Proverbs 10:20

Proverbs 10:20, in plain English

Words from a righteous person are valuable and refined, like pure silver, while the thoughts and intentions of wicked people have almost no value.

Why it's here

Solomon is using an economic metaphor his audience understood. Silver had actual worth; you could trade it for something real. He's saying that righteous speech carries genuine value and carries weight, while wicked people's inner lives are essentially worthless—bankrupt morally and spiritually.

Who's speaking

Solomon, contrasting the worth of different kinds of character and speech.

Where it sits in the story

This closing verse of the first section of Proverbs 10 brings everything back to the fundamental principle: character determines value. It points forward to how God evaluates people not by external appearance but by the heart, and how our words reflect what we truly are.

The scholarly reading

The righteous person's speech possesses the refined value of precious metal, while the wicked person's inner character proves fundamentally worthless.

Language and setting

The image l'šôn ṣaddîq kesep niḥār, 'tongue of the righteous is choice silver,' employs metallurgical language: refined silver represents perfected value, carefully purified. The righteous person's speech has been tested and refined, thus precious. The counterpoint—'heart of the wicked has little worth' (lēb rāšā' k'mə'at)—localizes worthlessness at the core: their fundamental character possesses negligible value regardless of external accomplishment. The contrast between 'tongue' and 'heart' creates asymmetry: the righteous's speech is precious precisely because it flows from their refined inner nature.

Voice

Solomon, who understood language as the truest expression of character and value.

Significance

This verse concludes the chapter by returning to the theme of character generating consequences: the righteous's refinement produces precious utterance, while the wicked's corruption produces worthless inner substance. It anticipates 1 Peter 3:3-4's contrast between external beauty and 'the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.'

18The one who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.

19When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.

20The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.

21The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of judgment.

22The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.

Read all of Proverbs 10 — The collection proper begins. Paired contrasts — wise and foolish, righteous and wicked, diligent and lazy — packed into single verses.