Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:
Parallel Translations
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Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:
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Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
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Be not among winebibbers; among gluttonous eaters of flesh;
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Proverbs 23:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Luke 21:34 “So be careful, or your hearts will be loaded down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day will come on you suddenly.
- Ephesians 5:18 Don’t be drunken with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,
- Isaiah 5:22 Woe to those who are mighty to drink wine, and champions at mixing strong drink;
- Romans 13:13 Let’s walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy.
- Proverbs 28:7 Whoever keeps the law is a wise son; but he who is a companion of gluttons shames his father.
- Isaiah 5:11 Woe to those who rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, who stay late into the night, until wine inflames them!
- Isaiah 22:13 and behold, joy and gladness, killing cattle and killing sheep, eating meat and drinking wine: “Let’s eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”
- Matthew 24:49 and begins to beat his fellow servants, and eat and drink with the drunkards,
- Luke 15:13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
- 1 Peter 4:3-4 For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries. They think it is strange that you don’t run with them into the same excess of riot, blaspheming.
- Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- Proverbs 23:29-35 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine. Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things. Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging: “They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I don’t feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another.”
- Proverbs 31:6-7 Give strong drink to him who is ready to perish, and wine to the bitter in soul. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
- Luke 16:19 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Hebrew, devourers of flesh.
Hebrew, devourers of flesh.
Hebrew, wine-bibbers.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Pro 23:20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters…
Pro 23:20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
Ver. 20. Be not among wine-bibbers.] Follow not the custom nor company of such; thou knowest not what thou mayest be drawn to do, though of thyself averse to such evil courses. Noah got no good by the luxurious old world {Mat 24:38} with whom he lived; nor Lot by the intemperate Sodomites. {Eze 16:49} Uriah, a good man, was at length persuaded to drink to excess. {2Sa 11:13} "Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall." That evil servant that presumes to "eat and drink with the drunken," shall be cut off in the middle {a} {Mat 24:49}
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Among riotous eaters of flesh.] Among fleshmongers, qui crapulae indulgent, that pamper their paunches, In cute curanda plus aequo operati. See my Common Place of Abstinence. These are all for themselves, as Nabal was. Helluantur sibi carnem - so the Hebrew runs; They ravin up flesh for themselves.
{a} διχοτομησει.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Avoid their conversation and company, lest thou be either…
Avoid their conversation and company, lest thou be either infected or injured by them.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Be not amongst winebibbers,.... Who drink to excess, otherwise…
Be not amongst winebibbers,.... Who drink to excess, otherwise wine may be drank, provided moderation is used; but it is not good to be in company with, excessive drinkers of it, lost a habit of excessive drinking should be acquired;
among riotous eaters of flesh; flesh may be lawfully eaten, but not in a riotous manner, so as to indulge to gluttony and surfeiting; nor should such persons be kept company with that do so, lest their ways should be learned and imitated.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. Be not among winebibbers] There is much…
Verse 20. Be not among winebibbers] There is much of this chapter spent in giving directions concerning eating, drinking, and entertainments in general.
First, the pupil is directed relative to the manner in which he is to conduct himself in his visits to the tables of the rich and great.
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2. Relative to the covetous, and his intercourse with them. And
3. To public entertainments, where there were generally riot and debauch. The reasons, says Calmet, which induced the wise man to give these directions were,
1. The useless expense.
2. The loss of time.
3. The danger from bad company. And
4. The danger of contracting irregular habits, and of being induced to lead a voluptuous and effeminate life.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Eat. Such feasts tend to corrupt the morals, and…
Eat. Such feasts tend to corrupt the morals, and to misspend time.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain riotous . . . flesh--prodigal, or eating more than…
riotous . . . flesh--prodigal, or eating more than necessary. Instead of "their flesh" (compare Margin), better, "flesh to them," that is, used for pleasure.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20, 21. Winebibbers — That is, persons who drink…
20, 21. Winebibbers — That is, persons who drink excessively.
Riotous eaters of flesh — Muenscher says”Prodigal of flesh for themselves.” “Prodigal of flesh for their gratification.” — Stuart. Some render: Prodigal of their own flesh or bodies — wasting their bodies in debauch. Pro_23:21, where drunkard and glutton correspond to the terms “winebibbers” and “eaters of flesh” of Pro_23:20, seems to fix the sense. Compare Pro_5:9; Pro_5:11; Pro_31:3. “The full force of the expression ‘prodigal of flesh’ cannot be felt except in a country like Palestine, where animal food does not enter into the ordinary diet of the people, and where it is esteemed a real luxury, and, as such, occasionally indulged in to great excess.” — Muenscher. Comp. Deu_21:19-20; Pro_7:14; Pro_9:11; Pro_15:17; Rom_13:13; Eph_5:18.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. riotous] Rather, gluttonous, as the same word is…
20. riotous] Rather, gluttonous, as the same word is rendered in Pro_23:21 and Deu_21:20, A.V.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Wine bibbers; persons who meet together for the express…
Wine bibbers; persons who meet together for the express purpose of drinking intoxicating liquors. Among riotous eaters of flesh. The Hebrew is "of flesh for themselves," whence some take the meaning to be "of their own flesh," i.e. who by their gluttony and luxury ruin their own bodies. But tile parallelism with the wine drinker shows plainly that the flesh which they eat is meant, and the idea is that they eat for the gratification of their own appetites, caring nothing for anything else. The combination of glutton and wine bibber was used as a reproach against our blessed Lord. (Mat_11:19) The versions of Jerome and the LXX point to the contributed entertainments, where each guest brought some article to the meal, like our picnics. Thus Vulgate, "Be not among parties of drinkers, nor at the banquets of those who contribute flesh to eat;" Septuagint. "Be not a wine bibber, and strain not after contributed feasts (sumbolaiv ) and purchases of meats.
Vers. 20, 21. See below. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain v. 20. Be not among winebibbers, those given to…
v. 20. Be not among winebibbers, those given to intemperance in drinking, among riotous eaters of flesh, for these two forms of intemperance are usually found together;
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.