Proverbs 10:20 Meaning: What Your Words Are Worth
The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver. The heart of the wicked is of little worth.
The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth.
The tongue of the righteous isaschoice silver: The heart of the wicked is little worth.
The tongue of the righteous is chosen silver, The heart of the wicked--as a little thing.
The tongue of the righteous [man] is [as] choice silver; the heart of the wicked is little worth.
Meaning in one sentence
What does it mean that a righteous person's tongue is like choice silver? And why is the wicked heart worth so little? A devotional on Proverbs 10:20.
Context
Proverbs 10 opens the second main section of the book. While the first nine chapters are longer speeches from a father to his son, chapter 10 begins a long collection of short, punchy sayings, each one usually two lines that contrast two kinds of people. The verses around this one keep returning to the same theme: what comes out of a person's mouth matters. Verse 19 warns that too many words lead to sin. Verse 21 says the lips of the righteous feed many people. So verse 20 lands right in the middle of that concern. It sets the righteous person's speech against the wicked person's heart, a deliberate contrast that raises a hard question about what we are really worth.
Key Words
The Hebrew word for choice here (nivchar) comes from a verb that means to choose, to select. So the righteous person's tongue is like silver that has been picked out, deliberately selected for its purity and value. It is not just any silver, it is the kind you would set aside for something important. That is what our words can be: chosen, refined, worth keeping.
The second half uses a different Hebrew word that sounds almost dismissive. Me'at means a little, a few, something small. Some commentators suggest it can mean a scraping of dross, the worthless residue left over after refining metal. The wicked person's heart is like a little thing, insignificant, good for nothing. The contrast is pointed: even the tongue of the righteous has weight, while the very heart of the wicked, the core of who they are, comes up empty.
How Christians Read This Verse
Most commentators read this verse as a straightforward moral contrast. Matthew Henry says good men are good for something because their speech carries weight and worth, while bad men are good for nothing. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown agree: right speech grows from a good heart, and the wicked show theirs to be useless.
Some interpreters push the contrast further. Adam Clarke notes that a sinner's heart is worthless, yet because it is hidden, the person may boast about its honesty, a tragic self-deception. The Cambridge Bible draws attention to the deliberate pairing: even the tongue of the one, but the very heart of the other. Both readings agree that the verse is about what a person is worth at their core, not just what they say out loud.
A common misunderstanding
Some readers assume this verse is only about the quality of a person's speech, whether they speak kindly or skillfully. In fact, the verse goes much deeper. It contrasts the righteous person's tongue with the wicked person's heart. The point is not just that righteous people talk better; it is that even their outward words are more valuable than the wicked person's innermost being. The real issue is what kind of person you are, not just how you sound.
Living This Out
This week, pay attention to what your words are worth. Not whether they are clever or impressive, but whether they carry weight, truth, kindness, something that helps. The verse says even one small, honest word from a righteous person has value like choice silver. You do not need to say much. You just need to speak from a heart that has been made right.
If you find your own heart feeling thin and worthless, that is not the end of the story. The righteousness in this verse is not something you drum up on your own. It is a gift, grown by walking with God. You can ask for a heart that yields words worth keeping.
Main takeaway: Your words reveal what your heart is worth, and a righteous heart, even in its smallest speech, carries more value than a wicked heart at its core.
For Families
For ages 5, 8
Your words are like little pieces of silver. When you speak kindly and tell the truth, your words are very precious. Even a few kind words can be more valuable than a whole lot of unkind ones.
For ages 9, 12
This verse says that the words of a good person are as valuable as choice silver. Silver that was picked out specially because it was pure and beautiful. But it also says that the heart of a wicked person is worth almost nothing. That is a serious contrast: even the tongue of a good person is worth more than the heart of someone who lives badly. So the question is not just about the words you say; it is about who you are on the inside. Because what comes out of your mouth shows what is really in your heart.
Questions People Ask
What does 'choice silver' mean in Proverbs 10:20?
The Hebrew word for 'choice' (nivchar) comes from a verb meaning to choose or select. So 'choice silver' refers to silver that has been deliberately picked out for its purity and value. Some translations say 'fined silver', silver that has been refined and purified. The image is of something precious, carefully chosen, and worth keeping.
Why does the verse compare the righteous person's tongue to the wicked person's heart?
The comparison is deliberately uneven. It contrasts not two equal things but the outward speech of the righteous with the innermost being of the wicked. Even the righteous person's words, what comes out of them, are more valuable than the wicked person's very heart, the core of who they are. It is a way of saying that a righteous person, at their most external, is worth more than a wicked person at their deepest.
What does 'little worth' mean in the original Hebrew?
The Hebrew word is me'at, which means a little, a few, or something small. Some commentators suggest it can imply a scraping of dross, the worthless residue left after refining metal. So the wicked person's heart is like something tiny and insignificant, good for nothing.
Does this verse mean the righteous never say anything wrong?
No. The verse is a general principle, not a claim that every word from a righteous person is perfect. Proverbs often uses these stark contrasts to show what a life looks like when it is oriented toward God. A righteous person can still stumble in speech, but the overall direction of their heart produces words that have real value, unlike the wicked person, whose heart yields nothing of substance.
How does Proverbs 10:20 connect to other verses about speech in the Bible?
The Bible often uses the image of silver and gold to describe valuable speech. Proverbs 8:19 says wisdom's fruit is 'better than gold, yes, than fine gold,' and Proverbs 25:11 calls 'a word fitly spoken' like 'apples of gold in settings of silver.' In the New Testament, Jesus says 'out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks' (Matthew 12:34), which echoes the same link this verse makes between what is inside a person and what comes out.
For pastors & researchers
Hebrew interlinear, 8 commentaries & word study