What Does Proverbs 23:31 Mean?
Do not gaze at the wine when it reddens, when it gives its eye in the cup, when it walks in what is straight.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.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
“Do not gaze at” 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
“walks in what is straight” in this verse is mesharim. 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
“reddens” 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 the woman saw that the tree was good for eating, and that it was a craving for the eyes, and a tree to be desired for making one wise. And she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.At its afterward it bites like a serpent, and like an adder it spreads itself out.For all that is in the world, the craving of the flesh, and the craving of the eyes, and the swagger of life, does not come out of the Father, but comes out of the world.THE THREAD
And the woman saw that the tree was good for eating, and that it was a craving for the eyes, and a tree to be desired for making one wise. And she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.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.
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