Bible Verses About the Value of a Woman, and the Women Scripture Puts at the Center

When we ask what Scripture says a woman is worth, the verses to begin with are Genesis 1:27, where God creates male and female in his image, Galatians 3:28, and Proverbs 31:25–30. But Scripture’s accounts of what women did, and of who it puts in the room at the moments that matter, say as much as the verses do.

Bible verses about a woman’s worth

• Genesis 1:27: God creates mankind in his image, “male and female.”
• Genesis 2:18: the woman is made as a “helper” (Hebrew ezer), the word the Psalms use for God as Israel’s help (Psalm 33:20; 121:1–2).
• Ruth 3:11: Boaz tells Ruth that everyone knows she is a “woman of noble character,” the same Hebrew phrase as Proverbs 31:10.
• Psalm 139:13–14: every person is “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
• Proverbs 31:10: a “wife of noble character” is worth far more than rubies.
• Proverbs 31:25: she is clothed with strength and dignity.
• Proverbs 31:30: charm and beauty pass; a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
• Luke 1:45: Elizabeth calls Mary blessed for believing what the Lord told her.
• Luke 10:38–42: Mary sits at Jesus’ feet to learn, and he says she has chosen what is better.
• John 20:17–18: the risen Jesus sends Mary Magdalene to tell the disciples.
• Acts 2:17–18: at Pentecost Peter quotes Joel, “your sons and daughters will prophesy.”
• Romans 16:1–2: Paul commends Phoebe, a deacon and a benefactor.
• Galatians 3:28: in Christ there is neither male nor female; all are one.
• 1 Peter 3:3–4: a gentle and quiet spirit is of great worth in God’s sight.

Made in God’s image, male and female

Everything else rests on the first chapter of the Bible: So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27)

Whatever Scripture goes on to say, in that verse God gives his image to the man and the woman alike.

And Paul draws out what follows from it for those who belong to Christ: There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)

Proverbs 31 and the woman of valour

Proverbs 31 is quoted all the time and misread nearly as often. It is an acrostic poem of twenty-two verses, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet, which makes it a piece of literature and not a job description. It comes to us as advice a mother gave a king. And the phrase at its head, eshet chayil, is rendered “wife of noble character” in most English versions. But chayil is the word used elsewhere for an army, for strength and for valour, and woman of valour comes nearer.

Look at what she actually does in the poem. She considers a field and buys it, plants a vineyard from her earnings, trades profitably, works at night, sees that her trading is good, and makes linen garments and sells them. She is a merchant, and the famous line about her husband being respected at the city gate sits inside a portrait of a woman running businesses.

In Jewish practice the poem is traditionally sung by a husband to his wife on the eve of the Sabbath, and that is closer to what it is for than any checklist.

The women Scripture puts at the center

The lists of verses tend to leave out who is in the room when it matters. Deborah judges Israel, and the commander will not go into battle unless she comes with him (Judges 4:8). When the lost book is found, it is Huldah the prophet they consult, while Jeremiah is alive and available (2 Kings 22:14).

The longest conversation the Gospels record between Jesus and anyone is with a Samaritan woman at a well, and it is about the things of God from first to last (John 4).

Women fund the ministry as well, and Luke names them: Mary Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Herod’s household manager, Susanna and many others. He says they were helping to support them out of their own means (Luke 8:3).

Then there is the resurrection. All four Gospels have women as its first witnesses, in a culture where their testimony carried little legal weight, and Luke records how their news was received: they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense (Luke 24:11).

Nobody shaping the accounts to persuade would have invented that detail.

The women Paul greets in Romans 16

Paul closes his letter to the Romans with a long list of greetings, and many of the names in it belong to women. He commends Phoebe as a deacon of the church in Cenchreae and as a benefactor of many, including Paul himself (Romans 16:1-2). He names Priscilla before her husband, which was not the convention. He commends Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis for hard work, and he uses the same verb for each of them.

And he greets Junia, outstanding among the apostles (Romans 16:7). Some later manuscripts and translations read her name as a man’s, but the earliest evidence and the church fathers take her as a woman, and most current scholarship agrees.

Verses from Proverbs 31 to keep close

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. (Proverbs 31:25)

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)

Her children arise and call her blessed. (Proverbs 31:28)

Frequently asked

What does the Bible say about the value of a woman?

Genesis 1:27 gives the image of God to male and female without distinction, and Galatians 3:28 draws out what follows from it. The stories of what women did in Scripture say more still.

Is Proverbs 31 a checklist?

It was never written as one. It is a twenty-two verse acrostic poem, presented as a mother’s advice to a king, and in Jewish practice it is traditionally sung by a husband to his wife.

What does “eshet chayil” mean?

The word chayil is used elsewhere for an army, for strength and for valour. “Woman of valour” is nearer than “virtuous woman.”

Were women the first witnesses of the resurrection?

All four Gospels say so, and Luke records that the men did not believe them because it seemed like nonsense (24:11).

Who was Junia?

Junia is someone Paul calls outstanding among the apostles (Romans 16:7). The earliest evidence and the church fathers take her as a woman, and most current scholarship agrees.