Proverbs 23:32

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

Proverbs 23:32 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 23:32

At the last it biteth like a serpent
Though it goes down sweetly, yet it leaves a sting behind it, intemperately drank; a nausea in the stomach, a stink in the breath, pains and giddiness in the head, weakness in the eyes, trembling in the members of the body, palsy, gout, and other distempers, very painful and grievous to be bore; and, what is worse, if the conscience is awakened, sharp and cutting reflections there; and, without true repentance, torments intolerable in the world to come; and stingeth like an adder;
or "spreads" ^F21, or separates and scatters; that is, its poison. So the Vulgate Latin version, "diffuseth poisons as a basilisk", or "cockatrice"; the Targum and Syriac version,

``as a serpent which flies;''

it signifies the same as before.

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FOOTNOTES:

F21 (vrpy) "jecur diffindet", Schultens.

Proverbs 23:32 In-Context

30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red , when it giveth his colour in the cup , when it moveth itself aright.

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women , and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

Footnotes

• [a] an...: or, a cockatrice