The Life of His Princess

              The Proverbs 31 woman is one of those things held out to all women to try and obtain. Some women look at the chapter with disdain for it outlines the woman they desire to be and realize they can never be. Other women look at this chapter as a challenge to be met, a thing to conquer; that when this chapter is accomplished they are truly and fully “women of God.” But what does this chapter really mean? Is it something that all women should be trying to become? What does it mean to try and be a Proverbs 31 woman today? This paper will take a look at how Jews view Proverbs 31, how women attempt to interpret Proverbs 31, and a look at how Proverbs 31 should be approached in the modern day.               In Jewish tradition this passage of scripture is not translated literally. This was not a list of things for a woman to become. In an Orthodox Jewish home, at the beginning of Shabbat, Eshet Chayil, is sung. ...

Psalm 139 is a frequently quoted Psalm in regards to the value of life before birth and as a reminder as to how incredibly wonderful God is. But what is this Psalm that we all know really saying? This paper is going to look closer at the roots of some of the words within Psalm 139. Psalms 139:1 says, “O L ORD , You have searched me and you know me.” And in Psalm 139:23 it says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.” When I think of the word “search” in this context, my thought goes to finding, as if my heart is lost and God is going to find my heart. But God doesn’t need to find my heart, though my heart is often lost to the world and its ways, he knows exactly where my heart is. So what does it mean when David says that the Lord has searched his heart, and when he asks God to search him? The Hebrew word used here for search is, חָקַר, chaqar. Chaqar can be used to mean “to search,” like to try and find something, but more of its meanings have t...