“House and wealth are inherited from fathers”: To “inherit” means to receive property or rights from previous owners, such as parents. This line may need to be adjusted in some languages to say, for example, “People inherit houses and money from their fathers [parents]” or “Fathers leave houses and wealth to their children.”

“But a prudent wife is from the Lord“: “A prudent wife” contrasts with the wife who is always quarreling in the previous verse. “Prudent”, as in 10.5 means “wise” or “sensible.” This line contrasts the source from which a person inherits property with the source from which a man gets “a prudent wife”, namely, “from the Lord“. “Is from the Lord” means “is given by the Lord,” or “The Lord is the one who gives a man a sensible wife.” See 18.22. Contemporary English Version translates the whole saying “You may inherit all you own from your parents, but a sensible wife is a gift from the Lord.” Another way of expressing this is “Parents can give us a house and possessions, but only God can give a good-thinking wife.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .