House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.

House and riches (are) the inheritance of fathers - i:e., are to be obtained by inheritance from them. They are among the indiscriminate gifts of God's bounty, common to the good and bad alike.

But a prudent wife (i:e., one of godly intelligence, pleasing disposition, and sound wisdom in managing her household) is from the Lord. "House and riches" are also from the Lord, but indirectly. A good wife is God's special and immediate gift; it is more rare and less attainable by mere human sagacity. God alone knows what a wife will prove to be. Men often mistake. Let parents seek for their sons a wife of piety and goodness, rather than large wealth: as on her character depends the well-being of the husband, the children, and the household. Prayer to the Lord is the way of obtaining such a wife.

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