What Does Proverbs 23:34 Mean in the King James?
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.
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
The verse places a body in a posture of rest at the sea’s heart and the mast’s peak, where stillness cannot make it safe.
THE MEANING
Intoxication makes a body feel as though it can lie down while suspended at the sea’s heart or the mast’s peak. The danger remains real even as awareness slackens and the posture resembles rest.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie is that feeling settled or numb means you are safe; the verse shows exposure continuing beneath that feeling.
THE ROOT
שֹׁכֵב
shokhev
GROWS FROM
שכב
To lie down or recline; by extension, to sleep.
“lieth down” in this verse is shokhev. The Hebrew repeats the same lying-down form for both positions; its root also names sleep, so the posture can feel like rest while its location remains perilous. Psalm 4:8 uses this root for lying down in peace, showing that the root names the posture while the surrounding words reveal whether it is safe.
ALSO GROWS
mishkav: Bed; a place of lying down.
מִשְׁכָּב
This noun grows the posture into a resting place, sharpening the verse’s uneasy collision between rest and exposure.
hishkiv: To lay down; to cause someone to lie down.
הִשְׁכִּיב
This form shows the same root can describe placing a body down, while the verse’s settings make clear that the posture itself does not ensure safety.
לֵב
lev
GROWS FROM
לבב
Heart, inner center, or inward self.
The word rendered “midst” is לֵב, “heart”: the Hebrew says the figure lies in the sea’s interior. Alongside “the top of a mast,” it places the body at opposite extremes, depth and height, while keeping the same helpless posture.
ALSO GROWS
levav: Heart; the inner self.
לֵבָב
This fuller form keeps the word’s inward sense visible, so “midst” can mean more than a point on a map.
b'lev yam: In the heart of the sea.
בְּלֵב יָם
This is the verse’s Hebrew phrase; the sea is pictured as having an interior where the body lies.
THE PATTERN
Intoxication can dull perception while leaving the body exposed to danger.
Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment.And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.THE THREAD
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.Both verses use שכב (shakhav, “lie down”). Proverbs places the lying body at the sea’s heart or a mast’s peak; the psalm pairs the same posture with peace and safety, showing that lying down itself does not guarantee security.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us