a bone (as strong) · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Proverbs 31:10-25 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
Proverbs 14:1 Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.
Proverbs 14:30 A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.
Proverbs 19:13-14 A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
Proverbs 21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.
Proverbs 21:19 It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.
1 Corinthians 11:11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
Proverbs 27:15-16 A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 12:4
Note, 1. He that is blessed with a good wife is as happy as if he were upon the throne, for she is no less than a crown to him. A virtuous woman, that is pious and prudent, ingenious and industrious, that is active for the good of her family and looks well to the ways of her household, that makes conscience of her duty in every relation, a woman of spirit, that can bear crosses without disturbance, such a one owns her husband for her head, and therefore she is a crown to him, not only a credit and honour to him, as a crown is an ornament, but supports and keeps up his authority in his family, as a crown is an ensign of power. She is submissive and faithful to him and by her example teaches h…
A virtuous woman--in the wide sense of well-disposed to all moral duties (Pro 31:10).
maketh ashamed--that is, by misconduct.
rottenness--an incurable evil.
John Gill on 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 her family, brings up her children, and keeps up a good order and decorum among her servants, is an honour and credit to her husband. Such is the true church of Christ, who is compared to a woman, Revelation 12:1; to a woman of purity and chastity, whose members are virgins, not defiled with the corruptions, errors, and superstition of the apostate church; to a woman of fortitude and courage, as the word (m) signifies, who resists sin, temptation, error, heresy, and idolatry, even unto blood; and wh…
We now place together Pro 12:4-12. One proverb concerning the house-wife forms the beginning of this group, and four regarding the management of the house and business form the conclusion.
4 A good brave wife is the crown of her husband,
But as rottenness in his bones is one that causeth shame.
As Pro 11:16 says of אושׁת חן, the pleasant wife (חן = χάρις), that she obtaineth honour, so this proverb of אושׁת חיל, the good wife (חיל = ἀρετή, virtus), that she raises her husband to higher honour: she is for his self-consciousness στέφανος καυχήσεως (Th1 2:19), and is also to him such a crown of honour before the world (cf. Pro 31:23). On the contrary, a מבישׁה, conducting herself shamefull…
The Church Fathers
For all who are around him, etc. And the son of Sirach concerning the high priest: He himself standing next to the altar, and around him a crown of brothers. But the bones, that is, the virtues, which can be seen in the faction of heretics, the rot of evil doctrine corrupts.
A diligent woman is a crown to her husband, etc. The meaning of the letter is evident because a good and chaste woman gives honor to her husband in all things, and by well managing the household with his virtues, she, as it were, adds grace to the crown; but indeed an adulteress, although she may appear beautiful outwardly, internally defiles her limbs with the stench of luxury. Indeed, spiritually, the Church offers Christ a crown, none other than herself.
When you are going to take a wife, do not only look for a companion in life but also for a companion in virtue. It is inevitable that the husband of a depraved wife perishes in the same way. Therefore look for virtue and not for money. And a well-behaved wife will become a crown of glory because she is strong; [whereas] an evil wife, as if a worm dwells inside her heart, will cause destruction gradually and silently. And what is even more dreadful is that this does not appear externally, but this sort of wife injects the poison inside and consumes an unhappy soul. In the opposite way, virtue adorns the one who follows it, whereas iniquity makes the iniquitous even more detestable. "The reflections of the righteous are judgments." They are, in fact, discreet and simple: either because the righteous always reflect on the judgments and commands of God or because they always turn judgments over inside their mind. Our mind sits like a judge, judging the different virtues and arguing with the opposing vices, approving one, condemning the other.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Women — The position of women in the Hebrew commonwealth contrasts favorably with that which in the present day is assigned to them generally in eastern countries. The most salient point of contrast in the…
Family · INFELICITY IN — INFELICITY IN
Wife · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Wives · Good: Are a blessing to husbands — Good: Are a blessing to husbands
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Elsewhere in Proverbs a crown symbolizes wealth (14:24), long life (16:31), and grandchildren (17:6). • cancer (literally rot): A disgraceful wife is a deep and life-threatening problem.
Rashi on Proverbs 12:4
is like rot A worm that penetrates the bones and grinds them. So is an embarrassing, bad wife, whose deeds are shameful.
