Proverbs 20:8-12

PROVERBS—NOTE ON Proverbs 20:8 This catalog of proverbs looks at judgment from various angles. The purpose of a king, representing human government, is to restrain evil through acts of judgment (v. Proverbs 20:8). Awareness of one’s own guilt should make one merciful in judging others (v. Proverbs 20:9). Scales (commercial tools that are often used as symbols of judgment) should be fair, balanced, and impartial (v. Proverbs 20:10; Proverbs 11:1). People’s actions show what they are, and this applies even to children (Proverbs 20:11). As God made both the eye and the ear, he knows best how to assess a person or situation. His judgment will be final and decisive (v. Proverbs 20:12). Sometimes these proverbs balance one another: God’s people need to be forgiving, but they also need to be able to judge good and evil in others.