Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of Yahweh.
Parallel translations
- KJV Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
- BSB He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
- NKJV He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the Lord.
- NASB He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the Lord.
- NLT The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favor from the Lord.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Finding a good wife is a blessing and a gift from the LORD. A godly marriage is a sign of God's favor.
Overview
This proverb celebrates the man who finds a wife as one who finds a good thing and receives favor from Yahweh, framing a good marriage as God's gracious gift. It honors marriage as part of God's good design from creation (Gen. 2:18). While not every believer is called to marry, the verse points to God as the giver of every good gift and ultimately to Christ's love for His bride, the church (Eph. 5:25-32).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 19:14House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from Yahweh.
- Prov 31:10–31Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above rubies.
- Prov 12:4A worthy woman is the crown of her husband, but a disgraceful wife is as rottenness in his bones.
- Eccl 9:9Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your life of vanity, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity: for that is your portion in life, and in your labor in which you labor under the sun.
- 1 Cor 7:2But, because of sexual immoralities, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband.
- Prov 5:15–23Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
- Gen 2:18Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
- Prov 8:35For whoever finds me, finds life, and will obtain favor from Yahweh.
- Hos 12:12Jacob fled into the country of Aram, and Israel served to get a wife, and for a wife he tended flocks and herds.
- Prov 3:4So you will find favor, and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
- Gen 29:20–21Jacob served seven years for Rachel. They seemed to him but a few days, for the love he had for her.
- Gen 24:67Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. He loved her. Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
- Gen 29:28Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. He gave him Rachel his daughter as wife.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 18:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.