Commentary - Proverbs 10:20

Bird's-eye view

This proverb sets up a sharp antithesis, a common feature in this section of Proverbs, contrasting two things that are profoundly connected: the speech of the righteous and the heart of the wicked. At first glance, it seems to be comparing apples and oranges, a tongue and a heart. But the genius of the proverb is in what it forces us to infer. If the tongue of the righteous is valuable, what is his heart like? And if the heart of the wicked is worthless, what must his speech be like? The proverb is a lesson in spiritual economics. It teaches us that true value and worthlessness are not determined by external appearances or material wealth, but by the internal state of a man's heart, which is inevitably revealed by what comes out of his mouth. It is a diagnosis of two spiritual conditions, one rich toward God and the other utterly bankrupt.

The central theme is the biblical principle that speech is the overflow of the heart. Jesus makes this explicit in the New Testament, but the principle is woven throughout the wisdom literature. Words have weight and value, or they are light and worthless, precisely because the heart from which they spring is either a treasury of God's grace or a barren wasteland of sin. This proverb, then, is not just about polite speech; it is about the fundamental character of a man, revealed in the currency he dispenses in conversation.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

Proverbs 10 marks a significant shift in the book. The first nine chapters consist of longer, thematic discourses, primarily a father's extended exhortations to his son, personifying wisdom and folly as two women. But when we arrive at chapter 10, the style changes to the short, pithy, two-clause parallelisms that characterize the bulk of the book. Chapter 10, verse 1 tells us these are "The proverbs of Solomon." This section, running through 22:16, is largely composed of antithetical parallelism, where the second line contrasts with the first. Our verse, 10:20, is a perfect example of this structure. It sits within a collection of couplets that repeatedly draw a sharp line between the righteous and the wicked, the wise and the foolish, the diligent and the lazy. The context is a drumbeat of contrasts, forcing the reader to choose a side. You are either building your life on the rock of God's wisdom, or on the sand of your own folly, and the results will be as different as silver and dust.

Key Issues

The Mint of the Heart

The Lord Jesus taught us that the mouth is simply the overflow valve for the heart. "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh" (Luke 6:45). This proverb in front of us is teaching the very same principle, but it invites us to connect the dots ourselves. It compares the righteous man's tongue to the wicked man's heart.

What this does is establish an implicit comparison between the righteous man's heart and the wicked man's heart, and the righteous man's tongue and the wicked man's tongue. If the words of the just are like choice silver, it is because his heart is a deep silver mine. The words are valuable because the source is valuable. Conversely, if the heart of the wicked is worth little, then the shaft that is his throat will bring forth nothing but worthless gravel. The proverb is a spiritual assay. It tells you how to test the metal of a man's character. You don't need to be a geologist with a rock hammer; you just need to listen to him talk for five minutes.

Verse by Verse Commentary

20a The tongue of the righteous is as choice silver,

The first clause establishes the immense value of a righteous person's speech. The image is that of refined, high-quality silver. In the ancient world, this was not just a pretty metaphor; silver was a standard of wealth, a medium of exchange, a store of real value. To say a man's tongue is like choice silver is to say his words are weighty, pure, and beneficial. They enrich the hearer. They are not cheap, inflated currency. They are not counterfeit. They have substance.

But where does this value come from? It does not come from eloquence, or a silver tongue in the worldly sense. It comes from the fact that the man is righteous. And in the Bible, righteousness is not a self-generated quality. It is a gift from God, received by faith. A righteous man is one who is in a right relationship with God through the covenant. Because his heart has been transformed by grace, it has become a treasury of good things. His words are silver because they are minted in a heart that fears God and loves wisdom. His speech builds up, gives grace to the hearers, speaks truth, and brings life because he is drawing from the inexhaustible wealth of God's own character, which has been imputed and imparted to him.

20b The heart of the wicked is worth little.

The contrast is stark and absolute. While the righteous man's speech is precious, the wicked man's very heart, his core identity, is worthless. The Hebrew for "worth little" can be translated as "like refuse" or "next to nothing." It is not just that his heart is of a lower grade than the righteous man's; it is in a different category altogether. It is spiritually bankrupt. It is a hollowed-out thing.

This is the Bible's assessment of the natural man, apart from the grace of God. The heart, which should be the wellspring of life, is instead a source of corruption (Jer. 17:9). It is the command center for a life lived in rebellion against God. No matter how impressive the wicked man may appear on the outside, no matter his worldly accomplishments, God's evaluation cuts right to the center of him and declares him to be a spiritual zero. And if his heart is worthless, what does that tell us about his words? They may be clever, charming, or persuasive, but they are ultimately hollow. They are the currency of a doomed kingdom, worthless on the exchanges of Heaven. They are lies, flatteries, and vanities drawn from a bankrupt account.

Application

This proverb forces us to perform a self-examination, and the diagnostic tool it gives us is our own tongue. What kind of currency are you spending in your daily conversations? When you speak to your wife, your children, your coworkers, are you dispensing choice silver or worthless gravel? Are your words building up, enriching, and reflecting the truth and grace of God? Or are they tearing down, cheapening, and spreading the poison of a corrupt heart?

Remember, the problem is never fundamentally with the tongue. The tongue is just a bucket that brings up whatever is in the well of the heart. If you find that your speech is consistently critical, foolish, dishonest, or unkind, the solution is not to slap a filter over your mouth. The solution is a new heart. This proverb drives us to the foot of the cross, because it shows us our natural bankruptcy. Our hearts are, by nature, "worth little." We have nothing of value to offer God.

The glorious news of the gospel is that Christ offers us a great exchange. He takes our worthless, stony hearts and gives us new hearts of flesh (Ezek. 36:26). He takes our spiritual bankruptcy and credits our account with His infinite righteousness. When we are united to Christ by faith, His Spirit begins the work of filling our hearts, the new treasury, with the true riches of wisdom, grace, and love. Only then can our tongues begin to mint the choice silver of righteous speech, to the glory of God and the enrichment of our neighbor.