Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
- BSB You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:
- NKJV Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:
- NASB And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.
- NLT You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast.
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
The drunkard is as unstable and senseless as one lying amid heaving seas or atop a ship's rigging.
Overview
These images capture the dizziness, danger, and helplessness of intoxication. Like a sailor tossed on the waves or perched on the mast, the drunkard has lost all stability. The picture warns that surrendering to drink is to abandon the steady footing wisdom provides.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Th 5:2–7For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
- 1 Sam 30:16–17And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
- 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.
- Matt 24:38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
- 2 Sam 13:28Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.
- Luke 17:27–29They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
- 1 Kgs 16:9And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.
- Joel 1:5Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
- 1 Sam 25:33–38And blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
- Exod 15:8And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together, the floods stood upright as an heap, and the depths were congealed in the heart of the sea.
- 1 Kgs 20:16–22And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 23:34 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.