There is gold, and an abundance of rubies, but ¹  words of knowledge ²  are like ³  a precious jewel.

biblegateway Pro 20:15

There is gold, and an abundance of jewels; But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.

There is gold and a multitude of jewels, but knowledgeable lips are a rare treasure.

There are gold and plenty of jewels, but the lips of knowledge are precious gems.

biblegateway Pro 20:15

Gold there is, and rubies in abundance, but lips that speak knowledge are a rare jewel.

There is gold and abundance of costly stones, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

bibleoremus Pro 20:15

There is gold, and abundance of costly stones; but the lips informed by knowledge are a precious jewel.

There is gold in plenty and a wealth of red coral, but informed speech is a rarity.

biblegateway Pro 20:15

There is gold and a multitude of rubies, But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

There is gold, and a multitude of rubies: but the lips of knowledge [are] a precious jewel.

biblegateway Pro 20:15

There is gold, and an abundance of rubies, but ¹  words of knowledge ²  are like ³  a precious jewel.

¹ tn The verse is usually taken as antithetical parallelism: There may be gold and rubies but the true gem is knowledge. However, C. H. Toy arranges it differently: “store of gold and wealth of corals and precious vessels – all are wise lips” (Proverbs [ICC], 388). But this uses the gems as metaphors for wise speech, and does not stress the contrast between wealth and wisdom.

² tn Heb “lips of knowledge.” The term “lips” is a metonymy for speaking, and “knowledge” could be either an attributive genitive or objective genitive: “knowledgeable lips.” Lips that impart knowledge are the true jewel to be sought.

³ tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.