Take away the dross from silver,And it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.
Take away the wicked from before the king,And his throne will be established in righteousness.
Proverbs 25:4–5 · NKJVPart of Dross from Silver, Proverbs 25:4–5.
Quick answer
Same instruction, different material. Clear the wicked out of the king's presence and the throne itself becomes stable.
Read the whole unit
Read the whole unit
The two verses open with the identical Hebrew verb, הָגוֹ, take away, which is what makes them one saying rather than two. The first is the picture and the second is the point, and the reader is expected to make the move without being told.
What the image contributes is precision about where the problem sits. Dross is not around the silver, it is in it, mixed through, and it has to be separated before anything can be made. So the wicked in verse 5 are not enemies outside the gates; they are the courtiers, advisers, and officials standing in front of the throne, and the throne cannot be stable while they are there. Note also what the removal produces in each half. Not a purer lump of metal but jewelry, something useful and beautiful; not merely a safer king but a throne established בַּצֶּדֶק, in righteousness. The saying is not about punishment. It is about what becomes possible once the contamination is gone.
What this verse contributes
the application, and the outcome. A throne is held up by what it refuses to keep close.
The other half
Get the impurity out of the silver and a craftsman can make something of it. The verse is a metallurgy note that turns out to be about a government.
Related: Proverbs 16:12 · Proverbs 20:8 · Proverbs 20:26 · Proverbs 17:3
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.