Proverbs 16:24
in Proverbs 16Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
KJV
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
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This verse in Proverbs 16
Commentary
2 notes on this versePleasant words are as a honey-comb - The honey of which is sweeter than that which has been expressed from it, and has a much finer flavour before it has come in contact with the atmospheric air.
This site's exposition
Understanding is a wellspring of life
on Proverbs 16:22-24
Understanding is a wellspring of life to the man who has it, while the instruction fools offer is nothing but folly, the same water and dryness imagery the book uses elsewhere for wisdom and its absence. The heart of the wise teaches his own mouth, training his speech from the inside before a single word is spoken, and adds learning to his lips over time rather than all at once. Pleasant words close the group as honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones, the chapter's recurring claim that a good word does a real, physical good to the body that hears it.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| צוּף־ | tzuf- | [are] a honeycomb of | H6688 → | |
| דְּ֭בַשׁ | devash | honey | H1706 → | 54 times |
| אִמְרֵי־ | ʾimrei- | words of | H561 → | 49 times |
| נֹ֑עַם | noam | kindness | H5278 → | 7 times |
| מָת֥וֹק | matok | a sweet [thing] | H4966 → | 12 times |
| לַ֝נֶּפֶשׁ | lanefesh | to the soul | H5315 → | 754 times |
| וּמַרְפֵּ֥א | umarpe' | and healing | H4832 → | 16 times |
| לָעָֽצֶם׃ | laatzem | to the bone[s] | H6106 → | 126 times |
צוּף־[are] a honeycomb of
tzuf-H6688 →
דְּ֭בַשׁhoney
devashH1706 →54 times
אִמְרֵי־words of
ʾimrei-H561 →49 times
נֹ֑עַםkindness
noamH5278 →7 times
מָת֥וֹקa sweet [thing]
matokH4966 →12 times
לַ֝נֶּפֶשׁto the soul
lanefeshH5315 →754 times
וּמַרְפֵּ֥אand healing
umarpe'H4832 →16 times
לָעָֽצֶם׃to the bone[s]
laatzemH6106 →126 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 4:22For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:18
Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
- Jeremiah 33:6
Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
- Proverbs 4:10
Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.
- Proverbs 3:8
This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
- Proverbs 4:4
he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.
- Proverbs 12:18
Through
Proverbs 12:18Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:4
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
- Proverbs 10:20–21
The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.
- Psalms 57:4
My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts— with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.
- Proverbs 15:4
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible and Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs.