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Selected Verse: Proverbs 20:1 - King James
| Verse |
Translation |
Text |
| Pr 20:1 |
King James |
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
| A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
(Pro. 20:1-30)
mocker--scorner. Such men are made by wine.
strong drink--made by spicing wine (compare Isa 5:11, Isa 5:22); and it may include wine.
raging--or boisterous as a drunkard.
deceived--literally, "erring," or reeling. |
| Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
| "Wine" and "strong drink" are personified as themselves doing what they make men do. The latter (see Lev 10:9 note) is here, probably, the "palm-wine" of Syria. |
| Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
This proverb warns against the debauchery with which free-thinking is intimately associated.
Wine is a mocker, mead boisterous;
And no one who is overtaken thereby is wise.
The article stands with יין. Ewald maintains that in 10:1-22:6 the article occurs only here and at Pro 21:31, and that it is here, as the lxx shows, not original. Both statements are incorrect. The article is found, e.g., at Pro 19:6; Pro 18:18, Pro 18:17, and here the personification of "wine" requires it; but that it is wanting to שׁכר shows how little poetry delights in it; it stands once for twice. The effects of wine and mead (שׁכר from שׁכר, to stop, obstruct, become stupid) are attributed to these liquors themselves as their property. Wine is a mocker, because he who is intoxicated with it readily scoffs at that which is holy; mead is boisterous (cf. הומיּה, Pro 7:11), because he who is inebriated in his dissolute madness breaks through the limits of morality and propriety. He is unwise who, through wine and the like, i.e., overpowered by it (cf. Sa2 13:28), staggers, i.e., he gives himself up to wine to such a degree that he is no longer master of himself. At Pro 5:19 we read, שׁגה ב, of the intoxication of love; here, as at Isa 28:7, of the intoxication of wine, i.e., of the passionate slavish desire of wine or for wine. The word "Erpicht" [avidissimus], i.e., being indissolubly bound to a thing, corresponds at least in some degree to the idea. Fleischer compares the French: tre fou de quelque chose. Isa 28:7, however, shows that one has to think on actual staggering, being overtaken in wine. |
| Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
| A mocker - Wine immoderately drunk makes men mockers. Raging - Makes men full of rage. |
| Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Wine is a mocker - It deceives by its fragrance, intoxicates by its strength, and renders the intoxicated ridiculous.
Strong drink - שכר shechar, any strong fermented liquor, whether of the vine, date, or palm species. |
22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
28 Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon's heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.
11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:
17 He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.
18 The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.
6 Many will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.
31 The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.