Commentary - Proverbs 17:20

Bird's-eye view

This proverb presents a tight, causal relationship between a man's internal character and his external results. It is a foundational statement of biblical anthropology and ethics, neatly divided into two parallel clauses. The first deals with the heart, the internal fountain of all a man's thoughts and desires. A "crooked heart" is one that is twisted, distorted, and not aligned with God's created order. Such a man, the proverb says, "finds no good." This is not a statement about luck, but about spiritual reality. His distorted internal state prevents him from recognizing, receiving, or producing genuine good. The second clause mirrors the first, moving from the heart to the tongue, which is the heart's primary ambassador. The one with a "perverted tongue", a tongue that twists the truth, deceives, and manipulates, will inevitably fall into "evil" or calamity. The proverb teaches that our destiny is not a matter of chance, but a direct harvest of what we are in our hearts and what we say with our mouths. It is a clear illustration of the biblical principle that we reap what we sow.

At its core, this is a gospel text hidden in the wisdom literature. It describes the natural state of fallen man. Apart from Christ, every heart is crooked, and every tongue is prone to perversion. The "good" we cannot find is fellowship with God, and the "evil" we fall into is the just consequence of our rebellion. The proverb diagnoses the disease with stark clarity, pointing us to the only possible cure: a new heart and a renewed mind, which only God can provide through the finished work of His Son. Therefore, this is not merely moralistic advice, but a deep statement about our desperate need for redemption.

Outline

Context In Proverbs

Proverbs 17 is situated in the larger collection of "the Proverbs of Solomon" (Prov 10:1-22:16). This section of the book is characterized by short, antithetical couplets that contrast the way of the wise with the way of the fool. Verse 20 fits perfectly within this structure. It follows verses that discuss the joy of a wise son and the grief of a foolish one (v. 21, 25), the danger of strife (v. 19), and the value of a cheerful heart (v. 22). The immediate context highlights the interplay between internal disposition (heart, spirit) and external consequences (joy, sorrow, good, evil). This verse provides the dark counterpart to the surrounding wisdom. If a cheerful heart is good medicine (v. 22), a crooked heart is a spiritual poison that guarantees a man will find no good. It serves as a stark warning about the foundational importance of heart integrity, a theme that runs through the entire book of Proverbs.

Key Issues

The Fountain and the Stream

The Bible consistently teaches that the heart is the wellspring of life. Jesus Himself makes this explicit when He says, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt 12:34). This proverb is a crisp Old Testament expression of that same reality. The heart and the tongue are not two separate problems a man has; they are one problem manifesting in two locations. The heart is the fountain, and the tongue is the stream. If the fountain is poisoned, the stream will be poisonous. If the heart is crooked, the words will be twisted.

The modern world, and even much of the therapeutic church, tries to deal with the stream. They want to fix the "communication problem." They offer techniques for better speech, for more positive and affirming words. But this is like trying to purify a river by scooping pollutants out of it downstream. The book of Proverbs, and the whole Bible, insists that we must go to the source. The problem is not a slip of the tongue, but the crookedness of the heart. Until the heart is made straight, the tongue will never be tamed. This is why the central promise of the New Covenant is a heart transplant: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you" (Ezek 36:26).

Verse by Verse Commentary

20a He who has a crooked heart finds no good...

The Hebrew for "crooked heart" (iqqesh leb) paints a picture of something twisted, warped, and fundamentally distorted. This is not a heart that is simply mistaken or occasionally errs; it is a heart that is structurally unsound. It is bent out of alignment with reality, which is to say, out of alignment with God and His law. Because its internal compass is broken, its search for "good" is doomed from the start. He might find pleasure, he might find wealth, he might find temporary success, but he will not find tov, genuine, substantive, God-defined good. He is like a man with a warped ruler trying to build a straight wall. Everything he measures will be off. His very capacity for discerning and appropriating what is truly good has been corrupted at the source. This is a profound statement about the noetic effects of sin. The fall did not just make us guilty; it twisted our minds and desires so that we call evil good and good evil.

20b ...And he who is perverted in his tongue falls into evil.

The second clause flows directly from the first. The man with the crooked heart will inevitably have a "perverted" or duplicitous tongue. The word for perverted here (tahpukoth) refers to that which is turned upside down or inside out. This is the man whose yes means no, whose flattery conceals a knife, whose speech is designed not to reveal truth but to manipulate reality for his own advantage. And what is the end of this man? He "falls into evil." The word here is ra', which can mean evil, trouble, or calamity. It is the opposite of the "good" he could not find. His twisted words create a twisted world for himself, and eventually, the trap he sets for others springs on him. James tells us the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity, set on fire by hell (James 3:6). Such a fire cannot be controlled, and the one who starts it will ultimately be consumed by it. The liar becomes entangled in his own lies. The slanderer finds himself friendless. The deceiver is eventually deceived. This is not bad luck; it is the moral structure of God's universe in operation.

Application

The application of this proverb must begin with a ruthless self-examination. We are all born with crooked hearts. The natural inclination of every human heart since the fall is to twist reality to suit itself, to put self on the throne, and to use the tongue as a tool for self-advancement rather than for the glory of God and the good of our neighbor. This proverb should therefore drive us to our knees in repentance. We must confess that we are the man described here. We have not found good because our hearts are bent, and we have fallen into evil because our tongues are perverse.

But we do not stop there. The gospel is the good news that God has not left us with our crooked hearts. The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world with a heart that was perfectly straight, a heart that loved righteousness and hated wickedness. His tongue was never perverted; He spoke only the truth in love. And on the cross, He took upon Himself the calamity and evil that our crooked hearts and perverse tongues deserved. He fell into the ultimate ra' for us. In exchange, He offers us His righteousness. Through faith in Him, God gives us a new heart, a heart that desires the good and loves the truth.

The ongoing application for the Christian, then, is to live out this new reality. It is to continually bring our hearts and our tongues to the foot of the cross, asking the Holy Spirit to continue the work of straightening what is crooked. It means we must be men and women of the Book, allowing the straight-edge of God's Word to reveal the remaining crookedness in our thinking. It means we must be quick to confess the sins of our tongue and to seek reconciliation. This proverb is a diagnostic tool that reveals our sickness, and in so doing, it points us to the only Physician who can heal us.