Words in italic type have been added for clarity. They are not found in the original Hebrew or Aramaic.

Wine Is a Mocker

Proverbs 20:¹ Wine is a mocker,
Strong drink is a brawler,
And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.

Proverbs 20:² The wrath of a king (Lit. fear or terror, produced by the king’s wrath) is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger sins against his own life.

Proverbs 20:³ It is honorable for a man to stop striving,
Since any fool can start a quarrel.

• Any fool can start a quarrel, but a wise man prevents it.

Proverbs 20:⁴ The lazy man will not plow because of winter;
He will beg during harvest and have nothing.

• Survival takes effort. A lazy man will always have a reason to be needy and beg.

Proverbs 20:⁵ Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water,
But a man of understanding will draw it out.

Proverbs 20:⁶ Most men will proclaim each his own goodness (Lit. mercy),
But who can find a faithful man?

• Moments of mercy are hit and miss,
  But faithfulness is consistent and lasts forever.

Proverbs 20:⁷ The righteous man walks in his integrity;
His children are blessed after him.

• Children are a man’s future and his legacy.

Proverbs 20:⁸ A king who sits on the throne of judgment
Scatters all evil with his eyes.

• The King sees evil with his eyes and scatters it with his authority.

Proverbs 20:⁹ Who can say, “I have made my heart clean,
I am pure from my sin”?

• Psalm 14:3 They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one.

Proverbs 20:¹⁰ Diverse weights and diverse measures,
They are both alike, an abomination to the Lord (yᵊhōvâ).

Proverbs 20:¹¹ Even a child is known by his deeds,
Whether what he does is pure and right.

• How much more so for an adult.

Proverbs 20:¹² The hearing ear and the seeing eye,
The Lord (yᵊhōvâ) has made them both.

• The Lord made them, but does man use them?
  Romans 11:⁸ Just as it is written:
  “God has given them a spirit of stupor,
  Eyes that they should not see
  And ears that they should not hear,
  To this very day.”

Proverbs 20:¹³ Do not love sleep, lest you come to poverty;
Open your eyes, and you will be satisfied with bread.

• Too much sleep is called a “coma”.

Proverbs 20:¹⁴ “It is good for nothing (Lit. evil, evil),” cries the buyer;
But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.

Proverbs 20:¹⁵ There is gold and a multitude of rubies,
But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

Proverbs 20:¹⁶ Take the garment of one who is surety for a stranger,
And hold it as a pledge when it is for a seductress (stranger or a foreigner).

• Con men aren’t revealed until one gets to know them over time and reputation. Therefore, make sure your bets are covered with a surety.

Proverbs 20:¹⁷ Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man,
But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.

Proverbs 20:¹⁸ Plans are established by counsel;
By wise counsel wage war.

• By wise counsel only then wage a necessary war.

Proverbs 20:¹⁹ He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips.

• A woman was asked, “What is your greatest fear?” She answered that it was someone who is her friend to her face and talks about her behind her back, raising an army against her.

Proverbs 20:²⁰ Whoever curses his father or his mother,
His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.

• To honor your father and mother is one of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses.
  It is an example of rejecting authority. They are your creators, just as God is your Creator. To curse your creators on earth is akin to cursing your Creator in heaven.

Proverbs 20:²¹ An inheritance gained hastily at the beginning
Will not be blessed at the end.

• “Free” is not valued as much as “Earned”.

Proverbs 20:²² Do not say, “I will recompense (repay) evil”;
Wait for the Lord (yᵊhōvâ), and He will save you.

• Deuteronomy 32:³⁵ Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;
  Their foot shall slip in due time;
  For the day of their calamity is at hand,
  And the things to come hasten upon them.’

Proverbs 20:²³ Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord (yᵊhōvâ),
And dishonest scales are not good.

• Only the scales of God are faithful. He chooses the nations that have not been found wanting according to His expectations.

Proverbs 20:²⁴ A man’s steps are of the Lord (yᵊhōvâ);
How then can a man understand his own way?

Proverbs 20:²⁵ It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy,
And afterward to reconsider his vows.

• It is considered lying to the Holy Spirit in Acts 5.
  Acts 5:1-11 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.”
  Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.
  Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?”
  She said, “Yes, for so much.”
  Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” ¹⁰ Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. ¹¹ So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.

Proverbs 20:²⁶ A wise king sifts out the wicked,
And brings the threshing wheel over them.

• To sift zārâ h2219, scatters, disperses, separates (the good wheat from the chaff), winnows
  The threshing wheel is a sharp-tooth sledge pulled in circles over the wheat to separate the wheat from the chaff.
  Once the wicked are identified, they are blown to the wind or roasted in the oven. The accumulation of too much chaff makes it dangerously combustible for fires.

Proverbs 20:²⁷ The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord (yᵊhōvâ),
Searching all the inner depths of his heart (Lit. rooms of the belly).

• The spirit of a man is invisible. Likewise, light is invisible to the eye. Only its effect is visible. Only God, who is Light, sees the innermost part of a man.

Proverbs 20:²⁸ Mercy and truth preserve the king,
And by lovingkindness (mercy) he upholds his throne.

• The assassination of Kings by betrayal is a significant part of history. The goodwill of a King toward his subjects, with God’s ordination, preserves his Kinship.

Proverbs 20:²⁹ The glory of young men is their strength,
And the splendor of old men is their gray head.

Proverbs 20:³⁰ Blows that hurt cleanse away evil,
As do stripes the inner depths (Lit. rooms of the belly) of the heart.

• Proverbs 27:⁶ Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

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