Aishet Chayil
A Woman of Valor
אֵשֶׁת חַיִל
אֵשֶׁת חַיִל, מִי ימְצָא,
וְרָחֹק מִפְּנִינִים מִכְרָהּ:
בָּטַח בָּהּ לֵב בַּעְלָהּ
א יֶחְסָר וְשָׁלָל
Aishet Chayil, mi yimtzah
V’rahok mip’ninim mikrah.
Ba-takh bah lev ba-al-ah
v’shalal lo yekh-sar.
A valiant woman, who can find?
She is worth far more than pearls.
Her husband’s heart trusts her.
And spoil (so that he shall) have no lack.
The word ’chayil’ ( חייל ) means, ‘soldier’; and so an
‘aishet chayil’ ( אֵשֶׁת חַיִל ) means a ‘soldier woman’, i.e.,
a truly valiant and courageous woman who does not
shrink from life’s challenges, but takes them head-on.
Some translators render this term as ‘a woman of valor’
or ‘a woman of accomplishment’, since it takes a strong
and capable woman to achieve great things in society.
According to tradition, an aishet chayil is an ‘in charge’
kind of woman, who is strong and professional out in
public, and yet feminine and submissive with her
husband. The husband traditionally sings Aishet Chayil
to his wife at the start of Shabbat, in order to honor her
before the family.