Proverbs 23:34

34 You'll be like someone sleeping out at sea or lying down on the top of a ship's mast.

Proverbs 23:34 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 23:34

Yea, thou shall be as he that lieth down in the midst of the
sea
Not in the open sea, and the waves of it, there fluctuating and tossed about; nor in an island encompassed by sea; but in a ship at sea, a drunken man reels and tumbles about, just as a ship does at sea; hence the motions and agitations of it, and of the men in it, are compared to the reeling and staggering of a drunken man, ( Psalms 107:26 Psalms 107:27 ) ; or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast:
where the motion is the greatest. Or all this may be expressive of the dangers which a drunkard is exposed unto, and of his stupidity and insensibility; for though he is in as great danger as one in the circumstances described, in a storm at sea, yet is not sensible of it; which agrees with what follows.

Proverbs 23:34 In-Context

32 In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.

33 Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say absurd things.

34 You'll be like someone sleeping out at sea or lying down on the top of a ship's mast.

35 "They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I didn't know it! When will I wake up? I'll look for another [drink]."