New English Translation
Proverbs 20:26
26A wise king separates out the wicked; he turns the threshing wheel over them.
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 steps of a person are ordained by the Lord – so how can anyone understand his own way? 25It is a snare for a person to rashly cry, “Holy!” and only afterward to consider what he has vowed. A wise king separates out the wicked; he turns the threshing wheel over them. 27The human spirit is like the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts. 28Loyal love and truth preserve a king, and his throne is upheld by loyal love.
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 sitting on the throne to judge separates out all evil with his eyes.
- 2 Samuel 4:9David replied to Recab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered my life from all adversity,
- Psalms 101:5I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret. I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude.
- 2 Samuel 12:31He removed the people who were in it and made them do hard labor with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, putting them to work at the brick kiln. This was his policy with all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all the army returned to Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 28:27Certainly caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge, nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed. Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick, and cumin seed with a flail.
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
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries