Thanks for writing. Glad to talk. We can go back and forth a few times on this if you'd like.
First of all, the style of literature is a proverb. It means it's a general truism, but not a promise or a guarantee. All it's saying is it's wonderful when a man finds a good woman.
> Does this imply that I do not have God’s favor if I do not have a wife?
No, it doesn't imply that at all. Jesus didn't have a wife, and He had God's favor (obviously). Paul said in 1 Cor. 7.8 that there are sometimes good reasons to stay unmarried.
Now I'll roll down your multiple choices and make some comments.
> A. I do not have God’s favor, and therefore he hasn’t given to me a spouse. B. I don’t have a spouse, and because I don’t have a spouse I simply don’t have God’s favor.
This isn't a biblical teaching. I'm not aware of anywhere in the Bible where finding a spouse or getting married are a sign of God's favor.
> C. Any man who finds a wife automatically receives God’s favor by simply being married to her, so being married is a way to guarantee God’s favor while being unmarried could imply you may or may not have God’s favor.
No, this isn't it either. The proverb (18.22) implies that she's a good wife. Other verses from Proverbs reinforce that idea:
Proverbs 12.4: “A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown…”
Proverbs 19.14: “Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.”
Proverbs 31.10-31.
Notice in these verses it's a wife of "noble character," one who is "prudent." There are plenty of verses in Proverbs where just having a wife doesn't turn out so great:
Proverbs 19.13: A foolish child is a father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof.
Proverbs 21.9: Better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Proverbs 21.19: Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife.
Proverbs 23.27: for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
Proverbs 27.15: A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;
So it's not just having a wife that guarantees you automatically have the Lord's favor, simply by being married to her.
> D. God’s favor is quantitative, meaning I can have either more or less of it, and having a wife is one way to gain some of His favor.
No, what the text is really saying is that if you have a good wife, you should thank God. Not that a good wife is rare, but a good wife is a treasure and a blessing.
If I were to paraphrase this verse, I would write: "If you found a good wife, you have found a precious relationship, and you should thank God every day for this treasure and blessing."
> Could you elaborate on this passage for me?
Tremper Longman also points out:
Proverbs’ teaching on the difference between a good wife and a strange woman reflects the difference between a relationship with personified Wisdom and Folly, figurative language that ultimately points to the conflict between true and false religion. Whybray points out that the language of finding a wife reflects the language of 8.35b, which refers to finding Woman Wisdom.
Hey, feel free to discuss this further if you want.
