Proverbs 20:26
in Proverbs 20A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
A wise king winnoweth the wicked, And bringeth the threshing-wheel over them.
KJV
A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.
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This verse in Proverbs 20
Commentary
7 notes on this verseBringeth 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.
This site's exposition
A man’s steps are from the LORD
on Proverbs 20:24-27
Since "A man’s steps are from the LORD," no one can understand his own way. Human planning is held inside a sovereignty it cannot fully read. "The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching out his inmost being."
This site's exposition
drives the threshing wheel over them
Grain in Palestine was threshed by oxen treading the sheaves or by a rough wheel drawn over them, Adam Clarke explains. Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the figure as severity and compare verse 8, where a king sifts out evil with his eyes. The wise king separates out the wicked.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
A wise king scatters the wicked, etc. It was the custom of the ancients, when victory was achieved over an enemy, to erect arches for themselves in which they described the praises of their virtues, as we read in the work of Saul. Therefore, our …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
A wise king scattereth the wicked,.... Or "fans them away" (i); separates them from his good counsellors, courtiers, and subjects; scatters them from his presence and court, and breaks their counsels and confederacies one with another; he discovers, discountenances, and discourages them; See Gill on Pro 20:8; and bringeth the wheel over them; alluding to the custom of the eastern nations turning a cart wheel over the grain in threshing it out, and agreeably to the metaphor in the preceding clause; see Isa 28:
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
(Compare Pr 20:8). bringeth . . . over them--The wheel was used for threshing grain. The figure denotes severity (compare Am 1:3).
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The wheel - The threshing wheel Isa 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.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מְזָרֶ֣ה | mezareh | [is] winnowing | H2219 → | 39 times |
| רְ֭שָׁעִים | reshaim | wicked [people] | H7563 → | 263 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | a king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| חָכָ֑ם | chakham | wise | H2450 → | 138 times |
| וַיָּ֖שֶׁב | vaiyashev | and he brought back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| עֲלֵיהֶ֣ם | ʾaleihem | over them | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אוֹפָֽן׃ | ʾofan | a wheel | H212 → |
מְזָרֶ֣ה[is] winnowing
mezarehH2219 →39 times
רְ֭שָׁעִיםwicked [people]
reshaimH7563 →263 times
מֶ֣לֶךְa king
melekhH4428 →2525 times
חָכָ֑םwise
chakhamH2450 →138 times
וַיָּ֖שֶׁבand he brought back
vaiyashevH7725 →1056 times
עֲלֵיהֶ֣םover them
ʾaleihemH5921 →5755 times
אוֹפָֽן׃a wheel
ʾofanH212 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 20:8A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.
it leads to
- Proverbs 25:5
Remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.
- Psalms 99:4
The mighty King loves justice. You have established equity; You have exercised justice and righteousness in Jacob.
- Proverbs 29:14
A king who judges the poor with fairness—his throne will be established forever.
- Psalms 92:9
For surely Your enemies, O LORD, surely Your enemies will perish; all evildoers will be scattered.
- Proverbs 16:12
Wicked behavior is detestable to kings, for a throne is established through righteousness.
- Proverbs 25:5
Through
2 Samuel 12:31David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes, and he made them work at the brick kilns. He did the same to all…
it leads to
- 1 Chronicles 20:3
David brought out the people who were there and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. And he did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his…
- Amos 1:3
This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
- 2 Samuel 8:2
David also defeated the Moabites, made them lie down on the ground, and measured them off with a cord. He measured off with two lengths those to be put to death, and with one…
- 1 Chronicles 20:3
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.