The Alphabet of the Valiant Woman — Proverbs 31:10–31
אֵשֶׁת־חַיִל מִי יִמְצָא
What to look for
The closing poem of Proverbs, praising the woman of valor from alef ('A woman of valor') to tav ('let her works praise her in the gates') — twenty-two verses, twenty-two letters.
What it is
A complete alphabet acrostic crowning the book of wisdom.
Why it matters
Proverbs opens with wisdom personified as a woman and closes with a woman embodying wisdom — praised with the entire alphabet, as if partial praise would not do.
How it has been understood
Jewish households sing this acrostic at the Sabbath table every Friday night, honoring wives, mothers, and Wisdom herself. Some also hear the congregation of Israel — or the community of faith — in her portrait: valor in the ordinary, from alef to tav, week after week.