ProverbHuman NatureEnglish origin16th c.

Marriages are made in heaven.

Meaning: Destined partners find each other through forces beyond human control, suggesting compatibility transcends deliberate planning.

Origin: The belief that matches are ordained by God is old — the Babylonian Talmud already expresses it — and the English saying was well known by the late 16th century. John Lyly's Euphues and His England (1580) gives it a practical twist: "Marriages are made in heaven, though consummated in earth."

Equivalents in French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, and 4 more languages

  • French: Les mariages sont écrits dans le ciel (literally: Marriages are written in heaven)
  • Spanish: Casamiento y mortaja, del cielo bajan (literally: Marriage and burial shroud come down from heaven)
  • Japanese: 縁は異なもの味なもの (En wa ina mono aji na mono) (literally: Marital ties are strange things, and delightful things)
  • German: Ehen werden im Himmel geschlossen (literally: Marriages are concluded in heaven)
  • Italian: Matrimoni e vescovati sono destinati dal cielo (literally: Marriages and bishoprics are destined by heaven)
  • Portuguese: Casamento e mortalha no céu se talha (literally: Marriage and shroud are cut in heaven)
  • Dutch: De huwelijken worden in de hemel gesloten (literally: Marriages are made in heaven)
  • Russian: Браки совершаются на небесах (Braki sovershayutsya na nebesakh) (literally: Marriages are made in heaven)
  • Chinese: 千里姻缘一线牵 (Qiān lǐ yīnyuán yí xiàn qiān) (literally: A thread ties a match a thousand miles apart)

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