Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife.
Parallel translations
- WEB House and riches are an inheritance from fathers, but a prudent wife is from Yahweh.
- KJV House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.
- 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.
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 18:22Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of Yahweh.
- Prov 31:10–31Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above rubies.
- Prov 13:22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the wealth of the sinner is stored for the righteous.
- Prov 3:6In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
- Jas 1:17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, nor turning shadow.
- Gen 28:1–4Isaac called Jacob, blessed him, and commanded him, “You shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.
- 2 Cor 12:14Behold, this is the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you; for I seek not your possessions, but you. For the children ought not to save up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
- Deut 21:16then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the son of the beloved the rights of the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn;
- Gen 24:7Yahweh, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house, and from the land of my birth, who spoke to me, and who swore to me, saying, ‘I will give this land to your offspring. He will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there.
- Josh 11:23So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that Yahweh spoke to Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance to Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. The land had rest from war.
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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.