Proverbs 17:22
“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Part of the collected sayings of Solomon, this proverb belongs to a cluster of observations about the heart, the tongue, and their effects on daily well-being.
What Does Proverbs 17:22 Mean?
Proverbs 17:22 says that inner joy works like medicine on the whole person, while a crushed spirit drains a person dry from the inside out. The proverb draws a vivid contrast between two inward conditions and their physical effects. A "merry heart" -- a glad, hopeful inner life -- promotes healing and vitality, while a "broken spirit" withers a person until even the bones, the body's framework of strength, feel parched and lifeless.
Ancient wisdom here anticipates what is now widely observed: the state of the heart shapes the health of the body. Joy is not treated as a trivial mood but as a genuine restorative force, and discouragement as a real wasting agent. The verse does not promise that the cheerful never suffer; rather, it teaches that cultivating gladness is one of the ways God built us to be sustained through life. This invites a gentle responsibility -- to guard against the slow erosion of bitterness and despair, and to nourish gratitude, hope, and the kind of trust that produces deep gladness. It also calls us to tend others' spirits, since a kind word can be medicine to a fainting heart.
In the Original Language
The "merry heart" is "lev sameach" -- a glad inner self. "Medicine" translates "gehah," a healing or cure, and "broken spirit" is "ruach nekheah," a stricken or crushed inner being.
Cross References
Application
Tend your inner life as carefully as your body -- nourish gratitude and hope, and bring cheer to those whose spirits are weighed down.