Proverbs 25:25
Faithful good news brings life-giving refreshment to a weary soul.
25 Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
Faithful good news brings life-giving refreshment to a weary soul.
To celebrate the life-giving encouragement that trustworthy good news brings to those who long to hear it.
Proverbs 25:25 follows Proverbs 25:24, which described the misery of living in a quarrelsome household. The contrast is striking. Verse 24 portrays domestic distress that makes one want to escape to a roof corner; verse 25 portrays news that refreshes the weary soul like cold water. The broader section has repeatedly used vivid comparisons to describe speech and relational effects: fitting words as gold in silver, a trustworthy messenger as snow-cooled refreshment, empty boasting as clouds without rain, false testimony as weapons, unfitting songs as painful aggravation, and now good news as cold water. Proverbs 25:25 continues the theme that words and reports are not neutral. They can burden, wound, mislead, or refresh.
In ancient Israel, news from a distant land could take days, weeks, or months to arrive through travelers, merchants, envoys, or messengers. Distance created uncertainty, especially when family, trade, war, diplomacy, exile, or harvest interests were involved. Cold water was deeply refreshing in a hot climate and to a weary traveler or laborer. Proverbs 25:25 joins these realities: true good news from far away revives the inner person like cold water revives the body.
Wisdom Before Kings: Hidden Matters, Fitting Words, Faithful Messengers, Enemies, Restraint, and Self-Control
Wisdom practices humble restraint before authority, speaks fitting and truthful words, preserves confidences, treats enemies with mercy, refuses compromise with wickedness, and guards the soul through self-control.