Proverbs 23:29

Who has woe? ¹  Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness ²  of the eyes?

Ge 49:12; 1Sa 25:36,37; 2Sa 13:28; 1Ki 20:16-22; Pr 20:1; Pr 23:21; Isa 5:11,22; Isa 28:7,8; Na 1:10; Mt 24:49,50; Lu 12:45,46; Eph 5:18

¹ sn The eighteenth saying is about excessive drinking. The style changes here as the sage breaks into a vivid use of the imagination. It begins with a riddle describing the effects of drunkenness (v. 29) and gives the answer in v. 30; instructions follow in v. 31, with the consequences described in v. 32; the direct address continues in vv. 33 and 34; and the whole subject is concluded with the drunkard’s own words in v. 35 (M. E. Andrews, “Variety of Expression in Proverbs 23:29-35,” VT 28 [1978]: 102-3).

² sn The Hebrew word translated “dullness” describes darkness or dullness of the eyes due to intoxication, perhaps “redness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV, NCV, NLT “bloodshot eyes.” NAB understands the situation differently: “black eyes.”