Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart makes good medicine, 2 but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. 1
One Unity Resource Bible
In The King James Version
A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
In Context
21He who becomes the father of a fool grieves. 2 The father of a fool has no joy. 1
23A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, 2 to pervert the ways of mishpat ·justice·. 1
Cross References
Psalms 22:15My strength is dried up like a potsherd. 2 + 22:15 b MP: Messiah will thirst. (See also Ps 69:21a, 69:21b). (Matt 27:48; John 19:28-29) My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. 1 You have brought me into the dust of death. 1
Psalms 102:3For my days consume away like smoke. 2 My bones are burned as a torch. 1
Proverbs 15:13A glad heart makes a cheerful face; 2 but an aching heart breaks the spirit. 1
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 →