Proverbs 18:22

22 He who finds a wife finds a great good; he has won the favor of ADONAI.

Proverbs 18:22 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 18:22

[Whoso] findeth a wife
A good one; so the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, supply it; and so the Targum, though it leaves out the word good in the last clause; and no other can be meant, even a good natured one, wise, prudent, careful, and industrious; a proper helpmeet, a virtuous woman, as in ( Proverbs 31:10 ) ; whoso seeks after such an one, and finds one, especially one that has the grace of God, which he should seek after among his friends, and by their assistance, and by prayer to God: findeth a good [thing];
that will be good for him, both upon a civil and spiritual account; the Septuagint version adds,

``he that casts out a good wife casts out good things, but he that retains a whore is foolish and ungodly;''

which is followed by the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Arabic versions, but is not in the Hebrew text. Jarchi interprets it of the law in a mystic sense, but, according to the literal sense, of a good wife; and obtaineth favour of the Lord;
it is from the Lord, and under his direction and guidance in seeking, that he finds a good wife; and which he ought to esteem as a favour from the Lord, and as an evidence of his favour to him, and may encourage himself to hope for others of him ^F26 Hesiod says, a man cannot obtain anything better than a good wife.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Opera & Dies, l. 2. v. 323.

Proverbs 18:22 In-Context

20 A person's belly will be filled with the fruit of his mouth; with what his lips produce he will be filled.

21 The tongue has power over life and death; those who indulge it must eat its fruit.

22 He who finds a wife finds a great good; he has won the favor of ADONAI.

23 The poor man speaks beseechingly, the rich man's answer is blunt.

24 Some "friends" pretend to be friends, but a true friend sticks closer than a brother.