SEV Biblia, Chapter 18:22
¶ El que halló esposa halló el bien, y alcanzó la benevolencia del SEÑOR.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Proverbs 18:22
Verse 22. Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing ] Marriage, with all its troubles and embarrassments, is a blessing from God; and there are few cases where a wife of any sort is not better than none, because celibacy is an evil; for God himself hath said, "It is not good for man to be alone." None of the versions, except the Chaldee, are pleased with the naked simplicity of the Hebrew text, hence they all add good: "He that findeth a GOOD wife findeth a good thing;" and most people, who have not deeply considered the subject, think the assertion, without this qualification, is absurd. Some copies of the Targum, and apparently one of Kennicott's MSS., have the addition hbwf tobah, good; but this would be an authority too slender to justify changing the Hebrew text; yet Houbigant, Kennicott, and other able critics argue for it. The Septuagint is not satisfied without an addition: "But he who puts away a good wife, puts away a good thing: and he that retains an adulteress, is a fool and wicked." In this addition the Vulgate, Syriac, and Arabic, agree with the Septuagint. The Hebrew text as it stands, teaches a general doctrine by a simple but general proposition: "He that findeth a wife findeth a good thing." So St. Paul: "Marriage is honourable in all." Had the world been left, in this respect, to the unbridled propensities of man, in what a horrible state would society have been-if indeed society could have existed, or civilization have taken place-if marriage had not obtained among men! As to good wives and bad wives, they are relatively so, in general; and most of them that have been bad afterwards, have been good at first; and we well know the best things may deteriorate, and the world generally allows that where there are matrimonial contentions, there are faults on both sides.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 22. [Whoso] findeth a wife , etc.] 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 f530 Hesiod says, a man cannot obtain anything better than a good wife.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 22 - A good wife is a great blessing to a man, and it is a token of Divin favour.
Original Hebrew
מצא 4672 אשׁה 802 מצא 4672 טוב 2896 ויפק 6329 רצון 7522 מיהוה׃ 3068
