She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.Proverbs 31:13-25
A very valid question that these verses raise is: 'Is it right or wrong for a married woman to go out to work?' This is a question on which people have strong and often very heated attitudes. On the basis of this passage, however, it would be very difficult to answer in the affirmative and say, 'Of course it is wrong for a married woman to go out to work, a woman's place is in the home'. For here is a woman, active in business, in trade and industry, in the stock market, and making money, and for her, it was not only not wrong, but was a commendation. We must therefore bring our attitudes in this question, and it may be, our prejudices also, to the bar of God's Word, and test them by that infallible criterion. The problem in this area, lies in fact in the abuses of the situation, not in the principle itself. If, by her being out at work, her children are neglected; if money becomes a god; if married couples get to depend on two incomes; if working mothers leads to the displacement of normal family commitments; then one can readily see the dangers and inadvisability of it. In relation to the last-mentioned point: in family commitments very real ethical and, for Christians, spiritual problems are raised by the attitude which says 'We shall get married, but we will not have children for some time, because we both want to work and raise enough money to provide a comfortable home'. It is to be feared that this is an attitude that is assumed as a matter of course to be legitimate and even commendable for Christian people. We would simply and firmly point out that such assumption needs to be closely and carefully scrutinized in the light of the teaching of Scripture. It is certainly never a decision that can be made 'as a matter of course'. It needs divine sanction and ordination!