Proverbs 10:20
in Proverbs 10The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver: The heart of the wicked is little worth.
KJV
The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.
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This verse in Proverbs 10
Commentary
5 notes on this verseWhen I read the Proverbs today, I began with this sentence: "The tongue of the righteous is tried silver." I said, If the tongue of the righteous is choice silver, the tongue of the wicked is most polluted. What is more choice or what is …
This site's exposition
The tongue of the just is as choice silver
on Proverbs 10:20-25
The cluster closes on the tongue's worth and the fool's danger: choice silver against a worthless heart, many fed by righteous lips while fools die for want of the wisdom no one gave them. The blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it answers the wealth-cluster of the chapter's opening from the other direction, gain that costs nothing further because it did not come from a slack or a grasping hand. The chapter turns from speech to outcome in its last two verses here, the wicked passing like a whirlwind while the righteous stands as an everlasting foundation, the fear that finally overtakes one and the desire that is finally granted to the other.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
The tongue of the just is as choice silver,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The heart of the wicked is little worth - כמעט kimat, is like little or nothing; or is like dross, while the tongue of the just is like silver. A sinner’s heart is worth nothing, and is good for nothing; and yet because it is his most hidden part, he vaunts of its honesty, goodness, etc.! Yes, yes; it is very honest and good, only the devil is in it! that is all.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The tongue, the instrument of the mind is contrasted with the heart or mind itself, the just with the wicked, the choice silver with the worthless “little,” the Hebrew word being possibly taken in its primary sense as a “filing” or “scraping” of dross or worthless metal. If the tongue is precious, how much more the mind! If the heart is worthless, how much more the speech!
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כֶּ֣סֶף | kesef | [is] silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| נִ֭בְחָר | nivchor | chosen | H977 → | 171 times |
| לְשׁ֣וֹן | leshon | [the] tongue of | H3956 → | 117 times |
| צַדִּ֑יק | tzadik | [the] righteous | H6662 → | 206 times |
| לֵ֖ב | lev | [the] heart of | H3820 → | 595 times |
| רְשָׁעִ֣ים | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| כִּמְעָֽט׃ | kimat | [is] like a little | H4592 → | 101 times |
כֶּ֣סֶף[is] silver
kesefH3701 →403 times
נִ֭בְחָרchosen
nivchorH977 →171 times
לְשׁ֣וֹן[the] tongue of
leshonH3956 →117 times
צַדִּ֑יק[the] righteous
tzadikH6662 →206 times
לֵ֖ב[the] heart of
levH3820 →595 times
רְשָׁעִ֣יםwicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
כִּמְעָֽט׃[is] like a little
kimatH4592 →101 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 17:9The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
it leads to
- Matthew 15:19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Mark 7:21–22
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Ecclesiastes 9:3
This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and…
- Proverbs 28:26
He who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.
- Hebrews 3:12
See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief that turns away from the living God.
- Matthew 15:19
Through
Proverbs 12:18Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
it leads to
- Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Proverbs 16:24
Through
Genesis 6:5Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great upon the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was altogether evil all the time.
it leads to
- Romans 1:28–31
Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
- Mark 7:21–23
For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,
- Romans 1:28–31
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Shenoute the Archimandrite, ON LANGUAGE.