Orthodox Icons are not drawings or creations of imagination. They are in fact writings of things not of this world. Icons can represent our Lord Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the Saints. They can also represent the Holy Trinity, Angels, the Heavenly hosts, and even events. Orthodox icons, unlike Western pictures, change the perspective and form of the image so that it is not naturalistic. This is done so that we can look beyond appearances of the world, and instead look to the spiritual truth of the holy person or event. (Source )
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“A gentle tongue is a tree of life”: “A gentle tongue” is literally “a healing tongue.” The thought expressed here is essentially the same as “a soft answer” in verse 1. The sense is “kind or comforting words.” “A tree of life”, first used in 3.18, may be expressed as a simile, “like a tree that gives life” or, as in Good News Translation, “. . . bring life.” Bible en français courant says “. . . is a source of life.”
“But perverseness in it breaks the spirit”: “Perverseness” renders a word meaning “twisted” or “crooked,” as in 11.3 where “crookedness” is used. Something that is twisted is untrue or false. “Perverseness” parallels and contrasts the “gentle tongue”, not the “tree of life”. In other words false speech or lying “breaks the spirit”, an expression that means “causes despair” or “leads to ruin.” Contemporary English Version translates “Kind words are good medicine, but deceitful words can really hurt.” See Good News Translation also.
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Proverbs 15:4:
Kupsabiny: “The words of a humble/gentle person makes people happy, but those of an arrogant person break down the stomach (causes loss of hope).” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
Newari: “A good word gives life and health, but a cruel word wounds the heart.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “A gentle words can-make- the life of a man -good, but a hurtful words can-cause- his heart -hurt.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
Kankanaey: “The gentle/quiet word, it-can-be-compared to a tree that gives life, but the crafty/tricky word, it extremely-much causes-sorrow/causes-hurt-feelings (lit. causes- the thoughts -to-be-painful).” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
English: “Those who speak kindly to people are like trees whose fruit gives life; speaking what is false causes people to despair/feel very discouraged.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:
4a A soothing tongueis a tree of life,
4b but a perverse tonguecrushes the spirit.
As in 15:2, the “tongue” is a figure of speech (metonymy). It represents the words that a person speaks.
15:4a
A soothing tongue: There are different ways to interpret the Hebrew word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as soothing :
(1) The Hebrew word means “healing” or “remedy.” This phrase refers to words that have a healing/soothing effect. For example:
A soothing word is a tree of life (Revised English Bible)
(2) The Hebrew word means “calm/gentle.” This phrase refers to gentle, calm words. For example:
A gentle tongue is a tree of life (Revised Standard Version)
It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) or a combination of both interpretations. The Hebrew word most frequently means “healing.” That is clearly the meaning in the similar statement in 12:18b as well as in 4:22b.
However, it is also clear that the type of words that soothe another person are gentle or kind words. These two meanings do not conflict with one another. So you may be able to include both interpretations in your translation. For example:
Kind words that restore a person’s mind are a tree that gives life
In some languages, it may be necessary to make explicit what is healed by A soothing tongue, that is, by words that soothe another person. It may also be necessary to express the idea of emotional healing in different terms. For example:
Words that comfort/restore a person
-or-
Speech that encourages/strengthens a person’s thoughts/heart
is a tree of life: A “soothing tongue” is similar to a tree of life in that both give renewed vigor and health. Soothing words give renewed vigor and health to a person’s mind/heart. Similarly, a tree whose fruit gives life gives renewed vigor and health to a person’s body.
If a literal translation of this metaphor is not clear in your language, some other ways to translate it are:
• Change the metaphor to a simile. For example:
Speech that heals is like a life-giving tree (NET Bible)
• Change the metaphor to a simile and make explicit some of the implied information. For example:
Gentle words heal/soothe ⌊a person’s painful thoughts⌋ just as a tree that gives life ⌊strengthens a person’s body⌋
• Translate the meaning without using a figure of speech. For example:
Healing words bring life
A tree of life is a metaphor that occurs several times in Proverbs. It also occurs elsewhere in Scripture. So you are encouraged to keep the figure of speech if possible. Other verses where this metaphor occurs are 3:18, 11:30, and 13:12. In each of these verses, the topic of the metaphor is different.
15:4b
but a perverse tongue: The phrase that the Berean Standard Bible translates as a perverse tongue comes from a word that means “twisted” or “crooked.” In 11:3b, the Berean Standard Bible translates it as “perversity.” It refers to saying things that are untrue or that deceive others.
crushes the spirit: The word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as crushes is literally “fractures” or “breaks” (like a bone or a jar). To break a person’s spirit means to destroy someone’s morale. This causes them severe inner pain or causes them to be discouraged and in despair.
General Comment on 15:4a–b
This proverb implies that soothing words can heal the pain caused by a person who tells lies. Pain logically precedes healing. So in some languages, it may be more natural to change the order of 15:4a and 15:4b. For example:
4b If someone tells a lie and deceives his fellow man, he will cause him extreme ⌊mental/emotional⌋ pain,
4a but if you speak to him gently, your words will heal his pain. It will be ⌊as if you have given him fruit from⌋ the tree that gives life.
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