Proverbs 18:14

American Standard Version (1901)

The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; But a broken spirit who can bear?

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

רֽוּחַ־אִ֭ישׁ יְכַלְכֵּ֣ל מַחֲלֵ֑הוּ וְר֥וּחַ נְ֝כֵאָ֗ה מִ֣י יִשָּׂאֶֽנָּה׃

Transliteration

rûaḥ-ʾîš yəḵalkel maḥălēhû and-rûaḥ nəḵēʾāh who yiśśāʾennāh

Grammar Details

• *rûaḥ*: noun, feminine singular construct - spirit of
• *ʾîš*: noun, masculine singular - man/person
• *yəḵalkel*: verb, piel imperfect, 3rd masculine singular - sustains/supports/endures
• *maḥălēhû*: noun, masculine singular with 3rd masculine singular suffix - his sickness/illness
• *nəḵēʾāh*: verb, niphal participle, feminine singular - broken/wounded/stricken
• *yiśśāʾennāh*: verb, qal imperfect, 3rd masculine singular with 3rd feminine singular suffix - will lift it up/bear it

Word Meanings

• *rûaḥ*: spirit/disposition/mind/breath
• *yəḵalkel*: sustains/supports/endures/bears
• *maḥălēhû*: his sickness/his illness/his infirmity
• *nəḵēʾāh*: broken/wounded/stricken/crushed
• *yiśśāʾennāh*: will lift it up/bear it/endure it/carry it

Referenced Verses

• Prov 15:13 : 13 A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance; But by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
• Prov 17:22 : 22 A cheerful heart is a good medicine; But a broken spirit drieth up the bones.
• 2 Cor 12:9-9 : 9 And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for [my] power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
• Jas 1:2 : 2 Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations;
• 1 Pet 1:6 : 6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials,
• Ps 147:3 : 3 He healeth the broken in heart, And bindeth up their wounds.
• Mark 14:33-34 : 33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly amazed, and sore troubled. 34 And he saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death: abide ye here, and watch.
• Rom 5:3-5 : 3 And not only so, but we also rejoice in our tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh stedfastness; 4 and stedfastness, approvedness; and approvedness, hope: 5 and hope putteth not to shame; because the love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which was given unto us.
• Rom 8:35-37 : 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
• 2 Cor 1:12 : 12 For our glorifying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward.
• 2 Cor 2:7 : 7 so that contrariwise ye should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his overmuch sorrow.
• Job 1:20-21 : 20 Then Job arose, and rent his robe, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped; 21 and he said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah.
• Job 2:7-9 : 7 So Satan went forth from the presence of Jehovah, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. 8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself therewith; and he sat among the ashes. 9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still hold fast thine integrity? renounce God, and die. 10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
• Job 6:4 : 4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me, The poison whereof my spirit drinketh up: The terrors of God do set themselves in array against me.
• Job 7:14-15 : 14 Then thou scarest me with dreams, And terrifiest me through visions: 15 So that my soul chooseth strangling, And death rather than [these] my bones.
• Job 10:15-17 : 15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; And if I be righteous, yet shall I not lift up my head; Being filled with ignominy, And looking upon mine affliction. 16 And if [my head] exalt itself, thou huntest me as a lion; And again thou showest thyself marvellous upon me. 17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, And increasest thine indignation upon me: Changes and warfare are with me.
• Ps 30:9-9 : 9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth? 10 Hear, O Jehovah, and have mercy upon me: Jehovah, be thou my helper.
• Ps 32:3-4 : 3 When I kept silence, my bones wasted away Through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: My moisture was changed [as] with the drought of summer. {{Selah
• Ps 38:2-4 : 2 For thine arrows stick fast in me, And thy hand presseth me sore. 3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine indignation; Neither is there any health in my bones because of my sin. 4 For mine iniquities are gone over my head: As a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.
• Ps 42:10-11 : 10 As with a sword in my bones, mine adversaries reproach me, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? 11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; For I shall yet praise him, [Who is] the help of my countenance, and my God.
• Ps 55:3 : 3 Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they cast iniquity upon me, And in anger they persecute me.
• Ps 55:5 : 5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, And horror hath overwhelmed me.
• Ps 77:2-3 : 2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: My hand was stretched out in the night, and slacked not; My soul refused to be comforted. 3 I remember God, and am disquieted: I complain, and my spirit is overwhelmed. {{Selah
• Ps 88:14-16 : 14 Jehovah, why castest thou off my soul? Why hidest thou thy face from me? 15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up: While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted. 16 Thy fierce wrath is gone over me; Thy terrors have cut me off.
• Ps 109:22 : 22 For I am poor and needy, And my heart is wounded within me.