For an odious woman when she is married; and an handmaid that is heir to her mistress.
Parallel translations
- WEB for an unloved woman when she is married; and a servant who is heir to her mistress.
- BSB an unloved woman who marries, and a maidservant who supplants her mistress.
- NKJV A hateful woman when she is married, And a maidservant who succeeds her mistress.
- NASB Under an unloved woman when she gets a husband, And a female servant when she dispossesses her mistress.
- NLT a bitter woman who finally gets a husband, a servant girl who supplants her mistress.
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
An unloved woman who finally marries and a maidservant who supplants her mistress complete the list of disruptive reversals.
Overview
These cases picture sudden shifts in status that can breed resentment, pride, or domestic strife when handled without grace. The proverb observes how abrupt changes of fortune test character and can upset proper relationships. It commends humility and contentment in whatever station God assigns, virtues that the gospel deepens through a renewed heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Prov 21:19It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman.
- Prov 27:15A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
- Prov 21:9It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.
- Prov 29:21He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length.
- Prov 19:13A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 30:23 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.