4 A comforting tongue is a tree of life, but a twisted tongue is a crushing of the spirit.
She is a tree of life to all who take her in their hands, and happy is everyone who keeps her.
There are some whose uncontrolled talk is like the wounds of a sword, but the tongue of the wise makes one well again.
And the Lord God said, Now the man has become like one of us, having knowledge of good and evil; and now if he puts out his hand and takes of the fruit of the tree of life, he will go on living for ever. So the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to be a worker on the earth from which he was taken. So he sent the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden he put winged ones and a flaming sword turning every way to keep the way to the tree of life.
Purposing destruction, using deceit; your tongue is like a sharp blade. You have more love for evil than for good, for deceit than for works of righteousness. (Selah.) Destruction is in all your words, O false tongue.
The words of one who says evil of his neighbour secretly are like sweet food, and go down into the inner parts of the stomach.
The spirit of a man will be his support when he is ill; but how may a broken spirit be lifted up?
If any man gives different teaching, not in agreement with the true words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the teaching which is in agreement with true religion,
The words of one who says evil of his neighbour secretly are like sweet food, they go down into the inner parts of the stomach.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Proverbs 15
Commentary on Proverbs 15 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
We take these verses together as forming a group which begins with a proverb regarding the good and evil which flows from the tongue, and closes with a proverb regarding the treasure in which blessing is found, and that in which no blessing is found.
Proverbs 15:1
1 A soft answer turneth away wrath,
And a bitter word stirreth up anger.
In the second line, the common word for anger ( אף , from the breathing with the nostrils, Proverbs 14:17) is purposely placed, but in the first, that which denotes anger in the highest degree ( חמה from יחם , cogn. חמם , Arab. hamiya , to glow, like שׁנה from ישׁן ): a mild, gentle word turns away the heat of anger ( excandescentiam ), puts it back, cf. Proverbs 25:15. The Dagesh in רּך follows the rule of the דחיק , i.e. , of the close connection of a word terminating with the accented eh, aah, ah with the following word ( Michlol 63b). The same is the meaning of the Latin proverb:
Frangitur ira gravis
Quando est responsio suavis