Bible Strands
Proverbs 18:22
He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Solomon's wisdom corpus, addressed to a young man under instruction, placed between a warning on the tongue (18:21) and a contrast of the poor and rich (18:23).
The words — רָצוֹן (ra.Tzon), "pleasure," carries the sense of divine approval or acceptance; it is the same word used for God's favor toward a person or offering. The double use of מָצָא (ma.Tza'), "finds," ties the wife directly to the "good thing" as one and the same discovery.
The thread — Proverbs 19:14 states plainly that a prudent wife is "from the LORD," and Proverbs 12:4 and 31:10 frame a good wife as a crown and a rarity beyond rubies. The cluster treats a good wife as a divine endowment, not a market transaction.
Why it lands — The verse elevates marriage to the level of receiving God's favor, which means it demands the same seriousness as any covenant relationship with Yahweh. A reader is asked to stop treating the choice of a spouse as trivial.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 19:14 Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
- Proverbs 31:10 A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.
- Proverbs 12:4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- Ecclesiastes 9:9 Enjoy life with your beloved wife all the days of the fleeting life that God has given you under the sun—all your fleeting days. For this is your portion in life and in your labor under the sun.
- 1 Corinthians 7:2 But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
- Genesis 2:18 The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”
- Proverbs 5:15 Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
- Proverbs 8:35 For whoever finds me finds life and obtains the favor of the LORD.
- Hosea 12:12 Jacob fled to the land of Aram and Israel worked for a wife—for a wife he tended sheep.
- Genesis 29:20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, yet it seemed but a few days because of his love for her.