A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.
Parallel translations
- WEB A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.
- KJV A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
- NKJV A wise king sifts out the wicked, And brings the threshing wheel over them.
- NASB A wise king scatters the wicked, And drives a threshing wheel over them.
- NLT A wise king scatters the wicked like wheat, then runs his threshing wheel over them.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A wise king sifts out the wicked and decisively deals with them. It matters because just rule requires separating and punishing evil.
Overview
Using imagery of winnowing and threshing, the proverb depicts a discerning ruler who identifies the wicked and executes judgment. Such justice protects the righteous and upholds order (Proverbs 20:8; 25:4-5). It foreshadows Christ, who at the final harvest separates wheat from chaff in perfect righteousness (Matthew 3:12).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Prov 20:8A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.
- 2 Sam 12:31David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.
- Isa 28:27–28Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin. But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
- 2 Sam 4:9–12But David answered Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress,
- Ps 101:5–8Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 20:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.