A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
Parallel translations
- WEB A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit.
- BSB A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.
- NKJV A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But perverseness in it breaks the spirit.
- NASB A soothing tongue is a tree of life, But perversion in it crushes the spirit.
- NLT Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
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
Gentle, healing speech is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. Words give life or do deep harm.
Overview
This proverb pictures wholesome, soothing words as life-giving, like the tree of life, while perverse speech breaks the spirit. It underscores the immense power of the tongue for good or ill. The healing word reflects the ministry of Christ, whose words bring life and restoration to the weary (Matthew 11:28-29).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Prov 16:24Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
- Prov 12:18There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health.
- Prov 18:8The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
- Prov 3:18She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
- Mal 4:2But 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.
- Prov 18:14The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
- Rev 2:7He 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.
- Ps 109:22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.
- Ps 52:2–4Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
- Prov 26:22The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
- 1 Tim 6:3If 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;
- Gen 3:22–24And 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:
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 15:4 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.