His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
His eyes shall be red with wine, And his teeth white with milk.
Red are eyes with wine, And white are teeth with milk!
The eyes are red with wine, And the teeth [are] white with milk.
Genesis — The book of beginnings. Creation, fall, flood, covenant, election, providence — eleven generational seams stitch one unbroken story from heaven-and-earth to a coffin in Egypt.
Voices3
And therefore the prophet says, "His eyes are joyful from wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk," for he means the prophets and the apostles. For some, like eyes of Christ, have foreseen and announced his coming, and of them Christ himself says, "Abraham saw my day and he rejoiced," and one of the prophets says, "I saw the Lord of hosts." Seeing him, they were filled with a spiritual joy. Others, however, that is, the apostles, whom the Lord cleansed from every stain of sin, were made whiter than milk, for no blemish darkened them afterward.
Ambrose of Milan· On the Blessings of the Patriarchs, 397patristic
His eyes shall be red with wine,....
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
(2.) He is the lion of the tribe of Judah, as he is called with reference to this prophecy ( Rev. v. 5 ), who, having spoiled principalities and powers, went up a conqueror, and couched so as none can stir him up, when he sat down on the right hand of the Father.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The verses this one reaches2
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?
He saw Ephraim’s sons to the third generation, and indeed the sons of Machir son of Manasseh were brought up on Joseph’s knees.
The walk5
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Proverbs 23:29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?
leads to
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.
When 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.
But suppose that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk.
For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
