Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Proverbs 31:6

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.

6. of heavy hearts ] Better, with R.V. text and A.V. marg., bitter in soul. Comp. 1Sa 1:10, where the same Heb. expression is used.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

The true purpose of the power of wine over mans mind and body, as a restorative and remedial agent. Compare the margin reference. The same thought showed itself in the Jewish practice of giving a cup of wine to mourners, and (as in the history of the crucifixion) to criminals at their execution.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 6. Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish] We have already seen, that inebriating drinks were mercifully given to condemned criminals, to render them less sensible of the torture they endured in dying. This is what was offered to our Lord; but he refused it. See Clarke on Ps 104:15.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Unto him; which is to be understood comparatively, to him rather than to kings, partly because he needs a liberal draught of it more than kings do; and principally because if it proceed to excess, in him it is only a private inconvenience, but in kings it is a public mischief and grievance.

Ready to perish; sorely afflicted and overwhelmed with sorrow, as it is explained in the following words; for such need a cordial.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

6, 7. The proper use of suchdrinks is to restore tone to feeble bodies and depressed minds(compare Ps 104:15).

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish,…. Thou, O Lemuel, and other kings and judges, rather than drink strong drink yourselves, least to excess; give it out of your great abundance and liberality to poor persons in starving circumstances, who must perish, unless relieved; it will do them good, moderately used; and should they drink too freely, which they ought not, yet it would not be attended with such bad consequences as if kings and princes should;

and wine to those that be of heavy heart; of melancholy dispositions, under gloomy apprehensions of things; pressed with the weight of their affliction and poverty: or, “bitter in soul” i; such as God has dealt bitterly with, as Naomi says was her case, and therefore called her own name Marah, which signifies bitter; of such a sorrowful spirit, and one thus bitter in soul, was Hannah; and so Job, and others; persons in great affliction and distress, to whom life itself is bitter; see Ru 1:20; now wine to such is very exhilarating and cheering; see Jud 9:13.

i “his qui amaro sunt animo”, V. L. Pagninus, Tigurine version: “amaris animo”, Montanus, Junius Tremellius “amaris animus”, Vatablus, Piscator.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

6 Give strong drink to him that is perishing,

And wine to those whose soul is in bitter woe;

7 Let him drink and forget his poverty,

And let him think of his misery no more.

The preparation of a potion for malefactors who were condemned to death was, on the ground of these words of the proverb, cared for by noble women in Jerusalem ( ), Sanhedrin 43a; Jesus rejected it, because He wished, without becoming insensible to His sorrow, to pass away from the earthly life freely and in full consciousness, Mar 15:23. The transition from the plur. to the sing. of the subject is in Pro 31:7 less violent than in Pro 31:5, since in Pro 31:6 singular and plur. already interchange. We write with the counter-tone Metheg and Mercha. designates, as at Job 29:13; Job 31:19, one who goes to meet destruction: it combines the present signification interiens , the fut. signif. interiturus , and the perf. perditus (hopelessly lost). (those whose minds are filled with sorrow) is also supported from the Book of Job; Job 3:20, cf. Pro 21:25, the language and thought and mode of writing of which notably rests on the Proverbs of Agur and Lemuel ( vid., Mhlau, pp. 64-66). The Venet. (not ) . (poverty) is not, however, found there, but only in the Book of Proverbs, in which this word-stem is more at home than elsewhere. Wine rejoices the heart of man, Psa 104:15, and at the same time raises it for the time above oppression and want, and out of anxious sorrow, wherefore it is soonest granted to them, and in sympathizing love ought to be presented to them by whom this its beneficent influence is to be wished for. The ruined man forgets his poverty, the deeply perplexed his burden of sorrow; the king, on the contrary, is in danger from this cause of forgetting what the law required at his hands, viz., in relation to those who need help, to whom especially his duty as a ruler refers.

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

Permissible Use of Wine

Verses 6-7 cite certain circumstances when use of wine is permissible. Such is not intended to authorize drunkenness, Pro 23:20; Pro 23:2931; Isa 28:1; Hab 2:15; Rom 13:13; 1Co 6:1.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(6) Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish.For this is not waste, but an advantageous use of Gods gift. (Comp. St. Pauls advice, 1Ti. 5:23.) It was out of a merciful remembrance of this passage that the pious ladies of Jerusalem used to provide a medicated drink for criminals condemned to be crucified, in order to deaden their pain. This was offered to our Lord (Mat. 27:34), but He would not drink it, as He wished to keep His mind clear to the last, and was willing to drink to the dregs the cup which His Father had given Him.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

6, 7. Give strong drink That is, rather give it in suitable quantities to those who really need it, to support their fainting spirits under the influence of any trouble or calamity. The use prescribed here is a medicinal one.

Him ready to perish Or the perishing one faint of body or of mind, or both. Such a one may need a stimulant.

Heavy hearts Bitter of soul or life; those who are bowed down under the weight of grievous troubles. From this passage is said to have arisen the custom of administering stupifying potions wine mingled with myrrh or gall to criminals when going to execution, for the purpose of rendering them less sensitive to pain. Such was offered to our Lord, (Mat 27:34; Mar 15:23,) “but he received it not.” In accordance with this passage, it was a custom among the Jews to carry provisions to those who were mourning for the dead, especially alter the funeral. Jewish mournings were excessive and long continued. They sat on the ground, and sometimes refused to eat. They spoke not unless spoken to. Their friends, in due time, visited them to comfort them, and supply their wants with bread and wine. The bread was called the bread of bitterness, and the wine, the cup of consolation. Compare 2Sa 3:35; Psa 104:15; Jer 16:4; Jer 16:7; Hos 9:4; Eze 24:16-17; Joh 11:19.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Pro 31:6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.

Ver. 6. Give strong drink to him, &c. ] To those that stand at the bar, rather than to them that sit on the bench. Wine maketh glad the heart of man. Jdg 9:13 Psa 104:15 Plato calls wine and music the – mitigators of men’s miseries. Hence that laudable custom among the Jews at funerals to invite the friends of the deceased to a feast, and to give them the “cup of consolation.” Jer 16:7 And hence that not so laudable of giving wine, mingled with myrrh, to crucified malefactors, to make them die with less sense. a Christ did not like the custom so well, and therefore refused the potion. People should be most serious and sober when they are to die, since in death, as in war, non licet bis errare It is not permitted to error twice. – if a man miss at all, he misses for all and for ever. Vitellius therefore took a wrong course, who, looking for the messenger Death, made himself drunk to drown the fear of it. b

And wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. ] Heb., Bitter of spirit, as was Naomi when she would needs be called “Marah”; Rth 1:20 as was Hannah when she pleaded that she had neither drank wine nor strong drink (though at that time she had need enough of it), but was “a woman of a sorrowful spirit”; 1Sa 1:15 as was David when his heart was leavened and soured with the greatness of his grief, and he was “pricked in his reins.” Psa 73:21 This grief was right, because according to God – Y , 2Co 7:11 so was that bitter mourning, Zec 10:12 and Peter’s weeping bitterly. These waters of Marah, that flow from the eyes of repentance, are turned into wine; they carry comfort in them; there is a clear shining after this rain. 2Sa 23:4 Such April showers bring on May flowers.

“Deiecit ut reveler, premit ut solatia praestet:

Enccat ut possit vivificare Deus.”

a Bacchus et afflictis requiem mortalibus affert. – Tibul.

b Vitellius trepidus, dein temulentus.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

of heavy hearts = bitter of soul. Hebrew. nephesh. App-13.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

strong: Psa 104:15, 1Ti 5:23

of heavy hearts: Heb. bitter of soul, 1Sa 1:10, 1Sa 30:6, 2Ki 4:27, *marg.

Reciprocal: Gen 43:34 – were merry Jdg 9:13 – cheereth 1Sa 22:2 – discontented 2Sa 16:2 – that such Job 3:20 – the bitter Job 29:13 – ready Pro 23:20 – not Isa 24:11 – a crying Jer 16:7 – cup Zec 10:7 – and their Luk 14:13 – call Luk 22:18 – the fruit

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge