A wise king separates the wicked from his realm with the weight of just judgment, like winnowing grain from chaff.
Proverbs 20:26 returns to the theme of just kingship: A wise king winnows the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them (v. 26). The picture comes from the threshing floor.
Winnowing was the agricultural process of tossing threshed grain into the air so that the wind would carry the chaff away while the heavier grain fell back to the floor. Separation by movement and weight.
The threshing wheel was the heavy roller that broke the grain free from the husk in the first place. Both pictures are of separation by force. A wise king does the social equivalent: he drives wickedness out of his realm with the weight of just judgment. A kingdom that refuses the work eventually grants the wicked a place of influence.
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Proverbs 20:26 meaning
Proverbs 20:26 returns to the theme of just kingship: A wise king winnows the wicked, and drives the threshing wheel over them (v. 26). The picture comes from the threshing floor.
Winnowing was the agricultural process of tossing threshed grain into the air so that the wind would carry the chaff away while the heavier grain fell back to the floor. Separation by movement and weight.
The threshing wheel was the heavy roller that broke the grain free from the husk in the first place. Both pictures are of separation by force. A wise king does the social equivalent: he drives wickedness out of his realm with the weight of just judgment. A kingdom that refuses the work eventually grants the wicked a place of influence.