaration will also recieve a snazzy, hand-crafted medal to wear or display proudly in her home.

Craft foam, ribbon and a paint pen=awesomeness

You're all dreaming of owning one of these, aren't you?

In the meantime, who in your life deserves a hearty "eshet chayil"?

*All quotes are taken from the Nook edition of A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband "Master"

**Warning:  Some of you will choose to read A Year of Biblical Womanhood and love it.  Some of you will think I've lost my mind and my salvation for recommending such a book.  Either way, I hope to keep you all as friends :)