Proverbs 17:22

Proverbs 17:22 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
• New International Version (NIV)A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
• English Standard Version (ESV)A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
• New King James Version (NKJV)A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Context of Proverbs 17:22

20The crooked heart will not prosper; the lying tongue tumbles into trouble. 21It is painful to be the parent of a fool; there is no joy for the father of a rebel. A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength. 23The wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice. 24Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

Proverbs 17:22 word by word

לֵ֣ב שָׂ֭מֵחַ יֵיטִ֣ב גֵּהָ֑ה וְר֥וּחַ נְ֝כֵאָ֗ה תְּיַבֶּשׁ־גָּֽרֶם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• A merryשָׂמֵחַώâmêach · gladH8056
• heartלֵבlêb · heartH3820
• doeth goodיָטַבyâţab · be goodH3190
• a medicineגֵּהָהgêhâh · cureH1456
• but a brokenנָכֵאnâkê' nâkâ' · strickenH5218
• spiritרוּחַrûach · spiritH7307
• driethיָבֵשׁyâbêsh · to witherH3001
• the bonesגֶּ֫רֶםgerem · boneH1634

Cross-references for Proverbs 17:22

• Proverbs 12:25Worry weighs a person down; an encouraging word cheers a person up.
• Proverbs 15:13A glad heart makes a happy face; a broken heart crushes the spirit.
• Proverbs 18:14The human spirit can endure a sick body, but who can bear a crushed spirit?
• Ecclesiastes 9:7So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this!
• Romans 5:2Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.
• Psalms 22:15My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead.
• Psalms 32:3When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.
• Psalms 102:3For my days disappear like smoke, and my bones burn like red-hot coals.
• 2 Corinthians 2:7Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement.
• 2 Corinthians 7:10For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.

Commentaries on Proverbs 17:22

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22A merry heart doeth good like a medicine - Instead of גהה gehah, a medicine, it appears that the Chaldee and Syriac had read in their copies גוה gevah, the body, as they translate in this way. This makes the apposition here more complete: "A merry heart doeth good to the body; but a broken spirit drieth the bones." Nothing has such a direct tendency to ruin health and waste out life as grief, anxiety, fretfulness, bad tempers, etc. All these work death.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 22Doeth good like a medicine - Better, worketh a good healing. Omit “like.”Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22Verse 22 It is great mercy that God gives us leave to be cheerful, and cause to be cheerful, if by his grace he gives us hearts to be cheerful.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2222. (Compare Pr 14:30; 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.Read the comment

Topics related to Proverbs 17:22

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Contentment
• Disease
• Medicine

In the dictionaries

• Fine
• Friend
• Glad
• Grief
• Price
• Rule
• Strike
• Bone; Bones
• Cure; Cures
• Medicine

Commentaries on Proverbs 17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings