Summary: I confess that the only times I have heard this passage read has been a part of the eulogy in honor of a woman who lived in ways that we wish to celebrate. Still as much as we love to hear Who can find a virtuous woman, I believe it behooves us to consider the context of this passage. Inherent in the question is the implication that just as we have heard that Marines are looking for a few good men, there seems to have been a time when the roles may have been reversed. When it was said in the community that a good woman, a virtuous woman, an honorable woman, was indeed hard to find. Now before we take offense, we may want to ask, "Who was it that asked the question in the first place?" For you see, in Proverbs 31, King Lemuel of Massa received these words as strong advice that his mother gave to him. That is correct. Our beloved Proverbs 31 is born out of a conversation one mother had with her son. And if you read this chapter in its entirety, what you hear is a mother advising her son of the dangers of being involved with women. Before Steve Harvey told women how to Act Like A Lady But Think Like a Man, it appears Queen Mother was teaching her son how to Act like a King and Think like a Queen! And in so doing, we would have to acknowledge that the Queen Mother had a problem with some women! As we lean in to listen, what we discover is a mother who had a strong opinion about the women in her son's life. The Queen Mother felt some kind of way about the women who her son stepped to and considered as the partner in his life.
