Limitless Word
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
Proverbs 23:20 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:
  • BSB Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
  • NKJV Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
  • NASB Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;
  • NLT Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons,

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

Do not keep company with those who drink too much or indulge gluttonously.

Overview

Wisdom warns against the companionship and habits of the drunkard and glutton, where appetite rules over self-control. Such excess marks a life governed by craving rather than discipline. Scripture calls believers instead to sobriety and self-control, being filled with the Spirit rather than with excess (Eph. 5:18).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Luke 21:34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
  • Eph 5:18And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
  • Rom 13:13Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
  • Isa 5:22Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
  • Prov 28:7Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son: but he that is a companion of riotous men shameth his father.
  • Isa 22:13And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
  • Isa 5:11Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!
  • 1 Pet 4:3–4For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries:
  • Luke 15:13And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
  • Matt 24:49And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
  • Prov 23:29–35Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
  • Prov 31:6–7Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
  • Luke 16:19There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
  • Prov 20:1Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (6)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Proverbs videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Proverbs 23:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ProverbsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 23:20 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.