The Hebrew noun geha (גְּהָה) means healing, cure, or medicine. It appears only once in the Old Testament (Proverbs 17:22) in the famous saying about a cheerful heart. The rarity of the word makes its context all the more memorable.
Though geha appears only once in Scripture, it encapsulates a profound biblical truth: joy is medicine. Proverbs 17:22 — 'A cheerful heart is good medicine (geha), but a crushed spirit dries up the bones' — anticipates modern psychosomatic medicine by millennia. The connection between spiritual health (joy/grief) and physical well-being is deeply embedded in biblical wisdom. For the Christian, this points to the Holy Spirit's fruit of joy (Galatians 5:22) as genuinely therapeutic — healing not just the soul but the whole person.