Bible Strands
Proverbs 23:30
Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The passage addresses those who remain too long with wine and seek out mixed drinks, situated between a catalog of alcohol-induced sorrows and a warning against visual temptation. The words — מְאַחֲרִים (me'acharim) denotes those who delay or linger, paired with מִמְסָךְ (mimsakh), which literally means a mixed or strained drink. The thread — This pattern of prolonged drinking appears in Isaiah 5:11, which condemns those who linger into evening for strong drink, and echoes Proverbs 20:1 on the destructive nature of alcohol. The New Testament addresses the same behavioral trajectory in Ephesians 5:18 by contrasting drunkenness with Spirit-filled living. Why it lands — The text identifies prolonged engagement with alcoholic beverages as the behavioral precursor to the woe and sorrow listed in the immediate context. It demands a reader to cut off the habit before it produces the stated consequences.
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The Hebrew words
King James Version
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Cross-references
- Ephesians 5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- 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.
- Proverbs 20:1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- Psalms 75:8 For a cup is in the hand of the LORD, full of foaming wine mixed with spices. He pours from His cup, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to the dregs.
- Proverbs 9:2 She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.
- Amos 6:6 You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
- Genesis 9:21 But when he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent.