Amsal 20:26

20:26 A wise king separates out ¹  the wicked;

he turns the threshing wheel over them. ² 

Amsal 24:1

24:1 Do not envy evil people, ³ 

do not desire ⁴  to be with them;

Amsal 27:23

27:23 Pay careful attention to ⁵  the condition of your flocks, ⁶ 

give careful attention ⁷  to your herds,

[20:26]  ¹ tn Heb “winnows” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). The sage draws on the process of winnowing to explain how the king uncovers and removes wickedness. The verb from which the participle מְזָרֶה (mÿzareh) is derived means “to separate; to winnow; to scatter”; the implied comparison means that the king will separate good people from bad people like wheat is separated from chaff. The image of winnowing is also used in divine judgment. The second line of the verse uses a detail of the process to make the point. Driving a wheel over the wheat represents the threshing process; the sharp iron wheels of the cart would easily serve the purpose (e.g., Isa 28:27-28).

[20:26]  ² tn The king has the wisdom/ability to destroy evil from his kingdom. See also D. W. Thomas, “Proverbs 20:26,” JTS 15 (1964): 155-56.

[24:1]  ³ tn Heb “evil men,” although the context indicates a generic sense.

[24:1]  ⁴ tn The Hitpael jussive is from the verb that means “to crave; to desire.” This is more of a coveting, an intense desire.

[27:23]  ⁵ tn The sentence uses the infinitive absolute and the imperfect from יָדַע (yada’, “to know”). The imperfect here has been given the obligatory nuance, “you must know,” and that has to be intensified with the infinitive.

[27:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “the faces of your flock.”

[27:23]  ⁷ tn The idiom is “place [it on] your heart” or “take to heart.” Cf. NLT “put your heart into.”

[27:23]  sn The care of the flock must become the main focus of the will, for it is the livelihood. So v. 23 forms the main instruction of this lengthy proverb (vv. 23-27).