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

The key verses on a woman’s value are Genesis 1:27, where God creates male and female in his image, Galatians 3:28, and Proverbs 31:25–30. Scripture’s accounts of what women did, and who it puts in the room at the moments that matter, say as much as the verses.

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.

Start with the sentence that settles it

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 else follows, the image is not distributed unevenly in that verse.

And Paul, on the consequence: 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, read properly

The chapter is quoted constantly and misread nearly as often.

Three things are worth knowing. It is an acrostic poem — twenty-two verses, one for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet — which is a literary form, not a job description. It is presented 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 the word chayil is the one used elsewhere for an army, for strength and for valour.

Woman of valour is nearer.

What she actually does in the poem: 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. 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. That is closer to its function than a checklist.

Who Scripture puts in the room

This is the part the verse lists leave out.

Deborah judges Israel and the commander refuses to go into battle unless she comes (Judges 4:8). Huldah the prophet is the one consulted when the lost book is found, while Jeremiah is alive and available (2 Kings 22:14).

The longest recorded conversation Jesus has with anyone is with a Samaritan woman at a well, and it is theological throughout (John 4).

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

And the resurrection. All four Gospels have women as the first witnesses, in a culture where their testimony carried little legal weight. Luke records the response: they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense (Luke 24:11).

If the accounts were being shaped to persuade, that is not the detail anyone would invent.

Romans 16, which is a list of names

Paul’s closing greetings are worth reading straight through.

Phoebe is commended as a deacon of the church in Cenchreae and as a benefactor of many, including Paul himself (Romans 16:1-2). Priscilla is named before her husband, which was not the convention. Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis are commended for hard work — the same verb each time.

And Junia, outstanding among the apostles (Romans 16:7). Her name was read as masculine in some later manuscripts and translations; the earliest evidence and the church fathers take her as a woman, and most current scholarship agrees.

The verses worth keeping

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 the consequence. The narrative evidence is stronger still.

Is Proverbs 31 a checklist?

No. It is a twenty-two verse acrostic poem, presented as a mother’s advice to a king, and in Jewish practice 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?

Yes, in all four Gospels — and Luke records that the men did not believe them because it seemed like nonsense (24:11).

Who was Junia?

A person 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.