Limitless Word
For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.
Proverbs 4:22 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB For they are life to those who find them, and health to their whole body.
  • KJV For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.
  • BSB For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
  • NASB For they are life to those who find them, And healing to all their body.
  • NLT for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.

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

These words are life and health to those who find them. God's wisdom brings wholeness to the whole person.

Overview

The teacher promises that his words bring life to those who find them and healing to the body, a holistic well-being rooted in wisdom. While not a guarantee of perfect health, it affirms that godly living tends toward flourishing. The fullness of this life and healing is found in Christ, by whose wounds we are healed (Isa 53:5; 1 Pet 2:24).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • Prov 12:18There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals.
  • Jer 33:6‘Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them; and I will reveal to them abundance of peace and truth.
  • Prov 4:10Listen, my son, and receive my sayings. The years of your life will be many.
  • Prov 3:8It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones.
  • Prov 4:4He taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words. Keep my commandments, and live.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 4:22YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 4:22 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.