A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.
A virtuous (literally, strenuous [ chayil (H2428 )], as Ruth is called, Ruth 3:11 ) woman is a crown to her husband - "a crown" i:e., his chief ornament. "Her husband" - literally, her lord (cf. Proverbs 31:10; Proverbs 31:23; 1 Corinthians 11:7).
But she that maketh ashamed - by want of strenuousness, virtue, and prudence.
Is as rottenness in his bones - an incurable evil, affecting the inmost and most vital powers of mind and body; a plague in the privacy of home, as well as in public life. A disease in the bones is hard to cure.