Proverbs 17:22
A joyful heart promoteth healing; but a broken spirit drieth up the bones.
Darby Translation
In The King James Version
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
In Context
21He that begetteth a fool [doeth it] to his sorrow, and the father of a vile [man] hath no joy.
23A wicked [man] taketh a gift out of the bosom, to pervert the paths of judgment.
Cross References
Psalms 22:15My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my palate; and thou hast laid me in the dust of death.
Psalms 102:3For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as a firebrand.
Proverbs 15:13A joyful heart maketh a cheerful countenance; but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
Ecclesiastes 2:2I said of laughter, Madness! and of mirth, What availeth it?
Romans 5:2by whom we have also access by faith into this favour in which we stand, and we boast in hope of the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 7:10For grief according to God works repentance to salvation, never to be regretted; but the grief of the world works death.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:22
21 He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy. This expresses that very emphatically which many wise and good men feel very sensibly, what a grievous vexatious thing it is to have a foolish wicked child. See here, 1. How uncertain all our creature-comforts are, so that we are often not only disappointed in them, but that proves the greatest cross in which we promised ourselves most satisfaction. There was joy when a man-child was born into the world, and yet, if he prove… Read the whole commentary →