House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from Yahweh.
- BSB Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
- NKJV Houses and riches are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the Lord.
- NASB House and wealth are an inheritance from fathers, But a prudent wife is from the Lord.
- NLT Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife.
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
Property is inherited from parents, but a wise, prudent wife is a gift from the LORD. The best blessings come directly from God.
Overview
This proverb distinguishes between what parents can pass down, such as house and wealth, and a prudent wife, who comes specifically 'from Yahweh.' It honors a godly spouse as a gracious gift beyond human provision. The verse magnifies God as the giver of life's deepest blessings and complements 18:22, reminding believers to receive such gifts with gratitude and to trust the Lord for what no inheritance can supply.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 18:22Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
- Prov 31:10–31Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
- Prov 13:22A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.
- Prov 3:6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
- Jas 1:17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
- Gen 28:1–4And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
- 2 Cor 12:14Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
- Deut 21:16Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:
- Gen 24:7The LORD God of heaven, which took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.
- Josh 11:23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.
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 19:14 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.