Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of Yahweh.
- 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 the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.
- Prov 31:10–31Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
- Prov 12:4A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.
- Eccl 9:9Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
- 1 Cor 7:2Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.
- Prov 5:15–23Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
- Gen 2:18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
- Prov 8:35For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.
- Hos 12:12And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
- Prov 3:4So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
- Gen 29:20–21And Jacob served seven years for Rachel; and they seemed unto him but a few days, for the love he had to her.
- Gen 24:67And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife; and he loved her: and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
- Gen 29:28And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
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.