What Does Proverbs 23:31 Mean in the King James?
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
Wine gives its eye in the cup, so the seduction begins in the gaze that its red color and smooth motion invite.
THE MEANING
The verse meets you when something catches your eye: wine flashes red, offers its eye in the cup, and seems to move smoothly. It names the gap between that polished appearance and an effect that is not yet visible.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
If it looks beautiful and moves smoothly, it must be harmless.
THE ROOT
תֵּרֶא
terʾeh
GROWS FROM
ראה
raʾah
to see, look, or perceive
“look” in this verse is terʾeh. The same family includes מַרְאֶה (marʾeh, appearance or sight) and רֹאֶה (roʾeh, one who sees). The Hebrew also depicts the wine as giving עֵינוֹ (ʿênô, its eye) in the cup, weaving the looker’s gaze and the wine’s display into one visual invitation.
ALSO GROWS
marʾeh: Appearance; what is seen
מַרְאֶה
The wine’s color is part of the visible presentation that draws the eye.
roʾeh: A person who sees
רֹאֶה
The verse addresses the one looking at the wine, placing the observer inside its warning.
מֵישָׁרִים
mesharim
GROWS FROM
ישר
yashar
to be straight, level, or upright
The word translated “aright” belongs to a family of straightness and levelness. The wine seems to move in an easy, even way; that smooth course is part of the attractive scene the verse holds before you.
ALSO GROWS
yashar: Straight; upright
יָשָׁר
It gives the word “aright” its sense of upright or straight movement.
mishor: A level place or plain
מִישׁוֹר
Its sense of level ground helps illuminate the smooth, even movement described in the verse.
יִתְאַדָּם
yitʾaddam
GROWS FROM
אדם
ʾ-d-m
to be red or ruddy
“red” in this verse is yitʾaddam. This color word shares its consonant family with אָדָם (adam, Adam or the ground-being) and אֲדָמָה (adamah, ground or soil). The wine’s vivid redness carries an echo of the ground-being’s material origin, even as its visible surface leaves the full experience unseen.
ALSO GROWS
adom: Red; ruddy
אָדֹם
It names the color that makes the wine visually striking.
adam: Human; Adam, the ground-being
אָדָם
It shares the consonant family of the verse’s word for reddening.
adamah: Ground; soil
אֲדָמָה
It links the color word to the ground from which the ground-being is named.
THE PATTERN
What captures the eye can make danger seem inviting before its consequence comes into view.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.THE THREAD
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.Proverbs uses תֵּרֶא (terʾeh, “look”) from ראה (raʾah, “see or perceive”); Genesis uses וַתֵּרֶא (vattēreʾ, “she saw”) from the same root. In both verses, the eye meets an appealing surface before the consequence is fully visible.
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