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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Proverbs 23:29-35

Solomon here gives fair warning against the sin of drunkenness, to confirm what he had said, Prov. 23:20. I. He cautions all people to keep out of the way of temptations to this sin (Prov. 23:31): Look not thou upon the wine when it is red. Red wine was in Canaan looked upon as the best wine, it is therefore called the blood of the grape. Critics judge of wine, among other indications, by the colour of it; some wine, they say, looks charmingly, looks so well that it even says, ?Come and drink... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 23:29

Who hath woe ?.... In this world and in the other, in body and soul; diseases of body, distress of mind, waste of substance, and all manner of evils and calamities; if any man has these, the drunkard has: from whoredom, the Holy Ghost proceeds to drunkenness, which generally go together; and dissuades from it, by observing the mischiefs that come by it; who hath sorrow ? through pains of body, with the headache, &c.; or through the agonies of the mind, and tortures of conscience, for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 23:30

They that tarry long at the wine ,.... At drinking it. Do not care to stir from it when at it; spend whole days and nights in it, and are overcome by it, and so bring upon them all the above evils; they that go to seek mixed wine , not wine mixed with water, as used commonly by temperate people in hot countries; but either mixed with spices, to make it more palatable, or with different sorts of wine, some very strong, and more heady and intoxicating; or mere wine meant; wine "poured... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 23:31

Look not thou upon the wine when it is red ,.... Or, "because it is red" F18 כי "quia", some in Mercerus, Gejerus. ; or shows itself red. Which was the only wine used in the land of Canaan, or, however, the most esteemed of, and that most of art which had the best colour; when it had a good, bright, red colour, or sparkled, and looked bright and beautiful, so the word signifies; and then it should not be looked upon: not that it is unlawful to look upon the colour of wine, and... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 23:32

At the last it biteth like a serpent ,.... Though it goes down sweetly, yet it leaves a sting behind it, intemperately drank; a nausea in the stomach, a stink in the breath, pains and giddiness in the head, weakness in the eyes, trembling in the members of the body, palsy, gout, and other distempers, very painful and grievous to be bore; and, what is worse, if the conscience is awakened, sharp and cutting reflections there; and, without true repentance, torments intolerable in the world to... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 23:33

Thine eyes shall behold strange women ,.... Being inflamed with wine, shall look upon women, other men's wives, and lust after them; or harlots, whom seeking after or meeting with, when in their cups, are drawn into their embraces; excess of wine leads to whoredom F23 "Vina parant animos Veneri", Ovid. de Arte Amandi, l. 1. . So Aben Ezra supplies the word "women", and Jarchi interprets it to this sense; but the Targum renders it, "strange things"; and so many others: a drunken man,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 23:34

Yea, thou shall be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea ,.... Not in the open sea, and the waves of it, there fluctuating and tossed about; nor in an island encompassed by sea; but in a ship at sea, a drunken man reels and tumbles about, just as a ship does at sea; hence the motions and agitations of it, and of the men in it, are compared to the reeling and staggering of a drunken man, Psalm 107:26 ; or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast : where the motion is the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Proverbs 23:35

They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick ,.... Or "grieved not" F24 בל חליתי "non dolui", Tigurine version, Michaelis. ; or was not wounded or skin broken F25 Schultens Orig. Heb. l. 1. c. 9. s. 20. ; see Jeremiah 5:3 . The drunken man is here represented as saying, that though his companions, with whom he quarrelled and fought in his drunken frolics, beat him very much, yet he was not sensible of the pain and smart; and it had left no sickness nor... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 23:29

Who hath wo? - I believe Solomon refers here to the natural effects of drunkenness. And perhaps אוי oi , which we translate wo, and אבוי aboi , which we translate sorrow, are mere natural sounds or vociferations that take place among drunken men, either from illness, or the nauseating effects of too much liquor. As to contentions among such, babblings on a variety of subjects, which they neither understand nor are fit to discuss; wounds, got by falling out about nothing; and red... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Proverbs 23:31

Look not thou upon the wine - Let neither the color, the odour, the sparkling, etc., of the wine, when poured out, induce thee to drink of it. However good and pure it may be, it will to thee be a snare, because thou art addicted to it, and hast no self-command. read more

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