A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the {h} wheel over them.

(h) Which was a kind of punishment then used.

Wesley's Notes

20:26 The wheel - As the cart - wheel was anciently turned over the sheaves to beat the corn out of them. He punishes them as their offences deserve.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

26. (Compare Pr 20:8).

bringeth . over them-The wheel was used for threshing grain. The figure denotes severity (compare Am 1:3).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

20:23. A bargain made by fraud will prove a losing bargain in the end. 24. How can we form plans, and conduct business, independently of the Lord? 25. The evasions men often use with their own consciences show how false and deceitful man is. 26. Justice should crush the wicked, and separate them from the virtuous. 27. The rational soul and conscience are as a lamp within us, which should be used in examining our dispositions and motives with the revealed will of God. 28. Mercy and truth are the glories of God's throne. 29. Both young and old have their advantages; and let neither despise or envy the other.

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Verse 26

See here, 1. What is the business of magistrates. They are to be a terror to evil-doers. They must scatter the wicked, who are linked in confederacies to assist and embolden one another in doing mischief; and there is no doing this but by bringing the wheel over them, that is, putting the laws in execution against them, crushing their power and quashing their projects. Severity must sometimes be used to rid the country of those that are openly vicious and mischievous, debauched and debauching. 2. What is the qualification of magistrates, which is necessary in order to do this. They have need to be both pious and prudent, for it is the wise king, who is both religious and discreet, that is likely to effect the suppression of vice and reformation of manners.