Verse 5
"On the day of our king the princes made themselves sick with the heat of wine; he stretched out his hand with scoffers."
Again, the text here is uncertain; but the broad meaning is clear enough. On some festival day, perhaps the king's birthday, or some other notable occasion, even the princes of the realm drank themselves into a state of insensibility; and the king himself "stretched out his hand with scoffers." Here are a few of the ways in which translators have rendered this clause:
He joins in the orgies of arrogant men...New English BibleHe stretched forth his hand with loose fellows...[4]
The hand is stretched out by the host to offer the cup to his fellows.[5] Revelers holding out the cup and drinking to one another's health.[6]
All of these meanings would appear to be included in the passage.
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