Proverbs 15:4

King James Version with Strong's Numbers

A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in 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 like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
• Prov 16:24 : 24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
• Prov 18:8 : 8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
• Prov 18:14 : 14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
• Gen 3:22-24 : 22 And the LORD 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 the LORD 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 Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
• Ps 52:2-4 : 2 Thy tongue deviseth{H8799)} mischiefs; like a sharp{H8794)} razor, working{H8802)} deceitfully. 3 Thou lovest{H8804)} evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak{H8763)} righteousness. Selah. 4 Thou lovest{H8804)} 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 his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
• 1 Tim 6:3 : 3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome 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 unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
• Prov 26:22 : 22 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.