Proverbs 31:5
in Proverbs 31lest they drink and forget what is decreed, depriving all the oppressed of justice.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Lest they drink, and forget the law, And pervert the justice due to any that is afflicted.
KJV
Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.
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This verse in Proverbs 31
Commentary
8 notes on this verseIt is a sad complaint which is made of the priests and prophets ( Isa. xxviii. 7 ), that they have erred through wine, and through strong drink they are out of the way; and the effect is as bad in kings, who when they are drunk, or intoxicated with the love of wine, cannot but stumble in judgment.
This site's exposition
It is not for kings
on Proverbs 31:4-7
"It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine," since a ruler who judges cannot afford a clouded mind. The same drink that unfits a king for justice is offered as mercy to a man with nothing left to judge.
This site's exposition
lest they drink and forget what is decreed
Henry recalls Isaiah's complaint that priests and prophets erred through strong drink. Kings who drink stumble in judgment the same way. The oppressed then lose the justice decreed for them.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
Lest he drink and forget judgments, etc. Lest, intoxicated by earthly allurements, he forgets the poor of Christ, who himself became poor for us.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Lest they drink, and forget the law,....
No, they are worse than the beasts that perish. All Christians are made to our God kings and priests, and must apply this to themselves. It is not for Christians, it is not for Christians, to drink to excess; they debase themselves if they do; it ill becomes the heirs of the kingdom and the spiritual priests, Lev. x.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The proper use of such drinks is to restore tone to feeble bodies and depressed minds (compare Ps 104:15). Open . . . cause--Plead for those who cannot plead for themselves, as the orphan, stranger, &c. (compare Ps 72:12; Isa 1:17). appointed to destruction--who are otherwise ruined by their oppressors (compare Pr 29:14, 16).
Lest they drink, and forget the law - When they should be administering justice, they are found incapable of it; or, if they go into the judgment-seat, may pervert justice.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| פֶּן־ | pen- | lest | H6435 → | 133 times |
| יִ֭שְׁתֶּה | yishteh | he should drink | H8354 → | 217 times |
| וְיִשְׁכַּ֣ח | veyishkach | and he may forget | H7911 → | 102 times |
| מְחֻקָּ֑ק | mechukak | [what] is decreed | H2710 → | 19 times |
| וִֽ֝ישַׁנֶּה | vishaneh | and he may change | H8138 → | 21 times |
| דִּ֣ין | din | [the] cause of | H1779 → | 20 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| בְּנֵי־ | benei- | [the] sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| עֹֽנִי׃ | ʾoni | affliction | H6040 → |
פֶּן־lest
pen-H6435 →133 times
יִ֭שְׁתֶּהhe should drink
yishtehH8354 →217 times
וְיִשְׁכַּ֣חand he may forget
veyishkachH7911 →102 times
מְחֻקָּ֑ק[what] is decreed
mechukakH2710 →19 times
וִֽ֝ישַׁנֶּהand he may change
vishanehH8138 →21 times
דִּ֣ין[the] cause of
dinH1779 →20 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
בְּנֵי־[the] sons of
benei-H1121 →4930 times
עֹֽנִי׃affliction
ʾoniH6040 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 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
Habakkuk 2:5and 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…
it leads to
- Proverbs 27:20
Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.
- Proverbs 20:1
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
- Isaiah 5:11–12
Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of strong drink, who linger into the evening, to be inflamed by wine.
- Proverbs 31:4–5
It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to crave strong drink,
- Isaiah 21:5
They prepare a table, they lay out a carpet, they eat, they drink! Rise up, O princes, oil the shields!
- Proverbs 27:20
Where this verse is studied
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; 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.