Bible Strands
Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The text offers a general proverb without naming a specific speaker or audience. It directly follows a statement noting that the wise man’s heart instructs his mouth and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
The words — אִמְרֵי־ ('im.rei-) translates literally to "words of," and צוּף־ (tzuf-) means "[are] a honeycomb of." These terms establish the direct comparison between speech and a natural food source.
The thread — The restorative function of speech appears in Proverbs 12:18, which contrasts rash words with the tongue of the wise that brings healing. The imagery of sweetness and bodily health aligns with the instructions in Proverbs 24:13 and Proverbs 4:22.
Why it lands — The verse states that pleasant words operate like a honeycomb to sweeten the soul and heal the bones. It requires the reader to recognize speech as a concrete tool that produces measurable restoration rather than mere comfort.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 12:18 Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
- Proverbs 24:13 Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.
- Proverbs 4:22 For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
- Proverbs 25:11 A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
- Proverbs 23:16 My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
- Psalms 119:103 How sweet are Your words to my taste—sweeter than honey in my mouth!
- Proverbs 3:8 This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
- Proverbs 27:9 Oil and incense bring joy to the heart, and the counsel of a friend is sweetness to the soul.
- Psalms 19:10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
- Proverbs 15:26 The LORD detests the thoughts of the wicked, but the words of the pure are pleasant to Him.