Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 23:31
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, [when] it moveth itself aright.
31. moveth itself aright ] So R.V. marg.; but R.V. text, goeth down smoothly, as the same expression is rendered in Song of Solomon, Son 7:9 [Hebrews 10 ], A.V. and R.V.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 31. Look not thou upon the wine] Let neither the colour, the odour, the sparkling, &c., of the wine, when poured out, induce thee to drink of it. However good and pure it may be, it will to thee be a snare, because thou art addicted to it, and hast no self-command.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Look not thou upon the wine earnestly, so as to inflame thine appetite towards it; in which sense men are forbidden to look upon a woman, Job 31:1; Mat 5:28.
When it is red; which was the colour of the best wines in that country, which therefore are called blood, Gen 49:11; Deu 32:14; and such were used by them in the passover.
When it moveth itself aright; when it sparkleth and frisketh, and seems to smile upon a man.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
31. when . . . redthe colordenoting greater strength (compare Gen 49:11;Deu 32:14).
giveth . . . cupliterally,”gives its eye,” that is, sparkles.
moveth . . . arightPerhapsits foaming is meant.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,…. Or, “because it is red” r; or shows itself red. Which was the only wine used in the land of Canaan, or, however, the most esteemed of, and that most of art which had the best colour; when it had a good, bright, red colour, or sparkled, and looked bright and beautiful, so the word signifies; and then it should not be looked upon: not that it is unlawful to look upon the colour of wine, and thereby judge of its goodness; but it should not be looked upon with a greedy eye, so as vehemently to desire it, which will lead to an intemperate use of it; just as looking upon a woman, so as to lust after her, is forbidden, Mt 5:28;
when it giveth his colour in the cup: or, its eye in the cup s; such a bright, brisk, and beautiful colour, as is like a bright and sparkling eye. Here is a various reading; it is written in the text, “in the purse” t; it is read in the margin, “in the cup”; and Jarchi’s note takes in both,
“he that drinks wine sets his eye on the cup; and the vintner sets his on his purse;”
[when] it moveth itself aright; sparkles in the glass, or goes down the throat pleasantly; or rather looks well to the eye, and appears right and good, and promises a great deal of satisfaction and delight.
r “quia”, some in Mercerus, Gejerus. s “oculum suum”, Montanus, Gejerus, Michaelis. t “in crumena, vel marsupio”, Mercerus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
THE TEMPTER AND TIPPLING
Pro 23:31-32
I WANT to speak to you this evening on Tippling; and while it is my purpose to cover the whole subject, the discussion will have special reference to another of the sins now common in so-called good society.
The text of this evening is uttered by the worlds greatest philosopher. In the wisdom of his utterances, he takes a place second only to the Son of God. Solomon was perhaps the one individual of all past time whose intensive experience, intellectual ability, personal and political opportunities, fitted him to speak upon subjects of great moral concern.
This Book of the Proverbs is the inspired record of his statements, and upon the social vice of tippling, our text was his deliverance.
Three things are clearly suggested by it. The first is his appeal for total abstinence; the second is his description of our insidious temptation; and the third is his deliverance on the terrible end of wine-bibbing.
TOTAL ABSTINENCE
If Solomon is to be accepted as speaking words of wisdom upon this subject, or, if the Scriptures are to be received as authoritative upon things to which they address themselves, then three things concerning total abstinence are clear.
Temperance is not total abstinence. There are not a few of our social tipplers who know one passage of Scripture, if they know no more, Be temperate in all things. Any intelligent study of the Word of God will show that the Bible asks us to be temperate in all good things; total abstainers from all bad things! To even hint that the Bible suggests temperance in sin is to contort its teachings. We belong with the company of those who believe in the temperate use of all good things. To us, Prof. Flynns statement that lots of people were drunken through their eating, was in no wise objectionable. Of course the stupor of inordinate eating is not so great, and the insanity not so noticeable; and yet, that many of us eat too much, may hardly be denied. Sydney Smith once humorously said, According to my own computation I have eaten and drunk between my seventh and seventieth year, forty-four wagon-loads more than was good for me.
It is stated on what seems to be good historical authority, that Vitellius exemplified this fact, also, by eating a round thousand of oysters at a single sitting. And when his appetite lagged a bit he adopted the abominable fashion of the hour, and tickled his palate with a peacock-feather in order to make room for new indulgence. Still, I confess to you I would rather travel with, and live with a man who lived as Seneca used to, eating a few hundred oysters at a time and blaming the delicious mollusks for his indigestion, than to spend ten minutes in an observation car where some fellow puffs his tobacco smoke, which has gotten too bad to remain longer in his mouth, into my face, inasmuch as two drops of tobacco oil will throw a cat into convulsions. No! The Bible teaches temperance in good things; total abstinence from bad things!
We never hear a man, or a woman for that matter, talking about temperance in all things when we know it is in self-defense of the tippling habit, but we are reminded of the minister who dwelt in the Highlands of Scotland in the day when tippling was also permitted to the parish preacher. This particular pastor found one of his parishioners drunk one day, and reproved him. The guilty one confessed, but said that he did not drink as much as the parson. When the preacher expressed surprise, Jim answered, Ye take a glass of whiskey and water after dinner, and ye take another toddy just before retiring! Yes, to help digestion and to promote sleep, said the minister. Well, continued Jim, thats just fourteen glasses a week, or about sixty every month. I only get paid off once a month, and then, if I were to take sixty glasses, they would leave me dead or at least drunk for a week. Now, ye see the only difference is that ye time your drinking better than I do!
In fact, that is the only difference between many a society sister and the poor fellow who could not find his way from the blind pig to his lodging last nightshe times it better.
Tippling is not total abstinence. There are quite a few people who think that regular drinking is wrong, but an occasional tippling, just to celebrate a certain occasion, is not objectionable. The wisest thing I ever heard on the subject of drink was, Young men, I have a prescription for you which, if you adopt, will make a drunkards grave an impossibility; will make even a single spree an impossibility. It is this, never take the first drink! Can any man imagine what blessing, and even peace, could be brought to our world if its youth had sense enough to see the wisdom of that sentence, and to follow it once for all?
A writer from England says, Some years ago it was my privilege to visit the Haworth parsonage, once the home of the famous Bronte family, the home where Charlotte and her sister wrote their interesting books. The hope of that house was centered in Branwell, the bright, intelligent brother. The sisters fondly expected that Branwell, by his artistic skill, would make the name of Bronte famous, and they were ready to go from home and earn their own livelihood, that the father might spend the more on Branwells education.
Near to the Haworth parsonage was the Black Bull Inn and when the landlord was in want of some one to entertain his customers he called in the clergymans son. One day he tasted drink for the first time, afterwards tippling a bit, and finally he became a drunkard, and the writer continues, That terrible Black Bull impaled him upon its horns, tossed him up for sport, then left him bruised and broken, to endure suffering, shame and death. Insobriety, which often begins with the invitation to a social glass, is the short road to Perdition!
Taste not: touch not is total abstinence, and it is also Sacred Scripture (Col 2:21). Theodore Cuyler, famed for saying many expressive things, spake the truth concerning the Christians attitude toward this whole matter when he said, Nineteen centuries of sin and shame, and of soul-slaughter, have taught Christs Church that she can never be a nursing mother to her children while she mixes the sincere milk of the Gospel with one poison drop of Satans brewing.
But the appeal for total abstinence on the part of the sober man is more easy than the practice of the same upon the part of intemperate society. Solomon admits as much, and by this text suggests
THE INSIDIOUS TEMPTATION
Three features of the social glass he holds before us.
Its color is a sort of decoy. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red. Those of us who hunt ducks know the value of a decoy. It will draw them from the sky within range of the deadly gun. Even a duck has sense enough to learn, after he has been touched by a few shot, that he is not to tarry around everything that is attractive, that he is not to seek social fellowship at the possible cost of life. Drinking men and women know less than ducks; they have seen the slain by the thousands round about the cup of red wine, and yet they settle beside them, to lay their lips to the same!
Its sparkle is also insidious. When it sparkleth in the cup. Perhaps we have not stopped to think what the foam that gathers on the beer, or the sparkle that arises in the wine cup, suggests? People sometimes say that if God did not want them to drink, He would not have made liquor. God never made alcohol. He is the Author of life not of Death. The latter is the devils work, and alcohol is always not only death, but degradation.
Dr. A. J. Gordon says, Chemists pronounce that fermentation is death, and he refused on that account to have any fermented wine administered in his church in connection with the sacred communion service. What chemists pronounce, human experience abundantly attests. Sparkling liquors have sent men and women to the most disreputable graves ever seen upon the face of the earth. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red.
Its smooth taste is also a temptation. In old Kentucky where I grew up, they had a custom of keeping whiskey for a long time, contending that it grew more oily in the course of years. The Bible speaks of the oil of gladness; intemperance tells the story of the oil of sorrow. And what a sorrow it is! The mother who sits over a card-table, tippling between turn and tricks, little imagines the harvest of sorrow which she may be sowing; and the father who is only fitted for duties by the stimulus of a toddy, takes a path, which, if the lads follow, will land them in the pit. I had an enclosed card from a friend a day or two ago, on the end of which was pasted a little clipping to the little three-year-old in the house, Come in here now; I want you to be a good boy to-day. If you are not good you wont go to Heaven! To which he replied, I dont want to go to Heaven; I want to go with my Father. And, seriously, that father whose steps lead to intemperance, may one day find himself being tracked to hell by the very babe who was the joy of his young manhood, the hope of his mature years, but who will become, under his intemperate tutelage, the occasion of his weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth through all eternity.
The result of tippling is additional temptation. When Solomon said, Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, when it goeth down smoothly he plainly suggested the circumstance that there is no stopping place for the man or woman who once becomes at all intemperate. This truthit is hard to get into the head. The average man or woman begins life with the conceit of personal superiority and says, I can quit when I want to. I listened to a man in Kentucky who told me proudly that he had quit. In proof of his established position he said, A few days since a couple of my old friends caught me in front of a saloon and dragged me up to the bar and filled a glass for me. When it was full to the brim, I said, Gentlemen, you can put a $1,000 bill under it, if you want to and it will not tempt me. But in less than six months that man was back to his cups again.
Campbell Morgan, in one of his sermons, paints the power of intemperance, when once a man has fallen into that custom. He was a member of Morgans congregation, a fellow of splendid parts, who now and then broke loose and went on a drunk. After one of these drinking bouts Mr. Morgan called upon him to cease from this evil custom. Looking upon Morgan with disdain in his face the mark not of unkindness, but of inward agony, he said, Mr. Morgan, what is the good of your talking to me? You dont know anything about this passion for drink; you dont know what it means! When the thirst is on me, if you put a glass of wine on that table, and standing on the other side of it, you told me that if I touched it you would shoot me, and I knew that hell lay the other side of the bullet, I would drink that wine! And, as Morgan remarked, That is not a mere fanaticism. There is many a man in that condition.
The work of the Church of God then, is largely with youth. Our business is not so much the reformation of men as their proper formation; not so much getting them out of sin as keeping them out of temptation, and the business of the man who uses his brain is not that of devising schemes for the cure of the liquor habit, but that of resisting the insidious temptation of the social cup which may be passed by the dainty, dimpled and diamond-bedecked hand of a sister; which may be set at the side of the plate in the fathers house, which may be passed about when you are spending a social evening, or which may be in its more accustomed setting of the accursed saloon. Look not thou upon the wine…. turn from it, pass away! But Solomon has not ceased his injunction as yet.
It remains for him to describe
THE TERRIBLE TERMINATION
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Strong drink is the occasion of all sorrow. It matters little whether it be physical disability, moral degradation, or spiritual disaster, strong drink can accomplish each and everyone. An old tramp, tousled and grimy, used to peddle on the Bowery the following poem with these words
Not copyrightedno ownerbut the Truth
He took a bottle up to bed,
Drank whisky hot each night,
Drank cocktails in the morning,
But never could get light.
He shivered in the evening,
And always had the blues,
Until he took a bowl or two
But he never blamed the booze.
His joints were full of rheumatiz
His appetite was slack,
He had pains between his shoulders,
And chills ran down his back,
He suffered from insomnia,
And at night he couldnt snooze
He said it was the climate
But never blamed the booze.
His constitution was run down
At least, thats what he said
His legs were swelled each morning,
And he often had swelled head.
He tackled beer, wine, whiskey,
And if they didnt fuse
He blamed it to dyspepsia
But he never blamed the booze.
He said he couldnt sleep at nights,
And always had bad dreams;
He claimed he always laid awake
Till early sunrise beams.
He thought it was malaria
Alas, twas but a ruse
He blamed it onto everything
But he never blamed the booze.
His liver needed scraping,
And his kidneys had the gout;
He swallowed lots of bitters,
Till at last he cleaned them out.
His legs were swelled with dropsy,
Till he had to cut his shoes;
He blamed it to the doctors
But he never blamed the booze.
Then he had the tremens,
And he tackled rats and snakes;
First he had the fever,
And then he had the shakes.
At last he had a funeral,
And the mourners had the blues,
And the epitaph they carved for him was
He never blamed the booze.
Describe for me any grief that has overtaken man to break his heart, darken his character, embrute his nature, and bury him in a disreputable grave, and I will bring to you ten thousand instances in which strong drink has done the same. It has dried up the milk of human kindness; it has distorted the features of the face; it has befoiled the intellect; it has bedraggled the appearance; it has broken the heart; it has banished hope; it has turned beautiful homes into terrible hells; it has made loving wives living, cowardly slaves; and incited in the breasts of little children a fear of father and mother. No form of poverty but it has imposed; no conceivable disgrace but it has wrought; no grave so dark but it has dug a deeper one; no death so dismal but the death of its victims has exceeded it; no soul so deeply destroyed in hell but it has sent to lower depths.
It incites to all social vice. Solomon realized that so long ago as his day; and you will notice that he precedes this appeal to total abstinence by the description of the harlot, and follows it by an enumeration of those social vices which are today undermining state and nation. At this present moment the drinking place, run in violation of all law, is associated with every conceivable sinlust, robbery, murder; these find the drinking place an incubator.
We are compelled, therefore, to believe as Dr. George Lorimer once said, This incessant whitewashing, dressing, and cookering of sin, is a snare and a curse. The man who wittingly furnishes a drunkard with drink is vile enough to please Satan and all his impish satellites, but his wickedness detracts nothing from the crime of him who willingly becomes his victim. We have no more right to say The poor adulterer, or the poor murderer, than the poor drunkard, Why should we fondle the former while we decry the latter? May they not all have inherited tendencies, weaknesses, infirmities? Why should the theory of disease be made so much of in the one case, and be so lightly regarded in the others? Evidently an unfair discrimination is made by some persons in favor of the drunkard as against other transgressors of Gods law; but in my judgment, founded on Holy Writ, they stand on a common level of criminality; and while our pity should be equally given to all in our desire to recover them from their wickedness and misery, our firm condemnation should be equally expressed against all in the exercise of the same Christlike desire.
Seneca, he continues, defines drunkenness as Voluntary madness, Douglas Jerrold described it as the epitome of all crime. While Shakespeare rivals them all in his sharp judgment, Every inordinate cup is unblessed, and the ingredient is a devil.
The day we preach to young men that drinking is not a disease, but is the devils scheme for their utter destruction; and the day we tell our society women that their tippling customs are a disgust to all decent men and an offense to a righteous God, we will have at last exploited the theory that is at once true and looks to the total abstinence demanded by our text. When, years ago, the saloons were driven out of Atlanta, Ga., gambling ceased, harlots quit the streets, policemen were almost out of a job; but the illegal sale of liquor will never come to an end as long as private tippling is indulged and defended. The blind pig is only the post-graduate work for those who have had their primary training in private parties, where the wine cup was socially approved and employed.
The end is the serpents bitedeath! I have been told by people in the South that there is no more agonizing death than that which results from the venom of the adder or viper. I know, and you know, that in human experience, there is no death so agonizing as that which results from strong drink, and that agony is increased in proportion to the wealth of the character destroyed. Years ago, when I was pastor in New Albany, Ind., I aided Dr. Cloakey a bit in gathering statistics for his little volume Dying at the Top. You may remember the instance of J. J. Talbot, I have employed it in this pulpit and published it in another volume, but I do not want to conclude to-night with the recital of such an incident lest I leave discouragement upon some man, or some woman, upon whom the drink habit has a hold. I believe there is salvation from all sinfrom even this sin. There are men in the membership of this church who a few years since were utterly hopeless. Strong drink had so far discouraged their spirits that they regarded hell as inevitable. Today they walk the streets in perfect sobriety; no lips can sing songs of greater joy than those which well up from their hearts. They knew once what it was to be discouraged, they know now what it is to be redeemed!
Ernest Gordon, in his life of his father, refers to -that marvelous dream in which Dr. Gordon thought he saw Jesus enter his church and sit in Pew No. 40. And Ernest says, Directly behind that pew, next to the door, is where, not in a dream, but in sad reality, father found the lost sheep. He had not strayed in by accident; he had been bleating about the fold for some hours, with the vague hope of finding help. But Satan, with the premonition that he was about to be deprived of his prey, had made a last desperate effort to retain him. Call a policeman. Take him away to the lockup, would no doubt have been the words of some, but not so with that gracious pastor, he pled with God and by His power undertook and accomplished the impossible; and Ernest says, That wretched specimen of ruined humanity became through the miracle of conversion, a most extraordinary example of the transforming and sustaining power of Gods Spirit. For seventeen long years the man here referred to has, in the Divine strength, been kept from falling. The slave was freed, his family reunited in Christian fellowship. No testimony has been more eloquent, because of its evident truth and because of its note of thankfulness, than this mans, so unfailingly given in the evening meetings of the church. In season and out of season, at the shop and among the squalid wrecks at mission meetings, has he borne witness to Gods presence. And even on Boston Common, where Whitfield preached to the multitudes of an earlier generation with such power that tears might be seen on every cheek, the pitiable drunkard, now clean and whole and in his right mind, may be found on warm afternoons in the leafy months, setting forth the Gospel of Christ to the motley crowds about him.
Aye, yes, degraded man; you may Le redeemed! My poor sister, long praying for your husband, he may be redeemed! My sorrowing mother, praying for your boy, he may be redeemed!
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
(31) When it giveth its colour.Or sparkles.
When it moveth itself aright.Or, when it glides easily down the throat.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
31. When it is red Reddens itself, or becomes ruddy “ruby wine.” The juice of certain kinds of grapes is red when it ferments and becomes intoxicating.
When it giveth his colour Literally, his eye.
In the cup Sparkles or bubbles when poured out or shaken; “carries a bead.” which is regarded to be an indication of the strength and quality of the liquor. Some wines are celebrated for their brilliant appearance as those of Lebanon, which were said to be of a rich golden colour. Red wines are most esteemed in the East.
When it moveth itself aright Some think this refers to the effect of fermentation. Others read: “When it goeth down smoothly” or “pleasantly” with a bland or smooth sensation on the palate. Conant thinks this not sustained. But the Speaker’s Commentary says, that the word here, and in Son 8:9, “describes the pellucid stream flowing pleasantly from the wine skin or jug into the goblet or throat.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
v. 31. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Pro 23:31. Look not thou upon the wine, &c. Red wine is more esteemed in the east than white; and we are told in the travels of Olearius, that it is customary with the Armenian Christians in Persia, to put Brazil wood or saffron into their wine, to give it a higher colour, when the wine is not so red as they like; they making no account of white wine. He mentions the same thing also in another place. These accounts of their putting Brazil wood or saffron into such their wines to give them a deeper red, seem to discover an energy of the Hebrew word yithaddam, here used, as I never saw remarked any where. It is of the conjugation called hithpael, which, according to grammarians denotes an action that turns upon the agent itself: it is not always, it may be accurately observed, but in this case it should seem that it ought to be, taken according to the strictness of grammar, and that it intimates the wine’s making itself redder, by something put into it. Look not upon the wine when it maketh itself red. It appears indeed from Isa 63:2 that some of the wines about Judea were naturally red; but so are those wines in Persia, only more deeply tinged by art; and this colouring is apparently to make it more grateful and tempting to the eye. See the Observations, p. 191.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Pro 23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, [when] it moveth itself aright.
Ver. 31. Look not thou upon the wine. ] Many men die of the wound in the eye. It is not unlawful to look; but because of looking comes lusting, therefore laws are to be laid upon our looks; Vitiis nobis in animum per oculos est via, saith Quintilian. If we do not let in sin at the window of the eye, or by the door of the ear, it cannot enter into our hearts.
When it moveth itself aright.
a Beehive of Rome, Preface.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
his colour = its sparkle.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Pro 23:31-32
Pro 23:31-32
“Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup. When it goeth down smoothly: At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder.”
The very nature of alcohol is a strong argument against the drinking of any of it. The burning liquors of the present day are far more deadly and dangerous than were those of antiquity. “Social drinking easily turns into alcoholism; why then should people practice that which so rapidly enslaves hundreds of thousands”? Alcoholism is not a disease; it is the result of drinking; and in the history of the world no one ever became an alcoholic without drinking! It should be noted that nothing in the Word of God either recommends or tolerates “moderate drinking.” “Moderate drinking” is a myth circulated by the liquor companies. “Moderate drinking” is only one of the earlier stages of becoming a drunkard.
Pro 23:31. On red, Pulpit Commentary says, The wine of Palestine was chiefly red. Drinkers like the color; they like the sparkle in the glass; they like the taste. On going down smoothly, Pulpit Commentary: The wine pleases the palate, and passes over it without roughness or harshness. This verse is a commandment to keep away from wine to avoid even the temptation to drink, for to avoid drinking wine the verse says, Dont even look upon it. The only way to keep out of any bad habit is to stay as far from it as one can while depending upon God to help him.
Pro 23:32. No thinking person would ever start drinking if he considered the end of it. The booze companies dont tell him how it will end. The fellows who offer him his first drink and will laugh at him if he doesnt take it arent thinking of drinks bitter end. But godly people are known for seeing what something produces, where it leads, and where it ends before they do it. Indeed wine biteth like a serpent, and it stingeth like an adder; yet the habit is far from dying out. Pulpit Commentary: Wine is like the subtle poison of a serpent, which affects the whole body, and produces the most fatal consequences. Septuagint: At the last he stretches himself like one stricken by a serpent, and the venom is diffused through him as by a horned snake.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Pro 6:25, 2Sa 11:2, Job 33:1, Psa 119:37, Mat 5:28-30, Mar 9:47, 1Jo 2:16
Reciprocal: Gen 9:21 – and was Gen 19:32 – drink Jos 7:21 – I saw Job 31:1 – a covenant Psa 101:3 – set Pro 7:25 – thine Pro 9:17 – Stolen
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Pro 23:31-32. Look not thou upon the wine Earnestly, so as to inflame thine appetite toward it; in which sense men are forbidden to look upon a woman, Job 31:1; Mat 5:28. When it is red Which was the colour of the best wines in that country, which therefore are called blood, Gen 49:11; Deu 32:14; and such were used by them in the passover. Red wine, it appears, is still more esteemed in the East than white. And, according to Olearius, in his account of his travels, it is customary with the Armenian Christians, in Persia, to put Brazil wood or saffron into their wine, to give it a higher colour, when it is not so red as they wish, as they make no account of white wine. At the last it biteth like a serpent, &c. It hurts the body in many respects, impairs the vigour of the mind, wastes the estate, stains the character, wounds the conscience, and, without repentance, destroys the soul. Remember, says Bishop Patrick, in his paraphrase here, that the pleasure will be attended at last with intolerable pains; when it works like so much poison in thy veins, and casts thee into diseases as hard to cure as the biting of a serpent, or the stinging of a basilisk; for so the word , here rendered adder, properly signifies.