Proverbs 23:20

Do not spend time ¹  among drunkards, ²  among those who eat too much ³  meat,

Pr 20:1; Pr 23:29-35; Pr 28:7; Pr 31:6,7; Isa 5:11,22; Isa 22:13; Mt 24:49; Lu 15:13; Lu 16:19; Lu 21:34; Ro 13:13; Eph 5:18; 1Pe 4:3,4

¹ tn Heb “do not be among,” but in the sense of “associate with” (TEV); “join” (NIV); “consort…with” (NAB).

² tn The verb סָבָא (sava’) means “to imbibe; to drink largely.” The participial construction here, סֹבְאֵי־יַיִן (sov’e-yayin), describes “drunkards” (cf. NLT) which is somewhat stronger than saying it refers to “people who drink too much” (cf. NIV, TEV).

³ tn The verb זָלַל (zalal) means “to be light; to be worthless; to make light of.” Making light of something came to mean “to be lavish with; to squander,” especially with regard to food. So it describes “gluttons” primarily; but in the expression there is also room for the person who wastes a lot of food as well.