Proverbs 23:32
in Proverbs 23In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder.
KJV
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
⋯
This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
4 notes on this verseTo take off the force of the temptation that there is in the pleasure of the sin, foresee the punishment of it, and what it will at last end in if repentance prevent not. In its latter end it bites (so the word is); think therefore what will be in the end thereof. But the inspired writer chooses to specify those pernicious consequences of this sin which are present and sensible.
This site's exposition
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red
on Proverbs 23:31-32
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red carries the poem into direct address, the color and movement in the cup described with real fascination before the trap springs: at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Henry reads the serpent figure as the poem's turn, the same wine that looked beautiful in the glass proving venomous in the end, the pleasure and the poison packed into one image rather than two separate warnings.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
At the last it biteth like a serpent,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
A solemn warning against whoredom and drunkenness (Ho 4:11). give me--This is the address of that divine wisdom so often presented (Pr 8:1; 9:3, &c.). heart--confidence. observe--keep. my ways--such as I teach you (Pr 3:17;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֭חֲרִיתוֹ | ʾacharito | end its | H319 → | 61 times |
| כְּנָחָ֣שׁ | kenachash | like a snake | H5175 → | |
| יִשָּׁ֑ךְ | yishakh | it will bite | H5391 → | |
| וּֽכְצִפְעֹנִ֥י | ukhetzifoni | and like a viper | H6848 → | |
| יַפְרִֽשׁ׃ | yafrish | it will sting | H6567 → |
אַ֭חֲרִיתוֹend its
ʾacharitoH319 →61 times
כְּנָחָ֣שׁlike a snake
kenachashH5175 →
יִשָּׁ֑ךְit will bite
yishakhH5391 →
וּֽכְצִפְעֹנִ֥יand like a viper
ukhetzifoniH6848 →
יַפְרִֽשׁ׃it will sting
yafrishH6567 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
it leads to
- Ezekiel 13:6
They see false visions and speak lying divinations. They claim, ‘Thus declares the LORD,’ when the LORD did not send them; yet they wait for the fulfillment of their message.
- Jeremiah 14:14
“The prophets are prophesying lies in My name,” replied the LORD. “I did not send them or appoint them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a false vision, a worthless divination,…
- Micah 2:11
If a man of wind were to come and say falsely, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,” he would be just the preacher for this people!
- 2 Thessalonians 2:9–11
The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
- 2 Timothy 4:3–4
For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.
- Ezekiel 13:6
Through
Jeremiah 8:17“For behold, I will send snakes among you, vipers that cannot be charmed, and they will bite you,” declares the LORD.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 10:11
If the snake bites before it is charmed, there is no profit for the charmer.
- Deuteronomy 32:24
They will be wasted from hunger and ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will send the fangs of wild beasts against them, with the venom of vipers that slither in the dust.
- Psalms 58:4–5
Their venom is like the venom of a snake, like a cobra that shuts its ears,
- Ecclesiastes 10:11
About Proverbs
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.