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Proverbs 18 · a question people ask

"Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing" (18:22). What does it say to someone who isn't married?

In the text

The saying says what finding a wife is, and whose favor goes with it: "Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the LORD" (18:22) (tap favor). It doesn't speak of anyone who isn't married, and it doesn't say that such a person is outside the LORD's favor. The book has obtain favor from the LORD in two other sayings, with the same Hebrew words. Wisdom says, "For whoever finds me finds life, and will obtain favor from the LORD" (Proverbs 8:35), and in Hebrew that verse has 18:22's finds twice as well. And another saying has "A good man shall obtain favor from the LORD" (Proverbs 12:2). The notes on Proverbs 8 and 12 set these sayings side by side. These notes don't make 18:22 a measure of anyone's life, or apply it to anyone's marriage. If it touches a longing or a loss for you, or for someone you read with, make room for it.

The verses

“Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the LORD.”
Proverbs 18:22 · World English Bible
“For whoever finds me finds life, and will obtain favor from the LORD.”
Proverbs 8:35 · World English Bible
“A good man shall obtain favor from the LORD, but he will condemn a man of wicked plans.”
Proverbs 12:2 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Proverbs 18

Proverbs 18: A strong tower

"The LORD’s name is a strong tower" (18:10), and the very next saying calls a rich man's wealth "his strong city, like an unscalable wall in his own imagination" (18:11). In Hebrew both have strong, and are safe and unscalable are one verb: two high places side by side, and the second is high "in his own imagination".

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions