Proverbs 4:22
in Proverbs 4For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh.
KJV
For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
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This verse in Proverbs 4
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWe could not live without it; we may by faith live upon it. They are health to all their flesh, to the whole man, both body and soul; they help to keep both in good plight. They are health to all flesh, so the LXX.
This site's exposition
incline your ear to my sayings
on Proverbs 4:20-23
The father returns to plain attention before the chapter's central command: “Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life”. The heart in Hebrew thought is the whole inner man. The springs of life are everything a person does and becomes, flowing out from that source.
This site's exposition
health to the whole body
Health translates marpe, a word for healing and remedy. Matthew Henry reads the whole body as the whole person, body and soul alike, kept in good condition by the words. A like promise stood at 3:8.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. 9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
For they are life unto those that find them,....
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| חַיִּ֣ים | chaiyim | [are] life | H2416 → | 498 times |
| הֵ֭ם | hem | they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| לְמֹצְאֵיהֶ֑ם | lemotzeeihem | to [those who] find them | H4672 → | 455 times |
| וּֽלְכָל־ | ulekhol- | and to all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בְּשָׂר֥וֹ | besaro | flesh his | H1320 → | 270 times |
| מַרְפֵּֽא׃ | marpe' | health | H4832 → | 16 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
חַיִּ֣ים[are] life
chaiyimH2416 →498 times
הֵ֭םthey
hemH1992 →553 times
לְמֹצְאֵיהֶ֑םto [those who] find them
lemotzeeihemH4672 →455 times
וּֽלְכָל־and to all
ulekhol-H3605 →5413 times
בְּשָׂר֥וֹflesh his
besaroH1320 →270 times
מַרְפֵּֽא׃health
marpe'H4832 →16 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 12:18Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 15:4
A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
- Proverbs 16:24
Through
Proverbs 4:4he taught me and said, “Let your heart lay hold of my words; keep my commands and you will live.
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:1
My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments;
- Proverbs 3:1
Through
Jeremiah 33:6Nevertheless, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal its people and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth.
it leads to
- John 10:10
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.
- Isaiah 30:26
The light of the moon will be as bright as the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter—like the light of seven days—on the day that the LORD binds…
- Titus 3:5–6
He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
- Psalms 67:2
that Your ways may be known on earth, Your salvation among all nations.
- John 10:10
Through
Proverbs 3:8This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
it leads to
- Psalms 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
- Psalms 147:3
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.