A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
Parallel translations
- WEB The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.
- KJV A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.
- NKJV A sound heart is life to the body, But envy is rottenness to the bones.
- NASB A tranquil heart is life to the body, But jealousy is rottenness to the bones.
- NLT A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A peaceful heart gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones. Inner contentment promotes well-being; envy corrodes it.
Overview
This proverb links the state of the heart to bodily health, noting that tranquility brings life while envy is a wasting corrosion within. It recognizes the profound connection between our inner disposition and our whole being. The peace it commends is most fully found in Christ, who gives a peace the world cannot give (John 14:27).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 17:22A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
- Prov 4:23Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
- Prov 3:8This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
- Job 5:2For resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.
- Prov 12:4A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but she who causes shame is like decay in his bones.
- Rom 1:29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They are gossips,
- 2 Tim 1:7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control.
- Ps 112:10The wicked man will see and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and waste away; the desires of the wicked will perish.
- Ps 119:80May my heart be blameless in Your statutes, that I may not be put to shame.
- Jas 4:5Or do you think the Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us yearns with envy?
- Acts 7:9Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 14:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.