Jewels and Swine
Commonplace –
“As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion” (Proverbs 11:22).
In Proverbs 11:22, the word discretion comes from the Hebrew word “ṭaʿam” (“H2940”), which means to have judgment, understanding, and taste. The writer is comparing a beautiful woman without good judgment to a pig wearing jewels. The outer beauty is meaningless if the woman is a pig at heart. I like the way Matthew Henry explains ‘discretion’ in his Commentary,
“By discretion here we must understand religion and grace, a true taste and relish (so the word signifies) of the honours and pleasures that attend an unspotted virtue; so that a woman without discretion is a woman of a loose and dissolute conversation” (699).
The choice of pig as the animal in this proverb is intentional, as they are opportunistic omnivores. A mother pig, a sow, will sometimes even eat her own babies.
To avoid being like a pig, a woman must cultivate her understanding, judgment, and taste, choosing wisely rather than indiscriminately.
Works Cited
“H2940 – ṭaʿam – Strong’s Hebrew Lexicon (KJV).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 9 Mar, 2026. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h2940/kjv/wlc/0-1/.
Henry, Matthew. “Proverbs 11:22.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary On the Whole Bible: New Modern Edition. Volume 3 and Volume 6, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., March 1996.
Holy Bible: Giant Print with Study Aids. Dugan Publishers, Inc., 1984.
© 2026 Angela Hormberg
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