Each passage below is quoted word for word from the King James Version, beginning with the verse behind the he who finds a wife bible verse question.
Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
Proverbs 18:22 (KJV)
The KJV says Whoso where newer versions say He who, so the he who finds a wife bible verse you may know from the NKJV is this very line. It calls a wife a good thing and ties her to the LORD’s favour.
House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.
Proverbs 19:14 (KJV)
Money and property can be handed down, the writer says, but a wise spouse cannot be inherited or bought. That makes the he who finds a wife bible verse a companion to this one: both treat a good marriage as a gift.
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
Proverbs 31:10 (KJV)
The poem opens with a question, which tells you it expects a thoughtful search and not a quick grab. Rubies were rare and costly, so the comparison is about worth, not about owning a person.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
Proverbs 31:11 (KJV)
Trust comes first in this portrait of a wife. A husband who can rest in her honesty, especially with money, does not feel pushed toward shady gain.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
Proverbs 31:12 (KJV)
The phrase all the days of her life stretches the picture past the wedding and into the long middle years. Good is shown as steady daily conduct, which is a fair test for anyone reading the he who finds a wife bible verse as a guide.
Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
Proverbs 31:25 (KJV)
Clothing is what a person puts on every morning, so strength and honour are described as habits, not moods. The line also looks ahead with a smile, not a worry.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
Proverbs 31:26 (KJV)
Her speech is the point here. Wisdom and kindness live in the same mouth, which many couples would count as a bigger blessing than any dowry.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Proverbs 31:28 (KJV)
Praise comes from those who know her best, at home. Notice that the husband praises aloud, a quiet answer to anyone who treats the he who finds a wife bible verse as a one-way compliment.
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Proverbs 31:30 (KJV)
Charm and looks fade or mislead, says the writer, while reverence for God lasts. It is the sentence that stops Proverbs 31 from becoming a checklist of skills.
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Genesis 2:18 (KJV)
The only thing called not good in the whole of Genesis 1 and 2 is solitude. The Hebrew for help meet suggests a partner who matches him, which is the root idea under the he who finds a wife bible verse.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Genesis 2:24 (KJV)
Leaving and cleaving describe a change of first loyalty. Jesus later quoted this verse when he was asked about marriage, which shows how central it is.
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
Proverbs 5:18 (KJV)
A father urges his son to find his delight at home. The wife of thy youth is a gentle phrase for loyalty that began early and keeps going.
Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
Ecclesiastes 4:9 (KJV)
The Preacher is talking about work and loneliness, and he lands on partnership as the cure. It sits comfortably beside the he who finds a wife bible verse, though it is written for friends as much as spouses.
And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:12 (KJV)
Many couples read the third strand as God. Even without that reading, the picture of braided rope shows strength coming from being woven together.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Ephesians 5:25 (KJV)
The measure of a husband’s love here is sacrifice. This is the New Testament counterweight to the he who finds a wife bible verse, because it shifts the focus from what a man receives to what he gives.
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Ephesians 5:33 (KJV)
Paul closes the long passage by asking each person to do their part. Love is named for the husband and respect for the wife, both treated as plain duties and not as feelings that arrive on their own.
Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.
Colossians 3:19 (KJV)
Bitterness is the slow poison Paul names. It grows from unspoken grievances, which is why this short instruction still matters long after the wedding day.
Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.
1 Peter 3:7 (KJV)
Peter asks husbands to live with understanding and to honour their wives as equal heirs of grace. He even says careless treatment can hinder a man’s prayers, a sobering follow-up to the he who finds a wife bible verse.
The he who finds a wife bible verse is Proverbs 18:22. In the King James Version it reads, Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. Many modern translations begin with He who finds a wife, which is why people search that way. The meaning is the same in both: a wife is described as a good thing, and the finding is linked to God’s favour.
Read slowly, the sentence has three parts. There is a finding, there is a good thing found, and there is favour that comes from the LORD. It is a statement of observation, much like a grandparent saying that a good marriage is the best thing that ever happened to them. It is not a command and it is not a contract.
That plain reading is worth holding onto before the commentary begins. The he who finds a wife bible verse does not tell anyone to marry, rush, or measure a person’s worth by their relationship status. It simply says that a marriage which is a good one is a good thing, and that God’s kindness can be seen in it.
Open the King James text and the first word is Whoso, an old contraction of whosoever. That small word makes the proverb sound like a general truth that anyone could meet. The modern He who finds a wife gives the same sense but a more personal sound, and both lead back to the same Hebrew sentence.
There is another difference worth noticing. Some ancient manuscripts add the word good before wife, giving a good wife, and the KJV follows the shorter reading while keeping the sense in the phrase a good thing. Either way the writer’s attention rests on the goodness of what is found, not on the person doing the finding.
If you want to compare wording, the he who finds a wife bible verse is easy to line up across translations on a site such as this marriage verses collection or in a printed study Bible. Putting three versions side by side is a quiet way to learn how translators think, and it rarely changes the heart of the verse.
The words a good thing look modest, and that is part of their charm. The writer does not say a perfect thing or a flawless thing. He says good, the same word used in Genesis when God looked at creation. A marriage that is called good is not free of effort, but it carries the same seal of approval that the first days of creation did.
Good also has a practical edge. In Proverbs it often describes what helps a person live well: good counsel, a good name, a good conscience. A good wife, then, is one who helps her husband live well and is helped in return. The he who finds a wife bible verse is describing a relationship that makes life better on ordinary days.
Notice too that the verse speaks of what is obtained, not what is earned. Favour of the LORD is given. It cannot be bought with a clever approach or a good performance. That small detail removes the pressure from people who think a marriage must be won by being impressive.
Proverbs is a collection of short sayings gathered over centuries, and many of them are attributed to Solomon. They were meant to be remembered, repeated at the dinner table and taught to young men and women who would soon make the decisions the sayings describe. That is the home of the he who finds a wife bible verse.
The sayings use ordinary images: a door on its hinges, a dripping roof, a well-watered garden. They are not laws and they were never meant to cover every case. They describe how life usually goes for people who follow wisdom, and they leave room for the exceptions that the book of Job and Ecclesiastes explore.
When you read the he who finds a wife bible verse as one of these sayings, its tone makes sense. It is wisdom handed from older people to younger ones, a quiet note saying that a good marriage is worth seeking and worth being thankful for. It was never intended as a legal guarantee that every person will marry.
A common mistake with Proverbs is to read a general truth as a promise. Proverbs 22:6 about training up a child is a good example, and so is the he who finds a wife bible verse. Both describe what tends to happen, and both have painful exceptions that families know too well.
This matters because some readers have lost a spouse or watched a marriage fail and wonder whether they somehow missed the favour of the LORD. The Bible itself answers that with stories of faithful people who struggled, such as Hosea, whose marriage was broken by betrayal, or Hannah, who waited years for a child.
So hold the verse with open hands. It tells you that marriage can be a real gift and that God delights in good partnerships. It does not tell you that a hard season proves anything about your standing with him. Favour is a wider thing than any one relationship, and Scripture treats it that way.
Long before Proverbs was written, Genesis 2 set the stage for the he who finds a wife bible verse. God has made light, land, sea and creatures, and called it all good. Then, for the first time, he says something is not good: it is not good that the man should be alone.
The solution is not another animal or another task. God brings a person who is the man’s equal and says the two will become one flesh. Adam’s reaction is the first poem in the Bible, a burst of joy: This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.
Seen against Eden, finding a wife is not about acquiring something. It is the answer to loneliness, the discovery of a partner who stands beside you. The he who finds a wife bible verse echoes that ancient moment, and it explains why the writer calls the finding good without needing to explain further.
Proverbs 19:14 sits close to Proverbs 18:22 in spirit. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers, it says, but a prudent wife is from the LORD. Prudent means thoughtful, discerning, someone who sees what is coming and plans for it. The proverb treats this quality as a gift too precious to be passed down in a will.
The contrast with riches is deliberate. A father can leave land and money to a son, and a clever son may even grow it. But he cannot hand over a wise partner. That has to come from somewhere beyond family planning, and the writer says it comes from the LORD.
Reading the two verses together helps with the he who finds a wife bible verse. Neither proverb makes the husband a passive receiver, yet both insist that the deepest part of a good marriage is not manufactured. It is given, and the right response is gratitude as well as effort.
Proverbs 31:10-31 is an acrostic poem: each line begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It describes a woman who trades, plants a field, cares for her household and speaks with kindness. Many readers feel tired just reading it, and some wives feel unfairly measured against it.
A kinder reading treats the poem as a gallery of strengths gathered into one portrait, not a daily to-do list for one person. It was probably meant to be taught to young men, shaping what they should value. The opening question, Who can find a virtuous woman, connects directly to the he who finds a wife bible verse.
Pay attention to what the poem praises at its end: she that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. All the skills in the middle serve that centre. If you are choosing a partner, or being one, the reverence for God at the heart of the poem matters more than a long list of talents.
The verb find in Proverbs 18:22 is a gentle one. It does not mean pursue relentlessly or collect. Elsewhere in Proverbs, finding is what happens to a person who seeks wisdom and keeps walking in it. The he who finds a wife bible verse pictures a man who arrives at a good thing through ordinary life, perhaps unexpectedly.
That fits many real love stories. People meet at a church potluck, a workplace, a hospital waiting room or a bus stop, and later say they were not looking for anything. The word find captures that mix of attention and surprise, and it leaves room for God’s guidance in the timing.
None of this makes effort wrong. A person who wants to marry can pray, can be open, and can accept introductions from friends. But the he who finds a wife bible verse is a reminder not to turn the search into anxiety. Good things are often found by those who are busy living faithfully.
For anyone who has attended a long string of weddings alone, the he who finds a wife bible verse can feel like a taunt. It helps to remember who wrote it and why. It is a proverb about a good thing, not a promise addressed to you by name, and the Bible is full of faithful people whose lives took other shapes.
Paul, who wrote much of the New Testament, wrote in 1 Corinthians 7 that singleness is also a gift. Jesus himself never married and gave his life to a mission. Neither is presented as lesser. Scripture does not rank people by relationship status, and neither should we.
If you are waiting, one useful practice is to read about people who waited well, such as Ruth and Boaz or Isaac and Rebekah. You might also visit these verses about waiting on love for steadier comfort. Waiting is not wasted when it is spent in prayer and service.
Some of the people who search for the he who finds a wife bible verse are not engaged or newly married. They are divorced, widowed, or longing for a spouse they have not met. A verse about favour found through a wife can sting when your own story does not match it.
Be gentle with yourself in those moments. You are allowed to read a proverb and feel both its truth and your own ache. The Psalms give plenty of examples of honest prayer, including laments from people who felt overlooked. Bringing that ache to God is not a lack of faith. It is how faith often sounds in the dark.
It also helps to remember that the he who finds a wife bible verse describes one kind of good gift among many. Friendship, work, family, worship and service are also good things from the LORD. A single person who is rooted in those is not missing God’s favour.
Proverbs speaks of finding a wife, but the letters of the New Testament speak to husbands about how to live once the finding is done. Paul tells them to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. That is a high bar, and it turns the he who finds a wife bible verse into the first line of a longer conversation.
Colossians 3:19 adds a short warning against bitterness, and Peter asks husbands to live with their wives according to knowledge, honouring them as fellow heirs of the grace of life. Peter even says unkind treatment can get in the way of a man’s prayers. Few verses link home life and worship so directly.
Taken together, these passages show that the favour mentioned in the he who finds a wife bible verse is meant to be nurtured. A man who treasures the gift but neglects the person has misread the proverb. Love in these letters is shown through patience, honour, understanding and sacrifice.
The second half of Proverbs 18:22 says the finder obtaineth favour of the LORD. Favour is a warm word. In the Old Testament it describes the way a king smiles on a servant or a father on a child. It is God’s goodwill resting on a life, often showing up in ordinary blessings.
What does that look like in a marriage? It might be a shared laugh in a hard week, a spouse who prays when you cannot, or a household that feels like a refuge. Those are not dramatic miracles, but couples tend to remember them as signs that God was kind to them.
The he who finds a wife bible verse therefore invites gratitude. If you are married, thank God for your spouse by name, out loud, now and then. If you are not, remember that the same favour is found in countless other places, and God has not run out of it.
At weddings, the he who finds a wife bible verse often appears in the program, on a banner, or in a toast. It works well there because it is short and warm. It frames the new marriage as a gift from God and invites the guests to rejoice with the couple.
A good officiant will usually read the verse alongside other passages so that it does not carry the whole weight of the ceremony. Pairing it with Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and Ephesians 5 balances the joy of finding with the work of living together. The couple hears that this is both a celebration and a calling.
If you are planning a ceremony, consider having the verse read by a parent or close friend, then letting the couple answer with their own promises. A moment of silence after the reading can also help. For more readings, browse verses for marriage and love and pick two or three that suit your story.
Parents sometimes quote the he who finds a wife bible verse to their children, hoping to shape their expectations. It can be a loving thing to do, but timing and tone matter. A twelve-year-old does not need pressure to marry, and a twenty-five-year-old does not need hints at every family dinner.
A better approach is to teach the virtues the verse celebrates: honesty, kindness, steady character, reverence for God. Children who grow up seeing those qualities at home will be attractive partners and wise choosers. They will also be content if marriage comes later or not at all.
Parents can also model what the verse celebrates. Speaking well of your spouse in front of the kids, praying together, and apologising when you are wrong teach more than any proverb recited at the table. The he who finds a wife bible verse becomes believable when children can see a good thing in the home.
Every long marriage has seasons that feel more like endurance than celebration. Money worries, illness, grief, a child who is struggling, or simple boredom can make the early romance seem far away. The he who finds a wife bible verse does not erase these seasons, but it can remind a couple of what they first saw in each other.
Some couples find it helpful to retell their story on an anniversary: how they met, what they noticed, and what they prayed. Reading Proverbs 18:22 aloud at the end of that conversation can turn a memory into gratitude. It reminds both people that they were given to each other.
If the marriage is in real trouble, though, a verse is not enough. Talk to a pastor or counsellor, and if there is any abuse or danger, seek safety first. The he who finds a wife bible verse was never meant to keep anyone silent about harm. See these verses on marriage problems for steadier help.
Ecclesiastes 4 offers an unexpected companion to the he who finds a wife bible verse. The Preacher looks at a man who works alone, with no one to share his gain, and calls it a sore travail. Then he lists the benefits of company: help when you fall, warmth on a cold night, protection from attack.
The final line about a threefold cord has been used at weddings for generations. Whether the third strand is read as God, as the community, or simply as the strength of weaving, the image makes the same point. Two people who are joined together can carry more than either could alone.
This passage is useful for readers who are single because it widens the picture. Partnership is not limited to marriage. Friends, family, church and neighbours all share the work of living. The he who finds a wife bible verse stands inside a larger Bible that values togetherness in many forms.
Scripture can be prayed back to God, and the he who finds a wife bible verse lends itself to that. A married person might pray, Lord, thank you for my spouse, whom you have shown me to be a good thing. Help me to treat this gift with care. The words are simple, and they carry the verse into daily life.
A single person might pray differently: Father, I trust that you know my desires. Teach me to receive your favour wherever it is today, and make me ready for whatever you have planned. Honest prayers like this do not demand an outcome. They place the longing in God’s hands.
Parents can pray the verse over their grown children, and friends can pray it for a couple they love. The he who finds a wife bible verse is brief enough to memorise and pray in a car or a kitchen. Praying a verse regularly shapes how we think about the thing it describes.
One misuse treats the he who finds a wife bible verse as a command, as though every man must marry or every woman must wait to be found. The text says nothing of the kind. It is an observation about the goodness of marriage when it is good.
Another misuse reduces women to prizes. The verse speaks of finding a good thing, but the surrounding chapters show wives as thinking, speaking, trading, teaching people. A husband who treats his wife as an object has missed the whole book. Respect for her personhood is part of the wisdom Proverbs asks for.
A third misuse is to quote the verse at someone who is struggling, as though their pain were proof of failure. That turns a proverb into a weapon. If you ever feel tempted to quote the he who finds a wife bible verse to a friend, first listen to their story, then ask whether the verse will help or wound.
Not everyone who reads the he who finds a wife bible verse is in a first marriage. Some have buried a spouse, and the verse brings both gratitude and grief. They can honestly say that they found a good thing and that the loss still hurts. Both are true, and God holds both.
Divorced readers face a different weight. A verse about favour in marriage can stir shame or regret. The Bible does not hide from broken marriages, and it speaks of mercy again and again. Past failures do not cancel God’s kindness toward you now, and a forgiven person can still hope.
Those who remarry often say they see the he who finds a wife bible verse with fresh eyes, knowing how costly a good marriage is. If you are in this place, these verses for remarriage may be a helpful companion. A second chance can be as much a gift as a first.
The he who finds a wife bible verse covers the finding, but most of marriage happens after. Years of dishes, deadlines, disagreements and quiet evenings shape the relationship far more than the first meeting. The proverb is a beginning, not a full description.
Builders of any kind know that a good structure needs both a foundation and regular maintenance. Marriages are similar. Daily kindness, honest talk, shared prayer and a willingness to say sorry are the maintenance that keeps the gift of Proverbs 18:22 in good repair.
If you want a simple habit, try thanking your spouse for one specific thing every day for a month. It need not be grand. Noticing the good thing you found is a practical way of living out the he who finds a wife bible verse, and it tends to change the climate of a home.
Couples who want to study together can start small. Choose one passage a week from this page, perhaps beginning with the he who finds a wife bible verse, and read it aloud after dinner. Each person shares one sentence about what stood out, with no debate and no correcting.
Over a month you will have read Proverbs, Genesis, Ecclesiastes and Ephesians, and you will probably have learned something about each other. Keep a notebook with the dates and thoughts, and look back at it on your anniversary. Many couples find that a small shared habit is stronger than a big resolution.
Whatever your own situation is today, the he who finds a wife bible verse is best held with gratitude and humility. It praises a good thing, points to God as its source, and invites us to care for what we are given. May the passages on this page help you do that well.
If this page raised more questions about marriage and love, these related studies are a natural next step: building a strong marriage, marriage and love in Scripture, verses for marriage and love, praying for a marriage, waiting on love, communication in marriage, when marriage gets hard, love is patient, love is kind, healthy relationships.
To study these verses in more depth, try Bible Gateway, Bible Hub, Bible Study Tools, Blue Letter Bible.
The he who finds a wife bible verse is Proverbs 18:22. The KJV reads, Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD. Newer translations begin with He who finds a wife, but the meaning is the same.
No. The he who finds a wife bible verse is a wisdom saying that praises a good marriage, not a command to marry. Paul and Jesus both honoured singleness, and Scripture treats it as a valid calling.
In the he who finds a wife bible verse, favour of the LORD means God’s goodwill shown in a good gift. It describes a blessing received with gratitude, not a reward earned by performance or a guarantee for every person.
Yes. Proverbs 18:22 is often read with Ephesians 5:25, which tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church. The he who finds a wife bible verse celebrates the gift, while Paul explains how to care for it.
Absolutely. Many couples print the he who finds a wife bible verse in programs or read it during the ceremony. It pairs well with Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and Ephesians 5 so that joy and responsibility are both heard.
That reaction is common. The he who finds a wife bible verse praises one good gift, but the Bible also honours singleness, friendship and service. Bring the ache to God in prayer and remember that his favour reaches far beyond marriage.
