A king who sits on the throne of judgment Scatters 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.
- BSB A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out 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 25:5Take away the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.
- Prov 20:26A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.
- Ps 99:4The King’s strength also loves justice. You do establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Prov 29:14The king who fairly judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever.
- Ps 92:9For, behold, your enemies, Yahweh, for, behold, your enemies shall perish. All the evildoers will be scattered.
- Ps 72:4He will judge the poor of the people. He will save the children of the needy, and will break the oppressor in pieces.
- Ps 101:6–8My eyes will be on the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me. He who walks in a perfect way, he will serve me.
- 1 Sam 23:3–4David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”
- 2 Sam 23:4shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear shining after rain.’
- Prov 16:12It is an abomination for kings to do wrong, for the throne is established by righteousness.
- Isa 32:1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in 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.