4 A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.
4 A wholesome H4832 tongue H3956 is a tree H6086 of life: H2416 but perverseness H5558 therein is a breach H7667 in the spirit. H7307
4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life; But perverseness therein is a breaking of the spirit.
4 A healed tongue `is' a tree of life, And perverseness in it -- a breach in the spirit.
4 Gentleness of tongue is a tree of life; but crookedness therein is a breaking of the spirit.
4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, But deceit in it crushes the spirit.
4 A comforting tongue is a tree of life, but a twisted tongue is a crushing of the spirit.
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
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