Proverbs 5:18-19

In our look at the value of a woman, we’ve seen that her value as a helpmeet enables her husband to fulfill his own role as provider. She complements his own strengths as the two are made one. Another aspect of this union also gives the incentive for increased productivity and also lies within a woman’s natural power. It is her value as a woman to give pleasure to her husband.

“Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.” (Proverbs 5:18-19)

It needs to be understood that the modern view of sex has been distorted from its original purpose. God created man and woman to need each other. Sexual enjoyment is a means of blessing their union in a God-ordained marriage. Society’s standards have made it a commonplace thing to seek the pleasure of sex without the commitment of marriage. However, the Bible explicitly encourages the seeking of sexual pleasure within the marital bond.

A woman has great value to her husband as the two are committed to seeking the pleasure of one another. The husband is told to “rejoice with the wife of [his] youth.” This is a co-dependent role as he is “ravished always with her love.” A virtuous woman seeks always to ravish her husband with her love, bringing him pleasure as an act of service, that only she is qualified to give him in the sight of God.

“Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” (1 Corinthians 7:2-5)

The value of a woman in her ability to pleasure her husband cannot be expressed too emphatically. If sex is viewed only in a recreational setting, there will not be any importance to this point. However, we’ve seen that man and woman were created to need one another. Therefore, there is a great importance in the couple’s ability to please one another, so that they may protect one another from fornication’s fiery grasp (1 Corinthians 7:9).

In a Biblical marriage, the man and woman are said to “know” one another (Genesis 4:1; Matthew 1:25) when they are joined in their sexual union. The Greek word for this intimacy is “ginōsko,” which indicates the experiential knowledge of something. The man “knows” the woman’s value, because he has experienced her ability to please him. A virtuous woman will reserve her pleasure for her husband, thereby increasing her value “far above rubies.”