💡WEB · Proverbs 18:22
What does Proverbs 18:22 mean?
"Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of Yahweh."
— Proverbs 18:22 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city; and disputes are like the bars of a fortress.
A man’s stomach is filled with the fruit of his mouth. With the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit.
Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of Yahweh.
The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly.
A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Explanation
Proverbs 18:22 states simply that a man who finds a wife has found something good, and that in this discovery he receives favor from the Lord. The plain sense of the verse is a positive affirmation of marriage—it treats the securing of a good spouse not as a burden or a mere social arrangement, but as a genuine blessing, one that carries with it a sense of divine approval or gift.
This proverb comes from the book of Proverbs, a collection of wisdom sayings traditionally attributed largely to Solomon, though the book as a whole was compiled and edited over time for use in ancient Israel's wisdom instruction. Proverbs was written to train young people, especially young men, in practical godly living—covering topics like speech, work, money, friendship, and family life. Marriage appears repeatedly in Proverbs as a major theme, often contrasted between the blessing of a virtuous, wise wife (see also Proverbs 12:4, 19:14, and the extended poem in 31:10-31) and the misery of contentious or foolish relationships (as in Proverbs 21:9, 19, and 27:15-16). This verse fits within that broader wisdom tradition of weighing the outcomes of wise versus foolish choices in life, including the choice of a spouse.
Theologically, the verse affirms that marriage, when it results in finding a genuinely good wife, is part of God's good design and blessing for human life—echoing the goodness of marriage established at creation, where God declares it not good for man to be alone (Genesis 2:18). The phrase "obtains
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