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
10 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 fountain of life
on Proverbs 16:22-24
“Understanding is a fountain of life to its possessor, but the discipline of fools is folly.” “The heart of the wise man instructs his mouth,” training his speech, “and adds persuasiveness to his lips”. “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.”
This site's exposition
Pleasant words are a honeycomb
Adam Clarke notes that honey still in the honeycomb is sweeter than honey pressed out of it. Pleasant words follow the wise heart of verse 23 and come to the lips fresh from it. They sweeten the soul and heal the bones.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
This course … will bring you honor and true glory. With your ears opened to give heed and your hands ready to execute the command you have heard, let your tongue be silent and keep your heart under custody. Be slow and dull for idle talk but knowing and wise in hearkening to the saving words of the holy Scriptures. Let the hearing of worldly tales be to you as a bitter taste in your mouth but the discourse of holy men as a honeycomb.
You who love instruction and are eager to listen, receive once again the sacred words: delight yourselves in the honey of wisdom; for so it is written, "Good words are honeycombs, and their sweetness is the healing of the soul." For the labor of the bees is very sweet and benefits in many ways the soul of man; but the divine and saving [honey] makes those in whom it dwells skillful in every good work and teaches them the ways of [spiritual] improvement.
The sea is holy Scripture which has within it profound meanings and the mysterious depths of the prophets. Into this sea many rivers have entered. Delightful and clear are these streams. These fountains are cool, springing up into life everlasting. There, too, are "pleasant words, like honeycomb," and courteous conversations which water souls with the sweetness of moral commands. The streams of holy Scripture are diverse; you know that which you should drink from first, second, and last.
It came to pass that our Ambrose was born while his father, Ambrose, was administering the prefectureship of the Gallic provinces. On one occasion, when the child had been placed in a cradle in his father's courtyard and was asleep with his mouth open, a …
The Medieval Church1 voice
A honeycomb, composed words, etc. Many can sweetly pronounce good things through eloquence to those who love and favor them, which, however, they themselves do not love nor care to do. But words proceed only from the inner sweetness of your soul, which lead to …
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Honey took its place not only among the luxuries, but among the medicines of the Israelites. This two-fold use made it all the more suitable to be an emblem both of the true Wisdom which is also true obedience, and of the “pleasant words” in which that Wisdom speaks.
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
On this page
Studies11
About Proverbs
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ambrose of Milan, LETTER 15; Basil of Caesarea, ON RENUNCIATION OF THE WORLD; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 120; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Paulinus of Milan, LIFE OF ST. AMBROSE 2:3.