Proverbs 17:22

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(22) A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.—Or rather, Makes good a recovery., (For the duty of religious gladness, in gratitude for the love of God towards us, comp. Philippians 3:1; Philippians 4:4.)

Benson Commentary

Proverbs 17:22. A merry heart — Cheerfullness of mind, especially that which is solid, and ariseth from the testimony of a good conscience; doeth good like a medicine — Even to the body; it contributes very much to the restoration or preservation of bodily health and vigour, as physicians observe and experience shows; but a broken spirit — A spirit sad and dejected; drieth the bones — Wasteth the marrow of the bones, and the moisture and strength of the body.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

17:19. If we would keep a clear conscience and a quiet mind, we must shun all excitements to anger. And a man who affects a style of living above his means, goes the way to ruin. 20. There is nothing got by ill designs. And many have paid dear for an unbridled tongue. 21. This speaks very plainly what many wise and good men feel very strongly, how grievous it is to have a foolish, wicked child. 22. It is great mercy that God gives us leave to be cheerful, and cause to be cheerful, if by his grace he gives us hearts to be cheerful. 23. The wicked are ready to part with their money, though loved, that they may not suffer for their crimes. 24. The prudent man keeps the word of God continually in view. But the foolish man cannot fix his thoughts, nor pursue any purpose with steadiness. 25. Wicked children despise the authority of their father, and the tenderness of their mother. 26. It is very wrong to find fault for doing what is duty. 27,28. A man may show himself to be a wise man, by the good temper of his mind, and by the good government of his tongue. He is careful when he does speak, to speak to the purpose. God knows his heart, and the folly that is bound there; therefore he cannot be deceived in his judgment as men may be.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Doeth good like a medicine - Better, worketh a good healing. Omit "like."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

22. (Compare Pr 14:30; 15:13). The effect of the mind on the body is well known.

medicine—or, "body," which better corresponds with "bone."

drieth—as if the marrow were exhausted.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

A merry heart; cheerfulness of soul, especially that which is solid, and ariseth from the witness of a good conscience.

Doeth good, even to the body; it contributes very much to the restoration or preservation of bodily health and rigour, as physicians observe, and experience showeth.

Broken; sad and dejected.

Drieth the bones; wasteth the marrow of the bones, and the moisture and strength of the body.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

A merry heart doth good like a medicine,.... Does the body good, makes it healthful and vigorous. Cheerfulness of spirit has a great influence upon the body, and much contributes to the health and welfare of it; see Ecclesiastes 9:7; and especially a heart full of spiritual joy, peace of conscience, flowing from the blood of Christ, joy in the Holy Ghost, a rejoicing in Christ Jesus and his righteousness, and in hope of the glory of God, much affect even the outward man. Or, "a merry heart makes a good medicine" (x); it is a good medicine of itself; raises the spirits, invigorates the body, and fits it for service and business: or, "does a medicine good" (y); makes that operate kindly, and to a good purpose: or, as Jarchi, makes the countenance shine well, makes a serene countenance; which Schultens approves, and, from the use of the word in the Arabic language, confirms;

but a broken spirit drieth the bones; a spirit broken with sorrow, whether on spiritual or temporal accounts; as it weakens the nerves, it dries up the marrow in the bones, and emaciates the body, and reduces it to a skeleton: the joy or grief of the mind, those passions of the soul, have a very great influence upon the body, either for its good or hurt.

(x) "cor hilare bonam facit sanationem", Michaelis. (y) So R. Joseph Kimchi; "bonificat sive meliorem reddit medicinam", some in Valablus; "bene medicinam facit", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Geneva Study Bible

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

22. doeth good like a medicine] Rather, is a good medicine, R.V. “Heb. causeth good healing,” R.V. marg.; giveth a happy healing, Gesen.; εὐεκτεῖν ποιεῖ, LXX.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 22. - A merry heart doeth good like a medicine. So Aben Ezra, understanding the particle of comparison, which is not in the Hebrew. The ward translated "medicine" (gehah) occurs nowhere else, and probably means "healing" "relief." The clause is better rendered, a cheerful heart maketh a good healing (comp. Proverbs 15:13; Proverbs 16:25). Vulgate, aetatem floridam facit; Septuagint, εὐεκτεῖν ποιεῖ, "makes one to be in good case." A cheerful, contented disposition enables a men to resist the attacks of disease, the mind, ms every one knows, having most powerful influence over the body. Ecclus. 30:22, "The gladness of the heart is the life of man, and the joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days." A broken spirit drieth the bones; destroys all life and vigour (comp. Proverbs 3:8; Psalm 22:15; Psalm 32:4). We all remember the distich -

"A merry heart goes all the day,
Your sad tires in a mile-a." So the rabbis enjoin, "Give ears no room in thine heart, for care hath killed many" (Dukes, p. 68). Religious gladness is a positive duty, and "low spirits," as Isaac Williams says, "are a sin." Asks the Greek moralist -

Ἄρ ἐστὶ συγγενές τι λύπη καὶ βίος And Lucretius (3:473) affirms -

"Nam dolor ac morbus leti fabricator uterque est."
"Workers of death are sorrow and disease." Proverbs 17:22

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

22 A joyful heart bringeth good recovery;

     And a broken spirit drieth the bones.

The heart is the centre of the individual life, and the condition and the tone of the heart communicates itself to this life, even to its outermost circumference; the spirit is the power of self-consciousness which, according as it is lifted up or broken, also lifts up or breaks down the condition of the body (Psychol. p. 199), vid., the similar contrasted phrases לב שׂמח and רוּח נכאה, Proverbs 15:13. The ἄπ. λεγ. גּהה (here and there in Codd. incorrectly written גּיהה) has nothing to do with the Arab. jihat, which does not mean sight, but direction, and is formed from wjah (whence wajah, sight), like עדה, congregation, from ועד (יעד). The Syr., Targ. (perhaps also Symmachus: ἀγαθύνει ἡλικίαν; Jerome: aetatem floridam facit; Luther: makes the life lstig [cheerful]) translate it by body; but for this גּוה (גּויּה) is used, and that is a word of an entirely different root from גּהה. To what verb this refers is shown by Hosea 5:13 : ולא־יגהה מכּם מזור, and healed not for you her ulcerous wound. מזור is the compress, i.e., the bandage closing up the ulcer, then also the ulcer-wound itself; and גּהה is the contrary of עלה, e.g., Jeremiah 8:22; it means the removing of the bandage and the healing of the wound. This is confirmed by the Syr. gho, which in like manner is construed with min, and means to be delivered from something (vid., Bernstein's Lex. Syr. to Kirsch's Chrestomathie). The Aethiop. quadriliteral gâhgěh, to hinder, to cause to cease, corresponds to the causative Syr. agahish. Accordingly גּהה means to be in the condition of abatement, mitigation, healing; and גּהה (as synonym of כּהה, Nehemiah 3:19, with which Parchon combines it), levamen, levatio, in the sense of bodily healing (lxx εὐεκτεῖν ποιεῖ; Venet., after Kimchi, ἀγαθυνεῖ θεραπείαν); and היטיב גּהה (cf. Proverbs 15:2) denotes, to bring good improvement, to advance powerfully the recovery. Schultens compares the Arab. jahy, nitescere, disserenari, as Menahem has done ננהּ, but this word is one of the few words which are explained exclusively from the Syriac (and Aethiop.). גּרם (here and at Proverbs 25:15) is the word interchanging with עצם, Proverbs 15:30; Proverbs 16:24.