By justice a king brings stability to the land, but a man who exacts tribute demolishes it.
Parallel translations
- WEB The king by justice makes the land stable, but he who takes bribes tears it down.
- KJV The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.
- NKJV The king establishes the land by justice, But he who receives bribes overthrows it.
- NASB The king gives stability to the land by justice, But a person who takes bribes ruins it.
- NLT A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it.
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 just king brings stability to a nation, but a corrupt one tears it down. It links righteous, incorruptible leadership to national well-being.
Overview
The proverb teaches that justice establishes a land while bribery and corruption ruin it. The integrity of those in authority directly affects the security of the people. It anticipates the perfectly just rule of Christ, who cannot be bribed and whose righteous kingdom will stand forever (Psalm 45:6).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Prov 29:14A king who judges the poor with fairness—his throne will be established forever.
- Prov 20:8A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.
- Dan 11:20In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be destroyed, though not in anger or in battle.
- Mic 7:3Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- 1 Sam 13:13“You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
- Jer 22:13–17“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms without justice, who makes his countrymen serve without pay, and fails to pay their wages,
- Ps 89:14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; loving devotion and faithfulness go before You.
- Ps 99:4The mighty King loves justice. You have established equity; You have exercised justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Prov 8:15By me kings reign, and rulers enact just laws;
- 2 Chr 9:8Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you to set you on His throne to be king for the LORD your God. Because your God loved Israel enough to establish them forever, He has made you king over them to carry out justice and righteousness.”
- Isa 9:7Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
- 1 Kgs 2:12So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.
- 2 Sam 8:15Thus David reigned over all Israel and administered justice and righteousness for all his people:
- 2 Kgs 15:18–20And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and throughout his reign he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.
- Isa 49:8This is what the LORD says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You; I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to apportion its desolate inheritances,
- Prov 16:12Wicked behavior is detestable to kings, for a throne is established through righteousness.
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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 29:4 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.