Proverbs 16:24

Cited in 3 topics on this site.

Translations sourced from the public-domain WEB, KJV, and ASV. See all sources.

“Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”

— WEB

“Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”

— KJV

“Pleasant words are [as] a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”

— ASV

Cross-references

Related verses via the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

Proverbs 12:18 "There is one who speaks rashly like the piercing of a sword, but the tongue of the wise heals."
Proverbs 24:13-14 "My son, eat honey, for it is good; the droppings of the honeycomb, which are sweet to your taste:"
Proverbs 25:11-12 "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver."
Proverbs 4:22 "For they are life to those who find them, and health to their whole body."
Proverbs 23:16 "yes, my heart will rejoice, when your lips speak what is right."
Proverbs 3:8 "It will be health to your body, and nourishment to your bones."
Psalms 119:103 "How sweet are your promises to my taste, more than honey to my mouth!"
Proverbs 27:9 "Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart; so does earnest counsel from a man’s friend."

Commentary

The pleasant words here commended must be those which the heart of the wise teaches, and adds learning to (Pro 16:23), words of seasonable advice, instruction, and comfort, words taken from God's word, for that is it which Solomon had learned from his father to account sweeter than honey and the honey-comb, Psa 19:10. These words, to those that know how to relish them, 1. Are pleasant. They are like the honey-comb, sweet to the soul, which tastes in them that the Lord is gracious; nothing more grateful and agreeable to the new man than the word of God, and those words which are borrowed from it, Psa 119:103. 2. They are wholesome. Many things are pleasant that are not profitable, but these pleasant words are health to the bones, to the inward man, as well as sweet to the soul. They make the bones, which sin has broken and put out of joint, to rejoice. The bones are the strength of the body; and the good word of God is a means of spiritual strength, curing the diseases that weaken us.

— Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary (public domain)

(Compare Pro 15:26). Gentle, kind words, by soothing the mind, give the body health.

— Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary (public domain)

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