Proverbs 23:33
in Proverbs 23Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thine eyes shall behold strange things, And thy heart shall utter perverse things.
KJV
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
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This verse in Proverbs 23
Commentary
6 notes on this verseThine eyes shall behold strange women - Evil concupiscence is inseparable from drunkenness. Mr. Herbert shows these effects well: - He that is drunken may his mother kill, Big with his sister: he hath lost the reins; Is outlawed by himself. All kinds of ill Did, with his liquor, slide into his veins. The drunkard forfeits man; and doth divest All worldly right, save what he hath by beast. Herbert’s Poems - The Church Porch.
This site's exposition
Your eyes will see strange things
on Proverbs 23:33-35
The poem's last lines follow the drinker past the cup into its ruin: "Your eyes will see strange things." He lies "like one sleeping on the high seas," with danger everywhere and no sense of it. The last verse gives the drunkard his own voice, beaten and feeling nothing.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Your eyes will see strange women, etc. It is a customary and almost natural vice to follow feminine lust after the poison of drunkenness spreads in the heart, accompanied by wickedness and foulness of words.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(1.) The eyes grow unruly and behold strange women to lust after them, and so let in adultery into the heart. Est Venus in vinis--Wine is oil to the fire of lust. Thy eyes shall behold strange things (so some read it); when men are drunk the house turns round with them, and every thing looks strange to them, so that them they cannot trust their own eyes.
Thine eyes shall behold strange women,.... Being inflamed with wine, shall look upon women, other men's wives, and lust after them; or harlots, whom seeking after or meeting with, when in their cups, are drawn into their embraces; excess of wine leads to whoredom (w).
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
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| עֵ֭ינֶיךָ | ʾeineikha | eyes your | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יִרְא֣וּ | yiru | they will see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| זָר֑וֹת | zarot | strange [things] | H2114 → | 77 times |
| וְ֝לִבְּךָ֗ | velibekha | and heart your | H3820 → | 595 times |
| יְדַבֵּ֥ר | yedaber | it will speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| תַּהְפֻּכֽוֹת׃ | tahpukhot | perverse things | H8419 → | 10 times |
עֵ֭ינֶיךָeyes your
ʾeineikhaH5869 →887 times
יִרְא֣וּthey will see
yiruH7200 →1300 times
זָר֑וֹתstrange [things]
zarotH2114 →77 times
וְ֝לִבְּךָ֗and heart your
velibekhaH3820 →595 times
יְדַבֵּ֥רit will speak
yedaberH1696 →1141 times
תַּהְפֻּכֽוֹת׃perverse things
tahpukhotH8419 →10 times
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
Proverbs 2:12to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perversity,
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:33
Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
- Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- 2 Corinthians 6:17
“Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
- 1 Corinthians 15:33
Through
Proverbs 31:5lest they drink and forget what is decreed, depriving all the oppressed of justice.
it leads to
- Habakkuk 2:5
and wealth indeed betrays him. He is an arrogant man never at rest. He enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. He gathers all the nations to himself and…
- Habakkuk 2:5
Through
Psalms 69:12Those who sit at the gate mock me, and I am the song of drunkards.
it leads to
- Acts 4:26–27
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One.’
- Psalms 35:15–16
But when I stumbled, they assembled in glee; they gathered together against me. Assailants I did not know slandered me without ceasing.
- Acts 4:26–27
Through
Hosea 7:5The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 4:3–4
For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
- 1 Peter 4:3–4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Charles Bridges, An Exposition of the Book of Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.