Tafsiran yang Mengutip untuk Amsal 15:4

מרפא לשון עץ חיים וסלף בה שבר ברוח, “a healing tongue is a tree of life, but a crooked one causes a broken spirit.” (Proverbs 15,4).

In this verse Solomon informed us of the tremendous usefulness of the power of speech. The tongue, i.e. the words spoken by the tongue, are the remedy capable of healing the mentally sick and depressed. Curing a sick mind by means of the right words is a greater medical achievement than curing by means of organic or inorganic medicines. Whenever one employs external agents it is doubtful if they will accomplish their purpose. Even when these medicines remove the disease or sickness they do not add to one’s life span. Using one’s power of speech to effect a cure does not result in a doubtful cure but its effect is usually prompt and beyond question. Such a cure has the potential of increasing the patient’s life span. It is like a tree of life to which life is attached.
If one uses the power of speech in a negative way, i.e. one abuses this power, the result is a broken spirit. Just as a cure effected by judicious use of the power of words is the most effective cure, so malicious use of the power of words is apt to inflict deeper psychological harm on a person than any other cause of disease or sickness. This is why our sages said (Baba Metzia 59) that if someone publicly shames another person he forfeits his entitlement to life in the hereafter.

“Yitro heard” [18:1]. King Solomon said: “a healing tongue is a tree of life” [Proverbs, 15:4]. That is to say, the tongue is a great remedy for the soul when it is sinful. The tongue makes healing words for the soul. A sickness for the soul is the sin that he does not properly believe in the Holy One with his whole heart. With his tongue he can heal the soul, with that which he speaks with his tongue, how the Holy One is a God over all gods and a truthful God. He repays each one his proper reward, as we find concerning Abraham our Patriarch. Our sages say that a beautiful pearl hung from Abraham’s throat. Every sick person who looked at it was healed. When Abraham died, he hung the pearl on the sun in heaven. That is to say, the sages alluded to a pearl that hangs on the throat. That is to say, good words that come out of his throat, like a beautiful pearl. This was where Abraham spoke to the people that they should convert and he brought them to worship the Holy One with truth. When Abraham died, he did not leave anyone behind who could convince the people to convert. Thus, he hung the pearl on the sun in heaven. That is, when the people will know that there is one God in heaven. One can understand this from the sun, which always rises in the east and sets in the west. Thus, there must be a God who always guides the sun. Similarly, the good words from the tongue of Moses that he persuaded Yitro that he should convert. He told Yitro all the signs that the Holy One had done for Israel and as a result, Yitro converted. Concerning this, the verse says here, “Yitro heard all that God had done for Israel” [18:1]. Yitro heard all the signs and wonders that the Holy One had done for Israel and therefore he converted.¹Bahya, Exodus, Yitro Introduction.