Bible Strands

Proverbs 23:29

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The wisdom teacher addresses the reader between a warning about a seductive woman lying in wait and a description of those who linger over wine. The rhetorical questions target anyone engaging in prolonged drinking.

The words — א֥וֹי ('o) translates to "woe," and מִדְיָנִ֨ים (mi.do.nim) means "contentions." These terms frame the destructive outcomes of the behavior described.

The thread — The consequences of drunkenness appear in 1 Samuel 25:36, where Nabal holds a king-like feast in high spirits, and 2 Samuel 13:28, where Absalom waits for Amnon to become merry with wine. Ephesians 5:18 contrasts this by warning against wine-fueled reckless indiscretion.

Why it lands — The verse demands the reader acknowledge that prolonged drinking inevitably produces woe, sorrow, and physical harm. It requires a deliberate choice to stop lingering over wine before these consequences materialize.

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

לְמִ֨יle./Mi[belongs] to/ whom?א֥וֹי'owoeלְמִ֪יle./Mi[belongs] to/ whom?אֲב֡וֹי'a.Vowoe!לְמִ֤יle./Mi[belong] to/ whom?מִדְיָנִ֨יםmi.do.nimcontentionsלְמִ֥יle./Mi[belongs] to/ whom?שִׂ֗יחַSi.achcomplaintלְ֭מִיLe./mi[belong] to/ whom?פְּצָעִ֣יםpe.tza.'Imwoundsחִנָּ֑םchi.Namwithout causeלְ֝מִ֗יle./Mi[belongs] to/ whom?חַכְלִל֥וּתchakh.li.Lutdullness ofעֵינָֽיִם׃'ei.Na.yimeyes

King James Version

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

Cross-references