Introduction
Chapter 10 of Sefer Mishlei opens the section of short proverbs, where each verse stands on its own and juxtaposes the way of the righteous against the way of the wicked. In the passage before us, King Solomon addresses the power of speech: when speech destroys, when it breeds transgression, and when it becomes a fountain of life that guides many. We will follow the order of the verses, presenting the commentary of the Malbim alongside the explanations of the Vilna Gaon and the accompanying Midrashim.
Verses 18-19: Four Categories of Speech
מְכַסֶּה שִׂנְאָה שִׂפְתֵי שָׁקֶר וּמוֹצִא דִבָּה הוּא כְסִיל׃ בְּרֹב דְּבָרִים לֹא יֶחְדַּל פָּשַׁע וְחוֹשֵׂךְ שְׂפָתָיו מַשְׂכִּיל׃ - He who conceals hatred has lying lips, and whoever utters slander is a fool. In a multitude of words transgression does not cease, but he who restrains his lips is prudent.
The Rambam, commenting on the Sages' teaching, "All my days I grew up among the Sages, and I found nothing better for the body than silence," divides speech into four categories. There is forbidden speech: lashon hara, falsehood, flattery, tale-bearing, and defamation. There is optional speech: for business needs and the like. There is mitzvah speech: words of Torah, words of mussar, prayer, study, and also arranging the purchase of mitzvah items - anything that leads to a mitzvah. And there is permissible speech: the speech necessary for a person's basic needs - eating, speaking with one's wife, purchasing something one requires.
The Malbim explains: The prudent person speaks only one-fourth of speech, and which fourth is that? That of a mitzvah. A prudent person minimizes his talk drastically, and whatever he does say is strictly mitzvah speech. Indeed, there were sages who remained silent most of the time, and you would not hear from them either good or bad.
In contrast, the Chafetz Chaim followed an opposite practice: he was always speaking, and one could never find him silent. Why? Because people assume that anyone who guards against lashon hara must keep his mouth closed his entire life, and he wanted to prove that this is not so - that a person can talk continuously without speaking lashon hara. Therefore, he spoke constantly: words of chizuk, words of encouragement, words of mussar, words of Torah - everything, except lashon hara. Do not think that one who is vigilant regarding lashon hara needs a bandage over his mouth; one can speak all the time, provided he knows what is permitted and what is forbidden.
The Harm of Evil Speech
Regarding the negative aspect of speech, the Malbim explains that a person who utters slander embodies several evils. "He who conceals hatred has lying lips": he harbors hatred toward his fellow, yet outwardly smiles at him, talks with him, and acts pleasant and friendly - while inwardly detesting him. It is precisely through this that his slander succeeds. After all, if you are known as his enemy, then when you come and tell me something about Reuven, I will immediately filter out eighty percent of what you say, because you have an old grudge and an ongoing dispute with him. But this person presents himself as his friend, and so people believe him: "There is no prior hatred here; what I am saying is the absolute truth." Thus, by concealing his hatred behind lying lips, he succeeds in spreading slander and planting it in the hearts of his listeners. Such a person is a fool - he does things that are the very opposite of wisdom, born of malice of heart.
Excessive Speech Leads to Transgression
And do not say: Slander is forbidden and the one who utters it is a fool, but I will speak only optional words - endlessly. Regarding this, the verse says: "In a multitude of words transgression does not cease." Even with optional speech, an excess of words inevitably leads to sin: amid the flow of chatter, mockery of others, lashon hara, falsehoods, and flattery will slip in. How many sins a person might commit simply because he does not close his mouth for a moment.
This is an extremely difficult test for talkative people. Such a person always feels compelled to say something, needs to express himself, and always has something on the tip of his tongue. And then, even if he did not begin with lashon hara, the sheer volume of words causes "transgression does not cease." In contrast: "But he who restrains his lips is prudent" - the prudent person holds back his lips from unnecessary chatter and speaks only words of wisdom and mitzvah, that one-fourth we mentioned. Such a person walks in the path of wisdom, succeeds in his ways, and does not come to sin and iniquity.
Verse 20: Choice Silver Is the Tongue of the Righteous
כֶּסֶף נִבְחָר לְשׁוֹן צַדִּיק לֵב רְשָׁעִים כִּמְעָט׃ - Choice silver is the tongue of the righteous; the heart of the wicked is of little worth.
The Vilna Gaon offers an introduction. It is written: "And the wise will shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who lead the many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever" - which indicates that there are two categories of righteous leaders: the maskilim (wise teachers) and the matzdikim (those who guide others to righteousness). What is the difference between them? The Gemara relates that Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba would expound on shema'tata (halachic legal sugyot), while Rabbi Abbahu would expound on aggadata (homiletic narratives): one delved into deep analytical issues, while the other taught aggadah.
The Gra explains: Those who teach shema'tata are called maskilim, for they transform the people into Talmidei Chachamim who know halachah. Thanks to them, a person learns the concept of muktzeh, the prohibition against carrying on Shabbat, the prohibition of transferring between domains, the prohibition of selecting (borer) - the maskil enlightens the unlearned so that they become scholars. In contrast, those who lecture on aggadah are the matzdikim: aggadah generally consists of words of mussar and rebuke, drawing the people to mend their ways and fulfill the will of Hashem. The maskilim teach the people halachah, while the matzdikim transform the people into tzaddikim.
Gold and Silver
Corresponding to these two, says the Gra, there exist gold and silver in the world. Gold is needed only by the wealthy, who use it to purchase costly things. If a poor man enters a grocery store with a gold bar, they will tell him: "Sir, we have nothing to do with this; bring ten shekels and you will receive bread and milk." Gold is accepted as currency only among very specific people - if a wealthy man comes to purchase an estate or a tower, the seller may agree to accept gold bars. But silver - why is it called kesef? Because everyone yearns (kosef) for it. Everyone needs silver, rich and poor alike.
So it is with preachers. The Gemara recounts that everyone left Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba and went to the lecture of Rabbi Abbahu, who was expounding on aggadah. Aggadah is like silver - needed by all, and sought by everyone. Whereas Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba is like gold: precious matters, profound depth in halachah and legal rulings. Not everyone can appreciate it. To an in-depth pilpul shiur, not many people come; but to a lecture filled with sweet insights and thoughts, crowds stream in.
Refined Silver and Silver with Dross
Yet even within silver itself, continues the Gra, there are two kinds of coins. There is a coin mixed with dross - silver that is unrefined and impure. With such a coin, one cannot buy everywhere, but only in the jurisdiction of the kingdom that minted it. In their times, when money was made of actual silver, a coin diluted with dross from one realm would not be accepted in another; they would say, "This is not quality currency." By contrast, a coin of pure, refined silver possesses intrinsic value, and it is accepted everywhere in the world. Therefore, when someone comes to pay, you say to him: "Bring me 'currency merchantable everywhere' (kesef over lasocher), large coins that can be spent anywhere, not a coin that can only be used locally."
So it is with those who deliver rebuke: there are those who draw people, and there are those who do not. What does this depend on? On the manner in which one conveys his words. A person who lectures on aggadah, rebuke, and mussar, but breathes fire and sparks, speaking words as harsh as sinews and rebuking with blunt severity - this is indeed silver, since everyone yearns for aggadah, but it is silver mixed with dross, and people flee from him. This is what Chazal meant when they said: "I wonder if there is anyone in this generation who knows how to rebuke." Knowing how to rebuke in such a way that it remains silver that people truly desire is not simple at all.
The tzaddik, says the Gra, knows how to rebuke with good words and words of comfort, and everyone yearns for his guidance. Like Aharon HaKohen, who loved peace and pursued peace, loved all creatures and drew them close to the Torah - this is rebuke in the manner of refined silver. And this is the meaning of the verse: "Choice silver is the tongue of the righteous" - which silver does everyone choose? The refined kind. Such is the tongue of the righteous person, who is gentle with people and rebukes with pleasantness; through the pleasantness of his words, the listeners draw near to him and observe the mitzvot of Hashem.
The Heart of the Wicked Is of Little Worth
And what about those who do not repent even after hearing the words of the tzaddik? The Gra explains: this is not due to any deficiency in the tzaddik's words, nor because his words are not upright, but because the heart of the wicked is soft. It is like flesh: you press on it and the spot indents; you remove the pressure - and the flesh springs back up. When pressure is exerted on the heart of the wicked, how long does it last? A very short time. "The heart of the wicked is of little worth (kime'at)" - meaning it lasts but a short while.
And the word kime'at here does not mean "almost," as it is commonly used today. It is like the verse, "We would have been almost like Sodom, we would have resembled Gomorrah," and like "In a moment I would subdue their enemies" - did He "almost" subdue them? Rather, the intention is: I will subdue their enemies as though they were few. Sometimes an army of two million arrives, yet David says: it is as if four people came against me, I will subdue them as though they were a meager force. So too here: the heart of the wicked is soft, and the impact upon it lasts for only a short time, after which he quickly reverts to his old ways.
And this is what the Maggid of Kelm said regarding the verse, "Planted in the house of Hashem, in the courtyards of our G-d they shall flourish": people sit in the beit midrash, hearing words of Torah, words of encouragement, an awakening and enthusiastic talk - "planted in the house of Hashem," I am planted here, I will never leave the beit midrash. But all these words of mussar - "in the courtyards of our G-d they shall vanish": no sooner has a person stepped out into the courtyard of the beit midrash than everything is forgotten, everything evaporates, flown away and gone. That is the heart of the wicked. Our heart is soft: we heard mussar, we felt inspired, but then we stepped outside, saw something that pulls us away - and we grew weak. The heart of the wicked is not solid and does not maintain its resolve.
Hard as Iron
Regarding this, Chazal said: Any talmid chacham who is not as hard as iron is not a talmid chacham. What does it mean to be "hard as iron"? The Vilna Gaon explains: it is very difficult to pierce iron; it requires serious drilling and a great deal of time - but once the hole is made, it remains forever. By contrast, take a piece of meat and pierce it: in a second you make a hole, and in a second it closes back up and the flesh fills it in. A soft material is pierced easily, but the impression lasts only briefly. Iron is difficult to pierce, but the hole remains permanently. Therefore, a talmid chacham must be hard as iron.
This is also the distinction of the Jewish people, of whom it is said, "and behold, it is a stiff-necked people." The Midrash says: stubbornness is a virtue, and it is also a fault. It is a virtue because when others came to entice us away from the path of Hashem, Israel refused to turn away; a Jew is ready to be killed and give his life for the sanctification of Hashem's Name, but he is unwilling to abandon Hashem's commandments. On the other hand, if Heaven forbid there was a deterioration and a person abandoned Hashem's commandments and became wicked - that very stubbornness becomes his undoing. The prophet comes and rebukes him, telling him to repent, but the people refuse to listen, for you are a stiff-necked people.
And why is it called "stiff-necked"? One whose neck is stiff is locked in place. Someone calls to him: "Hey, come here! There is an abyss there, watch out!" Yet he does not even turn his head to see who it is and what he wants; he simply marches straight ahead. His neck is fixed, turning neither right nor left. When you are on the path of Hashem - wonderful, you are not enticed by any negative influences. But when you are not on the path of Hashem, this stubbornness is exceedingly harmful: you persist on your corrupt path, knowing full well that you are walking a treacherous road and stumbling, yet you remain set in your obstinacy.
The Malbim's Explanation: Mouth, Lip, and Tongue
The Malbim explains the verse differently, based on his distinction between the three terms for speech. Safah (lip) refers to external speech - something one has mastered and expresses immediately from the mouth, without contemplation or deep analysis. Lashon (tongue) refers to internal speech - something one has delved into, pondered, and thoroughly digested, just as the tongue is an internal organ. Therefore, when Scripture wishes to express binah (understanding), it uses the term lashon, which conveys contemplation and depth. The mouth symbolizes chochmah (wisdom) - that which was received from one's teachers - while the lip symbolizes da'at (applied knowledge) - something that has become such clear knowledge in a person's grasp that the moment a question is asked, it is readily stated. And the mouth is the intermediary between the tongue and the lip.
Based on this, the Malbim explains: "The tongue of the righteous" - that which the tzaddik has contemplated regarding matters of integrity and righteousness through the power of binah - is "like choice silver": it contains no dross or imperfection. Typically, when a person contemplates a matter, he weighs it this way and that, up and down, possible and impossible, until he reaches what seems appropriate - yet there is no guarantee that his conclusion is absolute and free of dross; the conclusion he reached may not be entirely lucid or fully accurate. That is the case with ordinary people. The tzaddik, however, because he contemplates through pure intellect, arrives at pristine determinations: whatever he produces through his contemplation is choice silver, refined and free from all dross and defect.
"The heart of the wicked is of little worth" - the wicked are far from righteousness, and what governs them? The heart. And the heart does not guide them toward good things, but wavers between conflicting impulses: at times drawn toward good and at times toward evil. Therefore, the dominion of their heart is kime'at - a meager, unstable rule. A king who exercises absolute dominion maintains a single, clear policy and consistent leadership; but one whose rule is feeble vacillates, tilting one way and then the other. All the more so is it impossible for him to comprehend the good path with clarity: if he lacks even straightforward, consistent direction, he certainly will not arrive at definitive truths.
Verse 21: The Lips of the Righteous Feed Many
שִׂפְתֵי צַדִּיק יִרְעוּ רַבִּים וֶאֱוִילִים בַּחֲסַר לֵב יָמוּתוּ׃ - "The lips of the righteous shepherd many, but fools die for lack of heart."
Rashi interprets according to the simple meaning: many eat through the merit of the righteous person, through the merit of his prayer - "The entire world is nourished for the sake of Chanina My son." "Yir'u" (they will feed/shepherd) is from the term for pasture (mar'eh): the lips of the tzaddik cause many to be sustained through his merit.
The Vilna Gaon explains: the tzaddik guides the many through his words and his conduct. Furthermore, "rabbim" here does not mean numerous people, but is from the term "rabbah", meaning great, as in "the deep of a great land." That is, with his lips the tzaddik guides even the great ones and the Talmidei Chachamim; even the wise, seeing his upright conduct, run after him so that he may guide them. But the wicked do not run after the tzaddik, because they lack heart and do not comprehend his words, and therefore they will die through their lack of heart. And what is this lack of heart? That one does not pursue the tzaddik. For the heart signifies contemplation, and had he applied his heart to the matter, he would have pursued him - for if the lips of a tzaddik guide even Talmidei Chachamim, how much more so ordinary people. But since he lacks heart and does not pursue the guidance of the sage, he arrives at paths of death.
The Malbim explains according to his consistent approach: lips indicate external speech. "The lips of the righteous" - the matters to which the tzaddik is accustomed and which flow naturally from him, which he utters even without deliberation out of sheer habit - "will shepherd many," guiding the multitude in his ways. In contrast stands the fool: an evil (fool), according to the Malbim, is related to the word "ulai" (perhaps) - one who doubts everything: Who said so? How can one know? It is not necessarily so. Not only does he lack clear knowledge like the tzaddik, whose lips express a well-established understanding readily brought forth, but he also casts doubt on everything. For that reason, not only does he fail to shepherd others, but he cannot even shepherd himself: at one moment he acts one way, and the next he says, "Who knows, perhaps this is not right," and acts otherwise - he has no clear direction even for himself.
And what will be his ultimate end? "They will die for lack of heart." For the heart is what rules and directs both body and soul; and when a person lacks clear direction - one moment it seems to him one way and the next another, now he desires it and now he does not - this is the very definition of one who lacks heart. And the cause of all this is foolishness: doubting everything, and being certain of nothing.
In summary:
These three verses teach us the hierarchy of speech. Forbidden speech - concealing hatred and spreading slander - is foolishness stemming from malice of heart, and its destructive power comes specifically through the guise of friendship. An excess of permissible speech, even without bad intentions, inevitably gives birth to transgression, which is why "he who restrains his lips is wise" - the wise person minimizes his words, speaking only speech of a mitzvah. In contrast, the tongue of the righteous is choice silver: rebuke spoken gently, refined from dross, for which all yearn, and conclusions born of contemplation that are free of any flaw. And if the words are not absorbed, the deficiency does not lie with the rebuker, but with the soft heart of the wicked in which any impression is immediately erased; therefore, a Talmid Chacham must be hard as iron, where an indentation is made with difficulty, but endures forever. The lips of the righteous guide many, and even the great and the wise, whereas the fool, for whom everything is a doubt, does not even guide himself - and for lack of heart he will die.