Bible Strands
Proverbs 23:21
For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker, a wisdom teacher addressing a younger listener, issues this warning within a parental instruction sequence. The text states that joining those who drink too much wine or gorge on meat leads to ruin.
The words — The Hebrew סֹבֵא (so.be) literally denotes a habitual drunkard, and זוֹלֵל (zo.lel) specifies a glutton who devours food. The verb יִוָּרֵשׁ (yi.va.res) literally means he will become impoverished or dispossessed.
The thread — This warning runs parallel to Proverbs 21:17, which links the love of pleasure and wine to poverty, and Proverbs 19:15, which connects idleness and deep sleep to hunger. Philippians 3:19 applies the same principle to those whose god is their belly.
Why it lands — The text states that drowsiness will clothe the drunkard and glutton in rags, establishing a direct causal link between indulgence and destitution. It requires the reader to reject compulsive consumption and passive inactivity in favor of deliberate self-control.
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
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
Cross-references
- Proverbs 21:17 He who loves pleasure will become poor; the one who loves wine and oil will never be rich.
- Proverbs 19:15 Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.
- Philippians 3:19 Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
- Deuteronomy 21:20 and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”
- Proverbs 6:9 How long will you lie there, O slacker? When will you get up from your sleep?
- 1 Corinthians 5:11 But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
- Galatians 5:21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
- Proverbs 24:30 I went past the field of a slacker and by the vineyard of a man lacking judgment.
- Joel 1:5 Wake up, you drunkards, and weep; wail, all you drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine, for it has been cut off from your mouth.
- 1 Corinthians 6:10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.