Proverbs 23:34

34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.^[a]

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 serpent and stings like an adder.

33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things.

34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.

35 "They struck me," you will say,"but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink."

Footnotes

• [a]. Or of the rigging