The Ideal Wife

When a Christian young man has such a wife for his spouse, namely, a Christian, home-loving young woman, he will live with her and with their children in a blessed and happy home, and marriage then will be what the Lord intended that it should be.

1925 John H. C. Fritz Walther League Messenger

God Bless Our Home (1884) by Wm. Bruns

The following article by John H. C. Fritz is taken from the January 1925 issue of the Walther League Messenger, Volume XXXIII, Number 6, on pp. 286 and 307. It is the fourth article in the series Questions of the Heart and Home and the companion piece to “The Ideal Husband”, which appeared in the December 1924 issue.

What kind of a woman is the ideal wife? The answer to this question can only be given by Him who created woman and who instituted that estate in which man and woman are to live together as husband and wife. In His Word the Lord, by direct statements and by presenting to us ideal wives, answers the question.

We shall not attempt to embrace in these lines all that the Bible says on the ideal wife. We could, for example, elaborate on that glorious passage, Eph. 5, 22-24, in which the relation between Christ, the heavenly Bridegroom, and the church, His bride, is given as a pattern for the relation of husband and wife; or we could speak of such examples of ideal wives as that of Sarah, 1 Peter 3, 1-6, Elizabeth, Luke 1, 5, 6, 24, 25, and others. We shall for the present choose the description which Solomon gives of the ideal wife in the Book of Proverbs, chapter 31, 10-31. (Incidentally, the Book of Proverbs is too little read and known.) In the Hebrew Bible each of the twenty-two verses of this description begins with one of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, arranged in the usual order. Referring to this description, a commentator says: “Nothing can add to the simple beauty of this admirable portrait. On the measure of its realization in the daughters of our own day rest untold results in the domestic, and, therefore, the civil and religious welfare of the people.”

We shall quote each verse of Solomon’s A B C for the ideal wife, and then, by way of comment, translate his Oriental language into the language of our day. We shall give the name of the Hebrew letter with which each verse begins.

V. 10. Aleph. “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” Solomon is speaking by inspiration of the Holy Ghost. He tells us that the ideal wife is a virtuous woman, a woman of a moral goodness that is combined with bodily vigor and activity. In the words of this verse Solomon gives a general characterization of the ideal wife; in the following verses he speaks of her characteristics in detail. Of such a wife Solomon says that “her price is far above rubies.”

V. 11. Beth. “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.” The ideal wife is a woman in whom her husband can have the confidence that when he is away from home, engaged in his daily work, she will well take care of domestic affairs, so that the husband will not suffer any loss. The husband can depend upon her prudence and her skill.

V. 12. Gimel. “She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.” The ideal wife is a woman whose love toward her husband will continue in good and in evil days, in early married life and in old age; her love will know no change.

V. 13. Daleth. “She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.” The ideal wife is a diligent and faithful worker and does not consider household cares beneath her dignity.

V. 14. He. “She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.” The ideal wife is a woman who knows when and how to buy on the market to the advantage of her husband.

V. 15. Vav. “She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.” The ideal wife rises early in the morning to begin her household duties and to make provision for the day.

V. 16. Sajin. “She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.” The ideal wife is a woman who by her diligence and frugality helps her husband to acquire and own property and even to increase it. Her thrift preserves what her husband has, and adds to it.

V. 17. Cheth. “She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.” The ideal wife is a woman who by the daily exercise of labor in her household increases her strength and is able to endure continued exertion.

V. 18. Tet. “She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.” The ideal wife is a woman who finds pleasure in her household duties. She is pleased when she sees that her work is successful, and such success encourages her to work even far into the night.

V. 19. Jod. “She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.” The ideal wife is not satisfied merely to cook and bake and wash and clean, but she will also sew and knit and stitch and crochet: she will do all that she can for her home.

V. 20. Kaf. “She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.” The ideal wife is not selfish or miserly, but, like Dorcas (Acts 9, 36), is full of good works and almsdeeds; her industry enables her to be charitable, and her godly spirit prompts her to exercise charity.

V. 21. Lamed. “She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.” The ideal wife provides in summer that she may have in winter.

V. 22. Mem. “She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.” The ideal wife well looks to her own neat and tidy personal appearance, as well as to that of her home.

V. 23. Nun. “Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.” The ideal wife, by well attending to her domestic duties, enables her husband to take part in public affairs and thus helps to increase his influence and his good reputation among the people.

V. 24. Samekh. “She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.” The ideal wife will expend her labor upon such things as will enable her to add beauty and comfort and wealth to her home.

V. 25. Ajin. “Strength and honor are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.” The ideal wife is strong in faith and in character, and she, therefore, worries not about things yet to come, but joyfully thinks of the future.

V. 26. Pe. “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” The ideal wife speaks wisely and kindly; she is not a gossip, not an idle talker, not a scold.

V. 27. Tsade. “She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.” The ideal wife is a good manager of the home, and, therefore, with hard work earns her own bread.

V. 28. Kof. “Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.” The ideal wife is a fruitful mother of children, is devoted to them, and trains them right. She is honored and praised by her husband and her children as a good wife and a good mother.

V. 29. Resch. “Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.” The ideal wife is a woman that stands out among the women of the land; and her reputation corresponds to her character: both are good.

V. 30. Schin. “Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.” The true beauty of the ideal wife does not consist in that of face or form, but in fearing the Lord. Her trust and faith in God, her Savior, and her godly conversation, are the very things which make of her an ideal wife, and are the source of all her good characteristics. Such a woman, says Solomon, “shall be praised.”

V. 31. Taw. “Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.” The ideal wife will enjoy the fruit of her work, and her actions will always speak for themselves.

Nothing need be added to this beautiful portrait of the ideal wife given us by the Lord Himself in His Word. When a Christian young man has such a wife for his spouse, namely, a Christian, home-loving young woman, he will live with her and with their children in a blessed and happy home, and marriage then will be what the Lord intended that it should be.