Proverbs 17:22

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
merry	שָׂ֭מֵחַ Sa.me.ach	H8056	blithe or gleeful · adjective, masculine singular absolute
heart	לֵ֣ב lev	H3820	the heart · noun, common masculine singular absolute
good	יֵיטִ֣ב yei.Tiv	H3190	to be (causative) make well · verb, hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
medicine	גֵּהָ֑ה ge.Hah	H1456	a cure · noun, common feminine singular absolute
broken	נְ֝כֵאָ֗ה ne.khe.'Ah	H5218	smitten · adjective, feminine singular absolute
spirit	וְר֥וּחַ ve.Ru.ach	H7307	wind · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular absolute
drieth	תְּיַבֶּשׁ te.ya.besh-	H3001	to be ashamed · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular
bones	גָּֽרֶם Ga.rem	H1634	a bone (as the skeleton of the body) · noun, common masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
Proverbs 12:25 Heaviness in the heart of man maketh it stoop: but a good word maketh it glad.
Proverbs 18:14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
Romans 5:2-5 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 2:7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
Psalms 102:3-5 For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:22

Note, 1. It is healthful to be cheerful. The Lord is for the body, and has provided for it, not only meat, but medicine, and has here told us that the best medicine is a merry heart, not a heart addicted to vain, carnal, sensual mirth; Solomon himself said of that mirth, It is not medicine, but madness; it is not food, but poison; what doth it? But he means a heart rejoicing in God, and serving him with gladness, and then taking the comfort of outward enjoyments and particularly that of pleasant conversation. It is a great mercy that God gives us leave to be cheerful and cause to be cheerful, especially if by his grace he gives us hearts to be cheerful. This does good to a medicine (so some…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 17:22

(Compare Pro 14:30; Pro 15:13). The effect of the mind on the body is well known. medicine--or, "body," which better corresponds with "bone." drieth--as if the marrow were exhausted.

John Gill on Proverbs 17:22

A merry heart doth good like a medicine,.... Does the body good, makes it healthful and vigorous. Cheerfulness of spirit has a great influence upon the body, and much contributes to the health and welfare of it; see Ecclesiastes 9:7; and especially a heart full of spiritual joy, peace of conscience, flowing from the blood of Christ, joy in the Holy Ghost, a rejoicing in Christ Jesus and his righteousness, and in hope of the glory of God, much affect even the outward man. Or, "a merry heart makes a good medicine" (x); it is a good medicine of itself; raises the spirits, invigorates the body, and fits it for service and business: or, "does a medicine good" (y); makes that operate kindly, and t…

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Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 17:22

22 A joyful heart bringeth good recovery; And a broken spirit drieth the bones. The heart is the centre of the individual life, and the condition and the tone of the heart communicates itself to this life, even to its outermost circumference; the spirit is the power of self-consciousness which, according as it is lifted up or broken, also lifts up or breaks down the condition of the body (Psychol. p. 199), vid., the similar contrasted phrases לב שׂמח and רוּח נכאה, Pro 15:13. The ἄπ. λεγ. גּהה (here and there in Codd. incorrectly written גּיהה) has nothing to do with the Arab. jihat, which does not mean sight, but direction, and is formed from wjah (whence wajah, sight), like עדה, congrega…

The Church Fathers

A joyful soul makes a flourishing age, etc. He who rejoices in the inner consolation of the Holy Spirit is also adorned with the flower of good action and expects the fruits of heavenly rewards. But he who is distressed by worldly sorrow, which works death, seems to exercise the fatness of divine charity in the strength of virtues but is unable to truly have it, but rather withers as with dry bones, because he has lost the grace of love in the good deeds he does.
— Bede, Commentary on Proverbs

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Disease · .Remedies used — .Remedies used
Diseases · Medicine used for curing — Medicine used for curing
Medicine · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Proverbs 17:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 17:22

John Gill on Proverbs 17:22

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 17:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Proverbs 17:22

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:22

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Proverbs 17:22

John Gill on Proverbs 17:22

Keil & Delitzsch on Proverbs 17:22

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Proverbs 17:19

Rashi on Proverbs 17:22