Proverbs 18:22

The one who finds ¹  a wife finds what is enjoyable, ²  and receives a pleasurable gift ³  from the Lord. ⁴ 

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the LORD.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the LORD.

The man who finds a wife finds a treasure and receives favor from the LORD.

Find a good spouse, you find a good life--and even more: the favor of GOD!

Whoever gets a wife gets a good thing, and has the approval of the Lord.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor from the LORD.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing , And obtains favor from the LORD.

The one who finds ¹  a wife finds what is enjoyable, ²  and receives a pleasurable gift ³  from the Lord. ⁴ 

¹ tn The verb מָצָא (matsa’, translated “finds”) is used twice in the first colon. It is paralleled by the verb פּוּק (puq, translated “receives”) in the second colon, which carries the same nuance as the preceding verbs. The first perfect tense verb might function in a hypothetical or conditional sense: “If a man finds…then he finds.” But taken as a principle the nuances of the verbs would be gnomic or characteristic.

² tn Heb “good.” The term טוֹב (tov, “good; enjoyable; fortune”) might be an allusion to Gen 2:18, which affirms that it is not good for man to be alone. The word describes that which is pleasing to God, beneficial for life, and abundantly enjoyable.

³ tn Heb “what is pleasant.” The noun רָצוֹן (ratson, “what is pleasing”) is often interpreted in a religious-theological sense here: “receives favor from the Lord” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV). However, this term is probably referring to the pleasure that a person enjoys in marriage, so it should be understood in a nonreligious, marital sense: “pleasure” (e.g., Esth 1:8; HALOT 1282 s.v. 1); cf. CEV “she is a gift from the Lord.”

sn The parallelism is formal; the second line of the verse continues the first but explains it further: Finding a spouse, one receives a pleasurable gift from God.

⁴ tc The LXX adds this embellishment to complete the thought: “Whoever puts away a good wife puts away good, and whoever keeps an adulteress is foolish and ungodly.”