Proverbs 23:20

Footnotes

1. 34 Heb “do not be among,” but in the sense of “associate with” (); “join” (); “consort … with” ().
2. 35 The verb סָבָא (sava’) means “to imbibe; to drink largely.” The participial construction here, סֹבְאֵי־יַיִן (sov’e-yayin), describes “drunkards” (cf. ) which is somewhat stronger than saying it refers to “people who drink too much” (cf. , ).
3. 36 The verb זָלַל (zalal) means “to be light; to be worthless; to make light of.” Making light of something came to mean “to be lavish with; to squander,” especially with regard to food. So it describes “gluttons” primarily; but in the expression there is also room for the person who wastes a lot of food as well.