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The Ideal Woman

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Jan 6, 1916

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 1.

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The Ideal Woman

By Charles E. Jefferson

THE man who made the collection of proverbs contained in our Bible included in his volume a sketch of the ideal woman. She is a wife and mother. The Hebrew mind never questioned the fact that married life is the normal life for men and women on this earth, and that a home is incomplete without children. A woman’s highest career—so the Hebrew was convinced—lies in the home. She comes to the fullest realization of herself in motherhood. Her supreme work is caring for her family. Her chief jewels are her sons and daughters. The richest contributions she makes to the world are the children she molds and trains.
This is not only the Hebrew view, it is the human, universal, everlasting view. Whenever this conception is repudiated, the life of society is bound in shallows and in miseries.
The outstanding feature of the woman who looks out on us from the book of Proverbs is her efficiency as a home maker. It is she by whom the family is nourished. She spreads the table in the presence of her husband and children.
“She . . . giveth food to her household.”
She not only feeds her family, she clothes it. She protects it from the weather. She keeps in mind not only its comfort but also its appearance. She makes it brightly beautiful. Her children are a feast to the eyes.
“All her household are clothed with scarlet.”
In clothing her children, she does not neglect her own appearance. Having dressed her daughters in scarlet, she does not array herself in drab. She also is beautiful to look at.
“Her clothing is fine linen and purple.”
But dress alone does not make a woman. Her adorning must not be “the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on apparel.” She must be adorned with the graces of a lovely heart, and her crowning beauty lies in her disposition.
“Strength and dignity are her clothing.”
Weakness is not an essential element of womanhood. To be feminine does not mean to be feeble. A woman’s strength must possess charm. It must have in it the suggestion of royalty, the distinctive grace of queenliness. Her soul is calm. She is not agitated by constant fears, nor consumed by petty worries. She faces life with a courageous heart.
“She laugheth at the time to come.”
She is neither frivolous nor sarcastic. Her conversation is seasoned with salt. It gives life fresh tonic. She does not talk an infinite deal of nothing, nor does she habitually occupy her mind with trifles. She is as gracious as she is sensible. She does not use words which stab and cut. She is gentle in her speech, and genial and generous in her judgment.
*“She openeth her mouth with wisdom; And the law of kindness is on her tongue.”*
Industriousness is one of her shining virtues. She is never idle. She looks after her home with a fidelity which never fails. Early and late she gives herself to her calling.
“She riseth even while it is yet night.”
“Her lamp goeth not out by night.”
She has a great work to do, and she does not shirk it. She constantly studies the comfort and happiness of the little kingdom of which she is the anointed queen.
*“She looketh well to the ways of her household, And eateth not the bread of idleness.”*
But her horizon is not formed by the four walls of her home. She owes a debt to the outside world, and pays it. She is not unmindful of the great poverty which lies beyond her door. Her heart goes out in sympathy to those who need her, and her hands give help to those who cannot help themselves.
*“She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.”*
The result of it all is that she wins and holds the hearts of her husband and children. She sways them by what she does, and still more by what she is. She is a true woman, and does a true woman’s work, and great is her reward.
*“Her children rise up, and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praiseth her.”*
Nor is her praise confined to those who are nearest to her. Poets and orators, philosophers and sages, unite in eulogizing her. The heart of mankind exclaims:—
*“Give her of the fruit of her hands; And let her works praise her in the gates.”*
What page of the Bible might a woman more profitably keep before her than this page of the ancient book of Proverbs! Centuries have passed since the portrait was painted, but the colors have not faded, and the world, gazing on it, still exclaims, “This is ideal!”—Charles E. Jefferson, D. D.