Proverbs 20:26
New International Version
A wise king winnows out the wicked; he drives the threshing wheel over them.

New Living Translation
A wise king scatters the wicked like wheat, then runs his threshing wheel over them.

English Standard Version
A wise king winnows the wicked and drives the wheel over them.

Berean Standard Bible
A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.

King James Bible
A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.

New King James Version
A wise king sifts out the wicked, And brings the threshing wheel over them.

New American Standard Bible
A wise king scatters the wicked, And drives a threshing wheel over them.

NASB 1995
A wise king winnows the wicked, And drives the threshing wheel over them.

NASB 1977
A wise king winnows the wicked, And drives the threshing wheel over them.

Legacy Standard Bible
A wise king winnows the wicked, And turns the threshing wheel over them.

Amplified Bible
A wise king sifts out the wicked [from among the good] And drives the [threshing] wheel over them [to separate the chaff from the grain].

Christian Standard Bible
A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.

American Standard Version
A wise king winnoweth the wicked, And bringeth the threshing #NAME?

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
The wise King scatters evil ones and turns a wheel over them.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
A wise king utterly crushes the ungodly, and will bring a wheel upon them.

Contemporary English Version
A wise ruler severely punishes every criminal.

Douay-Rheims Bible
A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth over them the wheel.

English Revised Version
A wise king winnoweth the wicked, and bringeth the threshing wheel over them.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
A wise king scatters the wicked and then runs them over.

Good News Translation
A wise king will find out who is doing wrong, and will punish him without pity.

International Standard Version
A wise king sifts the wicked, crushing them with the threshing wheel.

JPS Tanakh 1917
A wise king sifteth the wicked, And turneth the wheel over them.

Literal Standard Version
A wise king is scattering the wicked, | And turns the wheel back on them.

Majority Standard Bible
A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them.

New American Bible
A wise king winnows the wicked, and threshes them under the cartwheel.

NET Bible
A wise king separates out the wicked; he turns the threshing wheel over them.

New Revised Standard Version
A wise king winnows the wicked, and drives the wheel over them.

New Heart English Bible
A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.

Webster's Bible Translation
A wise king scatterreth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.

World English Bible
A wise king winnows out the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them.

Young's Literal Translation
A wise king is scattering the wicked, And turneth back on them the wheel.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Wine is a Mocker
25It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows. 26A wise king separates out the wicked and drives the threshing wheel over them. 27The spirit of a man is the lamp of the LORD, searching out his inmost being.…

Cross References
Ruth 3:2
Now is not Boaz, with whose servant girls you have been working, a relative of ours? In fact, tonight he is winnowing barley on the threshing floor.

Proverbs 20:8
A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.

Isaiah 28:27
Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin. But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod.


Treasury of Scripture

A wise king scatters the wicked, and brings the wheel over them.

wise

Proverbs 20:8
A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.

2 Samuel 4:9-12
And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said unto them, As the LORD liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity, …

Psalm 101:5-8
Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer…

bringeth

2 Samuel 12:31
And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brickkiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.

Isaiah 28:27,28
For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod…

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Proverbs 20
1. Proper Living














(26) A wise king scattereth the wicked.--Rather, winnows them.

And bringeth the wheel over them.--Comp. Isaiah 28:27. A sort of sledge or cart was driven over the stalks of corn spread upon the threshing-floor, by means of which the grain was separated from the husk. A wise king winnows out evil persons from among his people, thus putting an end to their corrupting influence. (Comp. Matthew 3:12.)

Verse 26. - A wise king scattereth the wicked (ver. 8). The verb is zarah, which means "to winnow, or sift." The king separates the wicked and the good, as the winnowing fan or shovel divides the chaff from the wheat. The same metaphor is used of Christ (Matthew 3:12), "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (comp. Jeremiah 15:7). Septuagint, "A winnower (λικμήτωρ) of the ungodly is a wise king." And bringeth the wheel over them. The threshing wheel is meant (see Isaiah 28:27; Amos 1:3). This was a wooden frame with three or four rollers under it armed with iron teeth. It was drawn by two oxen, and, aided by the weight of the driver, who had his seat upon it, it crushed out the grain, and cut up the straw into fodder. Another machine much used in Palestine was made of two thick planks fastened together side by side, and having sharp stones fixed in rows on the lower surface. It is not implied that the king employed the corn drag as an instrument of punishment, which was sometimes so used in war, as possibly may be inferred from 2 Samuel 12:31; 1 Chronicles 20:3; and Amos 1:3. The idea of threshing is carried on, and the notion is rather of separation than of punishment, though the latter is not wholly excluded. The wise ruler will not only distinguish between the godless and the good, but will show his discrimination by visiting the evil with condign puuishment. Septuagint, "He will bring the wheel upon them;" the Vulgate has curiously, Incurvat super eos fornicem, "He bends an arch over them," which Latin commentators explain as a triumphal arch, meaning that the king conquers and subdues the wicked, and celebrates his victory over them. A patent anachronism which needs no comment!

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
A wise
חָכָ֑ם (ḥā·ḵām)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 2450: Wise

king
מֶ֣לֶךְ (me·leḵ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4428: A king

separates out
מְזָרֶ֣ה (mə·zā·reh)
Verb - Piel - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 2219: To toss about, to diffuse, winnow

the wicked
רְ֭שָׁעִים (rə·šā·‘îm)
Adjective - masculine plural
Strong's 7563: Wrong, an, bad person

and drives
וַיָּ֖שֶׁב (way·yā·šeḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7725: To turn back, in, to retreat, again

the threshing wheel
אוֹפָֽן׃ (’ō·w·p̄ān)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 212: A wheel

over them.
עֲלֵיהֶ֣ם (‘ă·lê·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against


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OT Poetry: Proverbs 20:26 A wise king winnows out the wicked (Prov. Pro Pr)
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