Bible Strands
Proverbs 23:20
Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker addresses his son to guide his heart on the right course, immediately issuing a direct prohibition against close association with specific types of people.
The words — The Hebrew phrase אַל־ ('al-) תְּהִ֥י (tehi) literally commands "may not you be," while סֹֽבְאֵי יָ֑יִן (sove'i yayin) and זֹלֲלֵי בָשָׂר (zolei basar) denote "drunkards of wine" and "gluttons of meat."
The thread — The warning against excess parallels the New Testament caution against dissipation and drunkenness in Luke 21:34 and Ephesians 5:18, while echoing the Old Testament condemnation of drinking champions in Isaiah 5:22.
Why it lands — The text commands the reader to avoid fellowship with people defined by uncontrolled consumption, establishing a clear behavioral boundary for practical wisdom.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
Cross-references
- Luke 21:34 But watch yourselves, or your hearts will be weighed down by dissipation, drunkenness, and the worries of life—and that day will spring upon you suddenly like a snare.
- Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- Isaiah 5:22 Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing strong drink,
- Romans 13:13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
- Proverbs 28:7 A discerning son keeps the law, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.
- Isaiah 5:11 Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
- Isaiah 22:13 But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
- Matthew 24:49 And he begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.
- Luke 15:13 After a few days, the younger son got everything together and journeyed to a distant country, where he squandered his wealth in wild living.
- 1 Peter 4:3 For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.