Proverbs 3:22

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

So they will be life to your soul, And grace for your neck.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Highlights

Septuagint runs longer here — compare

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לְגַרְגְּרֹתֶֽיךָ

gargᵉrôwth

H1621

“to/for · neck · your”

Preposition + Noun, Common, Feminine, Plural, Construct + Suffix, Personal, 2nd Person, Masculine, Singular

Appears 4× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Proverbs 1:9

Full BDB Definition

Origin: plural of H1641

TWOT: 386d

neck (always figuratively)

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

5: words
5: distinct lemmas
Wisdom: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is לְגַרְגְּרֹתֶֽיךָ neck H1621 — appearing just 4 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

לְגַרְגְּרֹתֶֽיךָ neck H1621 occurs in 4 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

1 verb
4 nouns

Verb forms

וְיִֽהְי֣וּ Qal · Imperfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 13 words from the Hebrew and 27 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — the Septuagint runs noticeably longer here. See the side-by-side →

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Proverbs 3:22 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Proverbs 4:22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to their whole body.
Proverbs 1:9 For they will be a garland to grace your head, And chains around your neck.
Isaiah 38:16 Lord, by these things men live; Wholly therein is the life of my spirit: You restore me, and cause me to live.
John 12:49–50 For I spoke not from myself, but the Father who sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

Here the Septuagint runs noticeably longer than the Hebrew — LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) 27 words vs World English Bible 13. A rough length comparison of the two English translations, not a word-level alignment — read both below.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Proverbs 3:22 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְיִֽהְי֣וּ חַיִּ֣ים לְנַפְשֶׁ֑ךָ וְ֝חֵ֗ן לְגַרְגְּרֹתֶֽיךָ

So they will be life to your soul, And grace for your neck.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Proverbs 3:22 Septuagint · lemma form

ἵνα ζάω ὁ ψυχή σύ καί χάρις εἰμί περί σός τράχηλος εἰμί δέ ἴασις ὁ σάρξ σύ καί ἐπιμέλεια ὁ σός ὀστέον

that your soul may live, and that there may be grace round your neck; and it shall be health to your flesh, and safety to your bones:

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Commentary

Notes on Proverbs 3:22 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Trapp's Complete Commentary

John Trapp

Pro 3:22 So shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck.

Ver. 22. So shall they be life unto thy soul.] For "by these men live, and this is the spirit of my life," saith Hezekiah; {Isa 38:16} even what God hath spoken and done. {Pro 3:15} A godly man differs from a wicked, as much as a living man from a dead carcass. The wicked are stark dead, and stone cold. The saints also want heat sometimes, but they are soon made hot again; because there is life of soul in them, as charcoal is quickly kindled, because it hath been in the fire.

And grace to thy neck.] Or, To thy throat; that is, to thy words uttered through the throat. {See Trapp on "Pro 1:9"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Or, throat, read Prov. 1:9.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown

assign reasons in their value for happiness and ornament, guidance and support in dangers, both when waking and sleeping.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

John Gill's Exposition

So shall they be life unto thy soul,.... Give it a better life than it naturally has, though immortal; Christ is both the spiritual and eternal life of the souls of those that look unto him by faith; and his Gospel, and the doctrines of it, are the means of reviving drooping saints, and of quickening them to the discharge of their duty; wherefore both he and they should be kept in continual view, and held fast;

and grace to thy neck; an ornament to that and to the whole man; how ornamental is Christ and his righteousness to a believer! how lovely is the person that is steady in his principles, and regular in his practices! who stands fast in the truths of the Gospel, and whose conversation is as becomes it! see Pro 1:9.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Mouth. There have been wise and virtuous men afflicted, ver. 11. But they have borne all with patience, and have merited a more glorious reward than what this earth could afford. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

Unto thy soul; either,

1. To thee or thy person. They shall prolong and perpetuate thy life, and make it life indeed, to wit, pleasant and happy; whereas a miserable life is reputed a kind of death, and is oft so called. Or, to thy soul, properly so called. They shall quicken, and delight, and save thy soul.

Grace to thy neck; like a beautiful chain or ornament about thy neck, as above, Pro 3:3; 1:9.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

22. Life unto thy soul — The verse may be rendered: Thus shall there be life (pl., intensive, great life) to “thy soul, and grace to thy neck.” They are both vital and ornamental.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Pulpit Commentary

So shall they he life to thy soul, and grace to thy neck. So shall they be (n"yikva); and they shall be. The "soul" and "neck" stand for the whole man in his twofold nature, internal and external. Life is in its highest and widest sense given to the soul, (see Pro_2:16, 18 4:22 8:35) and favour is conferred on the man, i.e. he becomes acceptable to his neighbours, if he has wisdom. The latter expression is very similar to Pro_1:9, where the same promise is expressed, "grace" (hon) being equivalent to "ornament of grace" (liv"yath hon). Others understand "grace to thy neck" (hon l"garg" grotheyka), as gratia guttturis, in the sense of "grace of the lips," as in Psa_45:3 and Pro_22:11, that is, as the grace of speaking, power of eloquent and effective utterance (Gejerus, Bayne, Lapide). It is better to take it as referring to the adornment of the personal character, and so by metonymy of the favour and kindness which it procures.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Grace - Like a beautiful chain or ornament.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

and they shall be life for your soul for it is a tree of life.

and grace for your neck For this is its praise that is mentioned above (1:9): “and a necklace for your neck.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Proverbs, in the Wisdom, opens this verse with 5 words (5 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is gargᵉrôwth (“neck”). The Greek Septuagint runs longer here. A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word gargᵉrôwth carries the sense “neck.” How does it shape the verse?
Proverbs 1:9 shares the word «neck» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
Compared with the Hebrew, the Septuagint runs longer here. What questions does that raise?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «וְיִֽהְי֣וּ» is Qal Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how Trapp's Complete Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

These translations choose different wording for 2 words in this verse.
5 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 5 words in this verse.