Day 246: Spoiler Alert

"The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil."
Proverbs 31:11

This is the second article of a twenty-one article series and, as current events would flow, this topic was heavily overshadowed by the events of the day - of course! After the initial hubbub of the morning settled, I started to think about what this verse meant to me... that is when I realized it doesn't mean what I thought it meant.

My initial take on this verse has always been that the dude is so comfortable and trusting of his wife's handling of household and life issues, that he never has to worry about running out of money or basic necessities. In short, his life would never go to waste, or spoil. Though the grammar of the second half of the sentence always bothered me (shall have no need of spoil), I just chalked it up to ye olde English.

I was quite surprised to discover the meaning of this verse doesn't mean that at all!

In the New American Standard, it reads, "And he will have no lack of gain." All the other versions (English) I consulted spoke to the same translation; because of this man's amazing extent of trust and confidence in his woman, he would always have lots of stuff (material possessions, I'm guessing) coming in. The sentence was old English, but I missed the meaning completely! "No need of" means "unlimited supply." Quite a difference.

Of course, this bit of introspection leads me to speculate... if I become more like the woman portrayed in this Proverb, will Jason become more prosperous? I have to wonder. Actually, I would think that this would, in fact, be the case. If he had a supportive wife with whom he could confide his plans and goals, would that loving support lend itself to an increased level of self-esteem and can-do-idness? I shall have to ponder this for application to my own life. Yes.

In Hebrew, the word "leb" refers to the heart of the husband. It not only can refer to the emotions, but also the will and the intellect. This guy is putting everything on the line with this woman... and how many guys do that unless they feel really secure about the solidness of their relationship with and character of their wife?

This is further pointed out in the "doth safely trust" section by the use of the word "batach," which the lexicon translates as "hie (to rush or move fast) to refuge." Not only does this man rush to trust, but he is also bold and carefree in his confidence and hopes as he shares everything with his wife. Wow. That is some serious responsibility on the part of the woman, yes?

And what is it that this man need never experience? The Hebrew word is "chacer," meaning "to lack" and the implication of this word deals with failure, want, a lessening of the current standard. It can also mean bereavement or decrease, even abatement and want.

The most straight-forward word is the one dealing with spoils; "shalal" literally means "booty - prey or spoil." So the spoil I was thinking of - the one dealing with ruin - is not at all the one in the original language... far from it. This kind of spoil is the type one would associate with plundering and pirates; riches and wealth as a reward of some valiant effort by the man.

So put the together the two words - "chacer" and "shalal" - and what we have is a man who will not decrease or abate in the amount of booty coming in. No lessening or failing in the flow of items to enhance life. No want and no taking away of that spoil. This is a picture of a prosperous man.

Granted, times were a bit different then and taking the wealth and riches of those you conquered was a normal and valiant thing to do; it was a status symbol and spoke volumes of your battle prowess - very manly. Even though this would most likely be frowned upon today, think of some potential parallels. A guy who collects his nerve to request his boss to give him the raise for which he is overdue (and he gets it). The men who work hard every day to collect their "spoil" (we know it as paychecks and bonuses). Even very small things, such as a man insisting the matre'd remove the cost of an unsatisfactory meal from the ticket, are a form of battle.

Where there is a battle, there is a victor. How much more can we give to our husbands (those still waiting, to your dads and brothers) in the form of support and confidence. Every man needs a fair maiden to fight for and every man has a deep-rooted desire to be someone's champion and the object of respect.

I know I, for one, have been very inspired by what I learned in this verse today and, ashamedly, I can see just how very far I have fallen... and wouldn't you know, today would be the day when I wasn't the woman in whom my husband's heart could safely rest. Oh, to be perfect... but then, I wouldn't be sharing any of this with you, would I?

Photo courtesy of www.sodahead.com.