Proverbs 20:15
in Proverbs 20There is an abundance of gold and rubies, but lips of knowledge are a rare treasure.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
There is gold, and abundance of rubies; But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
KJV
There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
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This verse in Proverbs 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Do not love sleep, or you
on Proverbs 20:13-15
The chapter warns against wasted hours, "Do not love sleep, or you will grow poor," and answers open eyes with "plenty of food." Against gold and rubies the chapter sets lips of knowledge as "a rare treasure," valuing speech that instructs above wealth that only buys.
This site's exposition
lips of knowledge are a rare treasure
Gold and rubies are plentiful beside lips of knowledge. Speech that instructs is valued above wealth that only buys. The verse follows the haggling buyer of verse 14, whose lips served only his bargain.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Gold and a multitude of gems, etc. This is the boast of the wise buyer, who, as long as he buys, says that what happens to him is bad: but when someone has hurt or offended the saints of God, and has not refrained from …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
There is gold, and a multitude of rubies,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
There is gold - Gold is valuable, silver is valuable, and so are jewels; but the teachings of sound knowledge are more valuable than all.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
A precious jewel - literally, “A vessel of preciousness,” i. e., most precious of all are “the lips of knowledge.”
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
“It is bad, it is bad,” says the buyer If one acquires Torah through poverty and the pains of hunger, he says, “Woe is to me for this evil and for this trouble,” but when he goes away full of wisdom.. then he boasts about the pain he suffered.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יֵ֣שׁ | yesh | there | H3426 → | 140 times |
| זָ֭הָב | zaho | [is] gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| וְרָב־ | verov- | and abundance of | H7230 → | 149 times |
| פְּנִינִ֑ים | peninim | jewels | H6443 → | 6 times |
| וּכְלִ֥י | ukheli | and [are] an article of | H3627 → | |
| יְ֝קָ֗ר | yekar | preciousness | H3366 → | |
| שִׂפְתֵי־ | siftei- | lips of | H8193 → | 176 times |
| דָֽעַת׃ | daat | knowledge | H1847 → | 92 times |
יֵ֣שׁthere
yeshH3426 →140 times
זָ֭הָב[is] gold
zahoH2091 →389 times
וְרָב־and abundance of
verov-H7230 →149 times
פְּנִינִ֑יםjewels
peninimH6443 →6 times
וּכְלִ֥יand [are] an article of
ukheliH3627 →
יְ֝קָ֗רpreciousness
yekarH3366 →
שִׂפְתֵי־lips of
siftei-H8193 →176 times
דָֽעַת׃knowledge
daatH1847 →92 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
Proverbs 16:24Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
it leads to
- Proverbs 12:18
Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
- Proverbs 24:13–14
Eat honey, my son, for it is good, and the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.
- Proverbs 4:22
For they are life to those who find them, and health to the whole body.
- Proverbs 25:11–12
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.
- Proverbs 23:16
My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
- Proverbs 12:18
Through
Proverbs 16:16How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To gain understanding is more desirable than silver.
it leads to
- Matthew 16:26
What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?
- Proverbs 8:10–11
Receive my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
- Proverbs 8:19
My fruit is better than gold, pure gold, and my harvest surpasses choice silver.
- Matthew 16:26
Where this verse is studied
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); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.