Proverbs 20:1–2

Footnotes

1. 1 The drinks are wine and barley beer (e.g., Lev 10:9; Deut 14:26; Isa 28:7). These terms here could be understood as personifications, but better as metonymies for those who drink wine and beer. The inebriated person mocks and brawls.
2. 2 The two participles לֵץ (lets, “mocker”) and הֹמֶה (homeh, “brawler”) are substantives; they function as predicates in the sentence. Excessive use of intoxicants excites the drinker to boisterous behavior and aggressive attitudes—it turns them into mockers and brawlers.
3. 3 The proverb does not prohibit the use of wine or beer; in fact, strong drink was used at festivals and celebrations. But intoxication was considered out of bounds for a member of the covenant community (e.g., 23:20–21, 29–35; 31:4–7). To be led astray by their use is not wise.
4. 4 Heb “the terror of a king” (so , ); The term “terror” is a metonymy of effect for cause: the anger of a king that causes terror among the people. The term “king” functions as a possessive genitive: “a king’s anger” (cf. “A king’s wrath”; “The king’s fury”).
5. 5 The verb מִתְעַבְּרוֹ (mit’abbéro) is problematic; in the the form is the Hitpael participle with a pronominal suffix, which is unusual, for the direct object of this verb usually takes a preposition first: “is angry with.” The rendered it “angers [or, irritates].”
6. 6 The expression “sins against himself” has been taken by some to mean “forfeits his life” (so , , , ) or “endangers his life” (cf. , ). That may be the implication of getting oneself in trouble with an angry king (cf. “making him angry is suicide”).