Proverbs 17:22

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

A cheerful heart is a good medicine; But a broken spirit drieth up the bones.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לֵב שָׂמֵחַ יֵיטִב גֵּהָה וְרוּחַ נְכֵאָה תְּיַבֶּשׁ־גָּרֶם

Transliteration

lēb śāmēach yêṭib gēhāh wə-rûach nəkē'āh təyabbeš-gārem

Grammar Details

• *lēb*: noun, masculine singular - heart
• *śāmēach*: adjective, masculine singular - joyful/glad
• *yêṭib*: verb, Hiphil imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular - makes good
• *gēhāh*: noun, feminine singular - healing/medicine
• *wə-rûach*: conjunction + noun, feminine singular - and spirit
• *nəkē'āh*: adjective, feminine singular - stricken/broken
• *təyabbeš*: verb, Piel imperfect, 3rd person feminine singular - dries up
• *gārem*: noun, masculine singular - bone

Word Meanings

• *lēb śāmēach*: joyful heart/cheerful mind
• *yêṭib*: does good/improves/makes better
• *gēhāh*: healing/medicine/health
• *rûach nəkē'āh*: broken spirit/crushed spirit
• *təyabbeš*: dries up/withers
• *gārem*: bone/strength

Referenced Verses

• Prov 15:13 : 13 A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance; But by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
• Prov 12:25 : 25 Heaviness in the heart of a man maketh it stoop; But a good word maketh it glad.
• Prov 18:14 : 14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; But a broken spirit who can bear?
• 2 Cor 7:10 : 10 For {G2596} godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation, [a repentance] which bringeth no regret: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
• Eccl 9:7-9 : 7 Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God hath already accepted thy works. 8 Let thy garments be always white; and let not thy head lack oil. 9 Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of thy life of vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all thy days of vanity: for that is thy portion in life, and in thy labor wherein thou laborest under the sun.
• Rom 5:2-5 : 2 through whom also we have had our access by faith into this grace wherein we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh stedfastness; 4 and stedfastness, approvedness; and approvedness, hope: 5 and hope putteth not to shame; because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us.
• Ps 102:3-5 : 3 For my days consume away like smoke, And my bones are burned as a firebrand. 4 My heart is smitten like grass, and withered; For I forget to eat my bread. 5 By reason of the voice of my groaning My bones cleave to my flesh.
• Ps 22:15 : 15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; And my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; And thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
• 2 Cor 2:7 : 7 so that contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow.
• Ps 32:3-4 : 3 When I kept silence, my bones wasted away Through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: My moisture was changed [as] with the drought of summer. {H5542}