Proverbs 12:4

A virtuous woman [is] a crown to her husband,.... One that is loving and chaste, constant and faithful, obsequious and submissive to him; that is diligent in the affairs of her house, takes care of

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

A crown; a singular ornament and matter of his glorying and joy. That maketh ashamed; that by her folly or wickedness bringeth shame to herself and to her husband. As rottenness in his bones; loathsome, and vexatious, and pernicious.

Proverbs 12:4 A virtuous woman [is] a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed [is] as rottenness in his bones.Ver. 4. A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.] Heb., A valiant woman; an able housewife, such as Bathsheba commends to her son, and as Paul describes. She is said to be a crown to her husband - not a ring for his finger, or a chain of gold for his neck, but a crown or garland for his head, a chief and choice ornament, as Sarah was to Abraham, as Livia to Augustus, as Placilla to Theodosius, as Nazianzen’ s mother to her husband. Is as rottenness in his bones.] Not a disgrace only to him, but a disease, and such a disease, as is far worse than a quartan ague: for there be two good days for one bad; but here a continual pain, and hardly curable. The wise man here expresseth the mischief of an evil wife, by a very apt similitude. And that of Jerome is not much behind it, Sicut in ligno vermis, ita perdit virum suum uxor malefica. As the worm eats into the heart of the tree, and destroys it, so doth a haughty wife her husband. All evils, as elements, are most troublesome, when out of their proper place, as impiety in professors, injustice in judges, dishonour and discomfort in a wife, &c. ουσυνεργοςμονοναλλακαιαρχηγοςεγενετο. Naz.

(4) A virtuous woman.—Literally, of power, i.e., of ability and character, like the wife described in Proverbs 31, or the “able” men of Exo 18:21.

Verse 4. A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband] אשת חיל esheth chayil, a strong woman. Our word virtue (virtus) is derived from vir, a man; and as man is the noblest of God's creatures, virtue expresses what is becoming to man; what is noble, courageous, and dignified: and as vir, a man, comes from vis, power or strength; so it implies what is strong and vigorous in principle: and as in uncivilized life strength and courage were considered the very highest, because apparently the most necessary, of all virtues; hence the term itself might have become the denomination of all excellent moral qualities; and is now applied to whatever constitutes the system of morality and moral duties. In some parts of the world, however, where arts and sciences have made little progress, strength is one of the first qualifications of a wife, where the labours of the field are appointed to them. It is not an uncommon sight in different parts of Africa, to see the wives (queens) of the kings and chiefs going out in the morning to the plantations, with their mattock in their hand, and their youngest child on their back; and when arrived at the ground, lay the young prince or princess upon the earth, which when weary of lying on one side, will roll itself on the other, and thus continue during the course of the day, without uttering a single whimper, except at the intervals in which its mother gives it suck; she being employed all the while in such labour as we in Europe generally assign to our horses. In these cases, the strong wife is the highest acquisition; and is a crown to her husband, though he be king of Bonny or Calabar. It is certain that in ancient times the women in Judea did some of the severest work in the fields, such as drawing water from the wells, and watering the flocks, c. On this account, I think, the words may be taken literally and especially when we add another consideration, that a woman healthy, and of good muscular powers, is the most likely to produce and properly rear up a healthy offspring; and children of this kind are a crown to their parents. Is as rottenness in his bones.] Does not this refer to a woman irregular in her manners, who by her incontinence not only maketh her husband ashamed, but contracts and communicates such diseases as bring rottenness into the bones? I think so. And I think this was the view taken of the text by Coverdale, who translates thus: "A stedfast woman is a crowne unto her hussbonde: but she that behaveth herself unhonestly is a corruption in his bones."

4. A virtuous woman] Comp. Rth 3:11, and for a full description of the character intended, ch. Proverbs 31:10-31.

Virtuous - The word implies the virtue of earnestness, or strength of character, rather than of simple chastity. A crown - With the Jews the sign, not of kingly power only, but also of joy and gladness. Compare Son 3:11.

4. A virtuous woman — ΰωׁ ?ϊηιμ, (esheth hhayil.) Hhayil denotes, primarily, strength, firmness, of body or mind; hence ability, capability, virtue, worth, etc.