Proverbs 15:4

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

A gentle tongue is a tree of life; But perverseness therein is a breaking of the spirit.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

מַרְפֵּ֣א לָ֭שׁוֹן עֵ֣ץ חַיִּ֑ים וְסֶ֥לֶף בָּ֝֗הּ שֶׁ֣בֶר בְּרֽוּחַ׃

Transliteration

Marpêʾ lāšôn ʿēṣ ḥayyîm wəselep̄ bāh šeḇer bərûaḥ

Grammar Details

• *Marpêʾ*: noun, masculine singular - healing/health
• *lāšôn*: noun, feminine singular - tongue/language
• *ʿēṣ*: noun, masculine singular construct - tree of
• *ḥayyîm*: noun, masculine plural - life/lives
• *wəselep̄*: conjunction + noun, masculine singular - and perversity/crookedness
• *bāh*: preposition + 3rd feminine singular suffix - in it (feminine)
• *šeḇer*: noun, masculine singular - breaking/fracture
• *bərûaḥ*: preposition + noun, feminine singular - in spirit

Word Meanings

• *Marpêʾ lāšôn*: healing of tongue/wholesome speech
• *ʿēṣ ḥayyîm*: tree of life/life-giving tree
• *wəselep̄*: and perversity/but crookedness/yet corruption
• *bāh*: in it (referring to tongue)
• *šeḇer bərûaḥ*: breaking in spirit/crushing of spirit/wound to the spirit

Referenced Verses

• Prov 3:18 : 18 She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: And happy is every one that retaineth her.
• Prov 12:18 : 18 There is that speaketh rashly like the piercings of a sword; But the tongue of the wise is health.
• Prov 16:24 : 24 Pleasant words are [as] a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
• Prov 18:8 : 8 The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts.
• Prov 18:14 : 14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; But a broken spirit who can bear?
• Gen 3:22-24 : 22 And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever— 23 therefore Jehovah God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
• Ps 52:2-4 : 2 Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness, Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. 3 Thou lovest evil more than good, And lying rather than to speak righteousness. {H5542} 4 Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
• Ps 109:22 : 22 For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me.
• Mal 4:2 : 2 But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall.
• 1 Tim 6:3 : 3 If any man teacheth a different doctrine, and consenteth not to sound words, [even] the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
• Rev 2:7 : 7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the {G3319} Paradise of God.
• Prov 26:22 : 22 The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts.