the wife of one's youth / beloved wife
The beloved wife who accompanies a person from his youth.
("For the LORD has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when you were refused, says your God"—Isaiah 54:6. Likewise: "Let your fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of your youth, a loving doe, a graceful deer... by her love may you ever be captivated"—Proverbs 5:18-19. Also: "Said Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman: everything has a replacement except for the wife of one's youth... Rabbi Yehuda said to his son Rabbi Yitzchak: A person finds true comfort only from his first wife, as it is said: 'and rejoice with the wife of your youth.' He asked: Like whom? He replied: Like your mother"—Sanhedrin 22b. And: "This 'new' grandmother (for grandfather married a second wife, a widower—God forbid!—after grandmother, the wife of his youth)"—Shaul Tchernichovsky / Grandfather, of blessed memory)
Translation
Expression (Hebrew)
אֵשֶׁת נְעוּרִים
Definition (Hebrew)
הָאִשָּׁה הָאֲהוּבָה הַמְּלַוָּה אֶת הָאָדָם מִצְּעִירוּתוֹ.
("כִּי כְאִשָּׁה עֲזוּבָה וַעֲצוּבַת רוּחַ קְרָאָךְ ה' וְאֵשֶׁת נְעוּרִים כִּי תִמָּאֵס אָמַר אֱלֹהָיִךְ"- יְשַׁעְיָהוּ נָד ו, וְכֵן:"יְהִי מְקוֹרְךָ בָרוּךְ וּשְׂמַח מֵאֵשֶׁת נְעוּרֶךָ. אַיֶּלֶת אֲהָבִים וְיַעֲלַת חֵן ...בְּאַהֲבָתָהּ תִּשְׁגֶּה תָמִיד"- מִשְׁלֵי ה יח, וְכֵן:"אָמַר רַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן: לַכֹּל יֵשׁ תְּמוּרָה חוּץ מֵאֵשֶׁת נְעוּרִים ...שָׁנָה לוֹ רַב יְהוּדָה לְרַב יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ: אֵין אָדָם מוֹצֵא קוֹרַת רוּחַ אֶלָּא מֵאִשְׁתּוֹ רִאשׁוֹנָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר:"וּשְׂמַח מֵאֵשֶׁת נְעוּרַיִךְ", אָמַר לוֹ: כְּגוֹן מִי? אָמַר לוֹ: כְּגוֹן אִמֶּךָ"- סַנְהֶדְרִין דַּף כב ע"ב, וְכֵן:"סָבְתָא 'חֲדִישָׁה' הַלָּזוֹ (כִּי שְׁנִיָּה נָשָׂא לוֹ סַבָּא,/ אַלְמָן- רַחֲמָנָא לִצְּלַן! – מִסָּבְתָא, אֵשֶׁת נְעוּרָיו"- שָׁאוּל טְשֶׁרְנִיחוֹבְסְקִי/ סַבָּא זִכְרוֹנוֹ לִבְרָכָה)