Translation commentary on Proverbs 20:8

This verse is another single sentence statement. Its theme is the ability of a king to discern what is evil in cases that come before him. Verse 26 is similar; and see also 16.10.

“A king who sits on the throne of judgment”: The central idea in “the throne of judgment” is what the king does in judging or deciding cases, rather than the place where he sits. So New International Version has “sits on his throne to judge” and Good News Translation “sits in judgment”; Contemporary English Version is also a good model with “When rulers decide cases.”

“Winnows all evil with his eyes”: “Winnows all evil” is a figurative expression. The picture refers to the agricultural process of winnowing, which means using the wind to separate the grain from chaff and straw after the process of threshing. In this picture the grain represents what is good and the chaff and straw what is worthless or evil; so the sense is that the king is able to separate or sort out what is good from what is evil in the motives and actions of the people who come before him. “With his eyes” may mean something like “when he sees it” (Good News Translation) or that the king has special ability to “see” or “see through” what people say to him.

A number of English translations retain the term “winnows,” although it is not very meaningful for the majority of modern readers. New International Version “winnows out all evil” is a bit easier, but a rendering like “sifts out” (Scott, Revised English Bible), while still figurative, is a more general expression that readers will be familiar with. A translation that simply brings out the sense of the figurative expression is Good News Translation, “knows evil when he sees it.” In a number of languages a different picture is used to describe what the king does; for example, “he weighs up what people say, and he discovers straight away things that are not right.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

king

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Some languages do not have a concept of kingship and therefore no immediate equivalent for the Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Latin that is translated as “king” in English. Here are some (back-) translations:

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  • Piro: “a great one”
  • Highland Totonac: “the big boss”
  • Huichol: “the one who commanded” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Ekari: “the one who holds the country” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Una: weik sienyi: “big headman” (source: Kroneman 2004, p. 407)
  • Pass Valley Yali: “Big Man” (source: Daud Soesilo)
  • Ninia Yali: “big brother with the uplifted name” (source: Daud Soesilio in Noss 2007, p. 175)
  • Nyamwezi: mutemi: generic word for ruler, by specifying the city or nation it becomes clear what kind of ruler (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • Ghomála’: Fo (“The word Fo refers to the paramount ruler in the kingdoms of West Cameroon. He holds administrative, political, and religious power over his own people, who are divided into two categories: princes (descendants of royalty) and servants (everyone else).” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn))

Faye Edgerton retells how the term in Navajo (Dinė) was determined:

“[This term was] easily expressed in the language of Biblical culture, which had kings and noblemen with their brilliant trappings and their position of honor and praise. But leadership among the Navajos is not accompanied by any such titles or distinctions of dress. Those most respected, especially in earlier days, were their headmen, who were the leaders in raids, and the shaman, who was able to serve the people by appealing for them to the gods, or by exorcising evil spirits. Neither of these made any outward show. Neither held his position by political intrigue or heredity. If the headman failed consistently in raids, he was superceded by a better warrior. If the shaman failed many times in his healing ceremonies, it was considered that he was making mistakes in the chants, or had lost favor with the gods, and another was sought. The term Navajos use for headman is derived from a verb meaning ‘to move the head from side to side as in making an oration.’ The headman must be a good orator, able to move the people to go to war, or to follow him in any important decision. This word is naat’áanii which now means ‘one who rules or bosses.’ It is employed now for a foreman or boss of any kind of labor, as well as for the chairman of the tribal council. So in order to show that the king is not just a common boss but the highest ruler, the word ‘aláahgo, which expresses the superlative degree, was put before naat’áanii, and so ‘aláahgo naat’áanii ‘anyone-more-than-being around-he-moves-his-head-the-one-who’ means ‘the highest ruler.’ Naat’áanii was used for governor as the context usually shows that the person was a ruler of a country or associated with kings.”

(Source: Faye Edgerton in The Bible Translator 1962, p. 25ff. )

See also king (Japanese honorifics).

SIL Translator’s Notes on Proverbs 20:8

20:8

The topic of this proverb is an ideal king who rules justly and wisely (20:8a). The proverb uses the metaphor of winnowing to describe the way in which he removes evil from his kingdom (20:8b).

8a A king who sits on a throne to judge

8b sifts out all evil with his eyes.

20:8a

A king who sits on a throne to judge: A king customarily sat on a throne to listen to legal cases and give his decisions. The throne was a symbol of his authority.

In this verse, the focus is on what a king does (20:8b) when he judges a case. It is not on the fact that he was in a seated position on a throne. Some versions leave one or more of these details implied in order to focus on the main idea. For example:

The king sits in judgment (Good News Translation)
-or-
When rulers decide cases (Contemporary English Version)

One of these options may be effective if it is awkward in your language to specify that the king is sitting on a throne.

20:8b

sifts out all evil with his eyes: This part of the verse is an incomplete metaphor. It compares the way that a king judges a case to the process of sifting. Except for the verb sifts out (literally, “winnows,” “scatters”), the agricultural details are left implied.

A farmer winnows grain after he has threshed it to separate the straw and the chaff from the kernels. (See 20:26b for more details on threshing.) He then throws the threshed grain into the air with a winnowing fork or shovel. The wind blows away the straw, chaff, and hulls. The kernels of grain remain in the threshing area.

In this context, the point of the metaphor is that winnowing separates the useless material from the kernels and scatters it far away. Similarly, a king carefully examines the evidence in a legal case. He separates what is false or evil from what is true or good. He does this in order to stop evil conduct and/or remove evil people from his kingdom.

with his eyes: This phrase is used here as a figure of speech. The king’s eyes represent his ability to recognize what is false or evil when he “looks at” or examines the evidence.

Some other ways to translate 20:8b are:

• Change the metaphor to a simile. For example:

A king who judges is like a person who winnows. He recognizes all that is evil and scatters/removes it.

• Use a different figure of speech for “winnow” or for eyes. For example:

A king who sits on his throne to judge sifts out every evil with his eyes. (God’s Word)
-or-
When a king sits in judgment, he weighs all the evidence, distinguishing the bad from the good. (New Living Translation (2004))

• Translate the meaning without using figures of speech. For example:

When a king sits on his throne to judge, he knows evil when he sees it. (New Century Version)

If you use footnotes for cultural background information, consider adding a footnote that explains how people winnowed grain in the country of Israel. For example:

In the country of Israel at that time, people winnowed grain by tossing it in the air with a special fork or shovel. The wind blew away the chaff and husks, and the grain was left behind.

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