A good woman is a superwoman, or so it appears to me as I read the list of things she can do. In this famous passage from Proverbs, we read that a good woman is precious and that her husband trusts her. A good woman is a good marketer and bargainer, buying fields, trading wool and flax, finding good food from far away. She makes her arms strong! There is certainly no picture of twenty-first-century "typical" femininity here. She is not just precious to her husband or a good businesswoman: she also opens her hands to the poor and needy. She protects both her own and those not her own. Because of her, her husband is known in the city gates. He takes his seat among the elders of the land — "Strength and Dignity are her clothing" (v. 25).

We often hear this passage read at funerals of fine wo…