Proverbs 4:22

Pro 4:22 For they [are] life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

Ver. 22. For they are life.] {See Trapp on "Pro 3:22"} {See Trapp on "Pro 3:16"}

And health unto all their flesh] Sin is the cause of sickness. {1Co 11:20} "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." {Joh 5:14} But "the joy of the Lord is a man’s strength"; {Neh 8:10} and such "a merry heart doeth good, like a medicine." {Pro 17:22} As sin is a universal sickness, {Isa 1:5-6} like those diseases wherein physicians say are corruptio totius substantiae, a corruption of the whole substance, as the heretic, &c.; so grace is a Catholicon, a general cure, like the herb Panace, whdch is said to be good for all diseases; whence also, saith Pliny, it hath its name. {a}

{a} A παν et ακεω.

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.

4:22 Life and healing are rewards for following the wise instructions of the father (see 4:10).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

That is, they shall have health of body: under the which all other blessings promised in the law are contained.

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

health . . . flesh--by preserving from vices destructive of health.

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

(22) For they are life . . .—Comp. 1Ti_4:8, “Godliness is profitable unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, (the highest happiness that man can attain to now, peace of mind,) and of that which is to come,” the assurance of a joyful resurrection.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Ninth Address. Chap. 4. Pro_4:20-27

22. their flesh] Lit. his flesh, i.e. the flesh of every one of them. This individualising the teaching, by a sudden change from the plural to the singular number occurs again, Pro_3:18.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For they are life unto those that find them,.... The words or doctrines of Christ, whose type Solomon was, are to be found in the field of the Scriptures, by diligent searching for them; and being found, they are the means of spiritual life, and of maintaining it, and of showing the way, and bringing unto eternal life; see Joh 6:63;

and health to all their flesh; the whole man, soul and body, as they are the means of preserving the body from many diseases, which intemperance, lust, and luxury, lead unto, and are curbed by these; so of healing the various diseases of the soul; and, however, of directing to a panacea for them, to the blood of Christ, which is the true balm of Gilead, and he the physician of souls. Moreover, the doctrines of the Gospel are the wholesome words of our Lord Jesus; they are sound, salutary, and healthful, and serve to keep the soul in good plight, and the body too. The Septuagint render it, "to all flesh": that is, to all men; but this is not true in fact; for to some the Gospel of Christ, through contempt and rejection of it, is the savour of death unto death.

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

Health - See the Pro 3:8 note.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Flesh. All may derive benefit from their consideration. (Haydock)

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).

22. They are life — The pure words of the instructor are healthful and life-giving; a healing medicine for all the woes which flesh is heir to. Compare Pro_3:8, and Pro_3:2; Pro_3:16; Pro_4:13.

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

They are life; i.e. they bring life (khayyim; the plural, as usual). Unto those that find them; i.e. to those who by effort get possession of and procure them; the verb matsa, to find, embodying the idea of activity. Health; mar"pe, derived from the root rapha, "to heal", (like riph"uth of Pro_3:8, which see) and hence rather "the means of health" than "health," "healing," or, as margin, "medicine," "that which restores to health;" LXX, iasiv ; Vulgate, sanitas. The moral condition is regarded as enfeebled by sickness, from which it may be restored to health and soundness by the words of wisdom. The effect of these, however, is not only to restore to health, but to maintain in health. Their tendency is to promote "a sound mind in a sound body." To their flesh; literally, to his flesh; the singular, b"saro , being used instead of the plural, which we should have expected, because what is said applies to each one of those who receive the precepts of wisdom. The all implies the completeness of the restoration; it is not confined to one part, but pervades the whole body.

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

my words are life

The writer speaks of his words preserving a person's life as if they were that person's life. AT: "my words give life" or "the things I say give life" (See: Metonymy)

to those who find them

The writer speaks of fully understanding his words as if the person searches for them and finds them. AT: "to those who understand and practice them" (See: Metaphor)

health to their whole body

The word "their" refers to "those who find them." The subject for this phrase can be supplied from the previous phrase. AT: "my words will give health to the whole body of those who find them" (See: Ellipsis)

Keep your heart safe and guard it

Here the word "heart" represents a person's mind and thoughts. AT: "Keep your mind safe and guard your thoughts" (See: Metonymy)

with all diligence

with constant and earnest effort

from it flow the springs of life

The word "it" refers to the heart, which is a metonym for the mind and thoughts. The writer speaks of a person's life as if it were a flowing spring that originates from the heart. AT: "from your thoughts comes everything you say and do" or "your thoughts determine your course of life" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)

translationWords

word

life

heart

fountain

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

for those who find them Heb. למצאיהם, an expression of finding.

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.