New English Translation
Proverbs 10:20
20What the righteous say is like the best silver, but what the wicked think is of little value.
Proverbs 10:20 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.
- New International Version (NIV)The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.
- English Standard Version (ESV)The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
- New King James Version (NKJV)The tongue of the righteous is choice silver; The heart of the wicked is worth little.
Context of Proverbs 10:20
18The one who conceals hatred utters lies, and the one who spreads slander is certainly a fool. 19When words abound, transgression is inevitable, but the one who restrains his words is wise. What the righteous say is like the best silver, but what the wicked think is of little value. 21The teaching of the righteous feeds many, but fools die for lack of wisdom. 22The blessing from the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow to it.
Read all of Proverbs 10Proverbs 10:20 word by word
כֶּ֣סֶף נִ֭בְחָר לְשׁ֣וֹן צַדִּ֑יק לֵ֖ב רְשָׁעִ֣ים כִּמְעָֽט׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 10:20
- Proverbs 12:18Speaking recklessly is like the thrusts of a sword, but the words of the wise bring healing.
- Proverbs 15:4Speech that heals is like a life-giving tree, but a perverse tongue breaks the spirit.
- Proverbs 16:13The delight of kings is righteous counsel, and they love the one who speaks uprightly.
- Proverbs 25:11Like apples of gold in settings of silver, so is a word skillfully spoken.
- Matthew 12:35The good person brings good things out of his good treasury, and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury.
- Proverbs 23:7for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you;
- Genesis 6:5But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the time.
- Genesis 8:21And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.
- Jeremiah 17:9The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably bad. Who can understand it?
- Matthew 12:34Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart.
Commentaries on Proverbs 10:20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 20The 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.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 20The 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!Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 20-21Verses 20-21 The tongue of the just is sincere, freed from the dross of guile and evil design. Pious discourse is spiritual food to the needy. Fools die for want of a heart, so the word is; for want of thought.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 20Words express what is in the heart.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2020. Right speech is the fruit of a good heart, but the wicked show theirs to be useless.Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 10:20
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 10
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries