Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
Parallel translations
- WEB Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- KJV Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
- NKJV Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
- NASB Wine is a mocker, intoxicating drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.
- NLT Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls. Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Wine and strong drink lead people astray, making them mockers and brawlers. Being controlled by alcohol is foolish.
Overview
This proverb personifies wine and beer as a 'mocker' and a 'brawler,' warning that those led astray by drink are not wise. It does not condemn all use of wine, which Scripture elsewhere can view as a blessing, but exposes the folly and ruin of drunkenness and its loss of self-control. The New Testament likewise warns against drunkenness and calls believers instead to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Eph 5:18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
- Hos 4:11Promiscuity, wine, and new wine take away understanding.
- Isa 28:7These also stagger from wine and stumble from strong drink: Priests and prophets reel from strong drink and are befuddled by wine. They stumble because of strong drink, muddled in their visions and stumbling in their judgments.
- Prov 31:4It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink,
- 1 Cor 6:10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
- Gal 5:21and 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.
- Hab 2:15–16Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin until they are drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness!
- 2 Sam 11:13Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and he got Uriah drunk. And in the evening Uriah went out to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
- Isa 5:22Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and champions in mixing strong drink,
- Prov 23:29–35Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?
- Isa 56:12“Come, let me get the wine, let us imbibe the strong drink, and tomorrow will be like today, only far better!”
- Gen 19:31–36One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us, as is the custom over all the earth.
- Hos 7:5The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him.
- 1 Sam 25:36–38When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.
- 2 Sam 13:28Now Absalom had ordered his young men, “Watch Amnon until his heart is merry with wine, and when I order you to strike Amnon down, you are to kill him. Do not be afraid. Have I not commanded you? Be courageous and valiant!”
- Gen 9:21–23But when he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent.
- 1 Kgs 20:16–21They marched out at noon while Ben-hadad and the 32 kings allied with him were in their tents getting drunk.
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 20:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.