Proverbs 19:14
in Proverbs 19Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
House and riches are an inheritance from fathers; But a prudent wife is from Jehovah.
KJV
House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the Lord.
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This verse in Proverbs 19
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA prudent wife is from the Lord - One who has a good understanding, אשה משכלת ishshah mascaleth; who avoids complaining, though she may often have cause for it.
This site's exposition
A foolish son is his father’s ruin
on Proverbs 19:13-14
A foolish son is his father's ruin and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping, the household's two griefs set side by side. Then the pairing turns: houses and wealth "are inherited from fathers," ordinary and expected, "but a prudent wife is from the LORD."
This site's exposition
a prudent wife is from the LORD
Adam Clarke describes the prudent wife as a woman of good understanding who keeps from complaining, though she may often have cause. Houses and wealth come down from fathers. She comes from the LORD.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Thus when a certain wise man saith, "It is by the Lord that a man is matched with a woman," he means this, God made marriage, and not that it is He that joineth together every man that cometh to be with a woman. For we see many that come to be with one another for evil, even by the law of marriage, and this we should not ascribe to God. But as He said Himself, "He which made them at the beginning, made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh." And this is what that wise man meant to explain. For since equality of honor does many times lead to fightings, He hath made many governments and forms of subjection; as that, for instance, of man and wife, that of son and father, that of old men and young, that of bond and free, that of ruler and ruled, that of master and disciple.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Houses and riches are the inheritance of fathers,.... Which they are careful to provide and leave to their children.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A contrast of men's gifts and God's, who, though author of both blessings, confers the latter by His more special providence. and--or, "but," implying that the evils of Pr 19:13 are only avoided by His care.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
a constant dripping lit. a driving drip. [As] the dripping of the rain that falls in the house disturbs and drives out the inhabitants of the house, so are the quarrels of a bad wife.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Laziness causes one to fall into a deep sleep Laziness causes one to fall asleep. This is the figure, but the allegory is that it concerns one who neglects his studies; it will ultimately come about that people will ask him words of wisdom, and he will be sound asleep.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בַּ֣יִת | bayit | house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| וָ֭הוֹן | vahon | and wealth | H1952 → | 26 times |
| נַחֲלַ֣ת | nachalat | [are] an inheritance of | H5159 → | 222 times |
| אָב֑וֹת | ʾavot | fathers | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וּ֝מֵיְהוָ֗ה | vumeyahweh | and [is] from Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אִשָּׁ֥ה | ʾishah | a wife | H802 → | 781 times |
| מַשְׂכָּֽלֶת׃ | maskalet | prudent | H7919 → | 62 times |
בַּ֣יִתhouse
bayitH1004 →2046 times
וָ֭הוֹןand wealth
vahonH1952 →26 times
נַחֲלַ֣ת[are] an inheritance of
nachalatH5159 →222 times
אָב֑וֹתfathers
ʾavotH1 →1212 times
וּ֝מֵיְהוָ֗הand [is] from Yahweh
vumeyahwehH3068 →6520 times
אִשָּׁ֥הa wife
ʾishahH802 →781 times
מַשְׂכָּֽלֶת׃prudent
maskaletH7919 →62 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 3:6in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:3
Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved.
- Psalms 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you.
- Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
- Proverbs 16:9
A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
- Jeremiah 10:23
I know, O LORD, that a man’s way is not his own; no one who walks directs his own steps.
- Proverbs 16:3
Through
James 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
it leads to
- John 3:27
John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven.
- Matthew 7:11
So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
- Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
- John 3:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON ROMANS 23:13.1; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).