Bible Strands
Proverbs 29:4
By justice a king brings stability to the land, but a man who exacts tribute demolishes it.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The book of Proverbs addresses Israel’s rulers and citizens with practical wisdom, placing this verse between a warning about squandered wealth and a caution against flattery.
The words — מִשְׁפָּט (mish.pot) translates to justice, and תְּרוּמֹת (te.ru.mot) means contributions or tribute. The text contrasts the king’s act of establishing the land with the man who breaks it down through these payments.
The thread — Judicial fairness sustaining rule appears in Proverbs 20:8 and Proverbs 29:14, while the warning against exploitative taxation parallels Daniel 11:20. The structure links righteous judgment with political stability and oppressive extraction with ruin.
Why it lands — The verse demands that leaders govern through fair judgment to preserve societal order, while warning that heavy-handed taxation actively destroys the communities they rule. Readers must evaluate governance by its structural impact rather than its revenue.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The king by judgment establisheth the land: but he that receiveth gifts overthroweth it.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 29:14 A king who judges the poor with fairness—his throne will be established forever.
- Proverbs 20:8 A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.
- Daniel 11:20 In his place one will arise who will send out a tax collector for the glory of the kingdom; but within a few days he will be destroyed, though not in anger or in battle.
- Micah 7:3 Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- 1 Samuel 13:13 “You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
- 2 Samuel 8:15 Thus David reigned over all Israel and administered justice and righteousness for all his people:
- 1 Kings 2:12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was firmly established.
- 2 Kings 15:18 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and throughout his reign he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit.
- 2 Chronicles 9:8 Blessed be the LORD your God, who has delighted in you to set you on His throne to be king for the LORD your God. Because your God loved Israel enough to establish them forever, He has made you king over them to carry out justice and righteousness.”
- Psalms 89:14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; loving devotion and faithfulness go before You.