A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.
Parallel translations
- WEB A king who sits on the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.
- KJV A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.
- NKJV A king who sits on the throne of judgment Scatters all evil with his eyes.
- NASB A king who sits on the throne of justice Disperses all evil with his eyes.
- NLT When a king sits in judgment, he weighs all the evidence, distinguishing the bad from the good.
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 righteous king, seated to judge, drives out evil simply by his discerning gaze. It matters because godly authority exposes and restrains wrongdoing.
Overview
The proverb pictures the ideal ruler whose penetrating discernment sifts good from evil and clears it away. Such judgment maintains justice and order in the realm. It anticipates Christ, the King who 'will not judge by what his eyes see' superficially but with perfect righteousness (Isaiah 11:3-4), and before whom all evil is finally scattered.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 25:5Remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.
- Prov 20:26A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.
- Ps 99:4The mighty King loves justice. You have established equity; You have exercised justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Prov 29:14A king who judges the poor with fairness—his throne will be established forever.
- Ps 92:9For surely Your enemies, O LORD, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.
- Ps 72:4May he vindicate the afflicted among the people; may he save the children of the needy and crush the oppressor.
- Ps 101:6–8My eyes favor the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he who walks in the way of integrity shall minister to me.
- 1 Sam 23:3–4But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”
- 2 Sam 23:4is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’
- Prov 16:12Wicked behavior is detestable to kings, for a throne is established through righteousness.
- Isa 32:1Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.
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 20:8 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.