Proverb for the Day 11:22 — A Gold Ring and a Beautiful Woman…Not What You Think!

Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout is a beautiful woman who shows no discretion.

“A gold ring” was a valuable piece of jewelry. “A pig’s snout” was an extremely dirty part of a very unclean animal – according to Jewish Law.

Such a valuable item stuck in an unclean pig’s snout was a terrible waste of good jewelry. In fact, to the ancient Israelite, just the ring’s association with a pig probably made it unclean.

So the comparison of such a ring to a “beautiful woman” would seem incredible. Yet, most would agree that both “a gold ring” and “a beautiful woman” would be much appreciated.

The other part of the comparison is the “pig’s snout” to showing “no discretion.” Sadly, this beautiful woman might well not be so appreciated – maybe even treated as an abomination – because of her inability to demonstrate any kind of good taste or judgment.

So a beautiful woman and a gold ring would be pleasing to look at and both would seemingly represent something very special in a man’s life. Unfortunately, the indiscrete actions of this woman would make her a real liability to most men.

Since most of Proverbs is father-to-son talk, a woman who is discussed here. The same could be said about men, too. In fact, when it comes to indiscretion, us boys can get ‘er done!

Bottom line for this proverb…even beautiful things can lose their attractiveness. Our behaviors and attitudes can really mess up a great life – male or female!