God’s Word Translation
Proverbs 20:26
26A wise king scatters the wicked and then runs them over.
Proverbs 20:26 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
- New International Version (NIV)A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them.
- English Standard Version (ESV)A wise king winnows the wicked and drives the wheel over them.
- New King James Version (NKJV)A wise king sifts out the wicked, And brings the threshing wheel over them.
Context of Proverbs 20:26
24The Lord is the one who directs a person’s steps. How then can anyone understand his own way? 25It is a trap for a person to say impulsively, “This is a holy offering!” and later to have second thoughts about those vows. A wise king scatters the wicked and then runs them over. 27A person’s soul is the Lord’s lamp. It searches his entire innermost being. 28Mercy and truth protect a king, and with mercy he maintains his throne.
Read all of Proverbs 20Proverbs 20:26 word by word
מְזָרֶ֣ה רְ֭שָׁעִים מֶ֣לֶךְ חָכָ֑ם וַיָּ֖שֶׁב עֲלֵיהֶ֣ם אוֹפָֽן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Proverbs 20:26
- Proverbs 20:8A king who sits on his throne to judge sifts out every evil with his eyes.
- 2 Samuel 4:9David responded to Rechab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon from Beeroth,
- Psalms 101:5I will destroy anyone who secretly slanders his neighbor. I will not tolerate anyone with a conceited look or arrogant heart.
- 2 Samuel 12:31He brought out the troops who were there and put them to work with saws, hoes, and axes. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the troops returned to Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 28:27Black cumin isn’t threshed with a sledge, and wagon wheels aren’t rolled over cumin. Black cumin is beaten with a rod and cumin with a stick.
Commentaries on Proverbs 20:26
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 26Bringeth the wheel over them - He threshes them in his anger, as the wheel does the grain on the threshing-floor. Every one knows that grain was separated from its husks, in Palestine, by the feet of the oxen trampling among the sheaves, or bringing a rough-shod wheel over them. Asiatic kings often threshed their people, to bring out their property; but this is not what is intended here.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 26The wheel - The threshing wheel Isaiah 28:27-28, which passes over the grain and separates the grain from the chaff. The proverb involves therefore the idea of the division of the good from the evil, no less than that of the punishment of the latter.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 26Verse 26 Justice should crush the wicked, and separate them from the virtuous.Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 26A king represents God on earth, so he should help good people and punish wrongdoers.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 2626. (Compare Pr 20:8). bringeth ... over them--The wheel was used for threshing grain. The figure denotes severity (compare Am 1:3).Read the comment
Topics related to Proverbs 20:26
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Proverbs 20
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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