Midrasz do Przysłów 23:31

Rabbi Azarya began: “Do not see wine in its redness, for one who sets his eye on the cup will walk the straight path” (Proverbs 23:31). Rabbi Azarya said: “Do not see wine in its redness [yitadam]” – as he will lust [yitav] for menstrual blood [dam] and for the blood of discharge [ziva]. “For one who directs his eye to the cup [kos]” – kis is written, a euphemism;¹This is a euphemism for licentiousness. that is what you say: “We will have one purse [kis] for all of us” (Proverbs 1:14). “Will walk the straight path”²The midrash understands this phrase in the verse to be ironic. – ultimately his wife says: I have seen like a red rose, and he does not separate from her. Rabbi Asi said: If he is a Torah scholar, he will ultimately purify the ritually impure, and impurify the ritually pure.
Alternatively, “do not see wine in its redness” – it will certainly cause him to flush. “For one who sets his eye on the cup” – he fixes his eyes on the cup and the storekeeper fixes his eye on the purse. “Will walk the straight path [bemeisharim]” – ultimately, he will render his house a plain [meishra].³Meaning it will be empty. He says: Whatever this bronze cup does an earthenware cup does, and he sells it and drinks wine with its proceeds. Whatever this bronze pot does an earthenware pot does, and he sells it and drinks wine with its proceeds. Rabbi Yitzḥak bar Raddifa said in the name of Rabbi Ami: Ultimately, he will sell all the vessels in his house and drink wine with [what he gets for] them.
Rabbi Aḥa said: There was an incident involving a certain person who sold all the vessels in his house and drank wine with [what he got for] them. His sons said: This father of ours is not leaving us anything. What did they do? They gave him to drink, they lifted him up and carried him, and placed him in a certain cemetery. Some wine merchants passed the gate of the cemetery and heard the angaria [military unit commandeering provisions] was in the city. They unloaded their burden in that cemetery. They said: Let us go and see what is being said in the city. The old man awoke from his slumber and saw a wineskin that had been placed above his head. He untied it and put it in his mouth and drank. He drank until he fell asleep. After three days, his sons said: Should we not go and see how our father is doing? They went and found him and there was a wineskin in his mouth. They said: Here, too, your Creator has not forsaken you. Since you have it from Heaven, we don’t know what we to do with you. They made an arrangement among themselves that each of them [in turn] would provide him with drink on each day.
It is written:⁴These verses relate to the drinker of wine referred to above, and describe the results of drunkenness. “You will be like one lying in the midst of the sea, like one who lies atop a mast” (Proverbs 23:34). You will be like this ship that is becalmed on the high seas.⁵Some understand this to mean: “like a ship that is tossed on the high seas.” “Like one who lies atop a mast,” – like a rooster that sits on a rope and goes constantly to and fro; like a captain who sits atop a mast and goes constantly to and fro. “They struck me, but I did not feel it” (Proverbs 23:35) – they struck him, but he did not feel. “They beat me, but I did not know” – they exploit him, but he is unaware. He drinks five kustin⁶A measure of liquid volume, about a third of a liter. of beer and they say to him: ‘You drank ten kustin.’ If you say that he will awaken from his sleep and forget it, Scripture says [about the drunk]: “When will I awaken? I will continue to seek it” (Ibid.).
]“To whom is there woe? To whom alas? To whom strife? To whom talk? To whom wounds without cause? To whom redness of eyes? To those who linger over wine”] (Proverbs 23:29-30). “To whom is there woe? To whom alas?” Rav Huna said: To one who does not toil in Torah study. “To whom strife?” – to whom disputes? “To whom talk” – to whom prattle? “To whom wounds without cause” – to whom wounds for nothing? “To those who linger over wine” (Proverbs 23:30).
There was an incident involving a certain man who was accustomed to drink twelve kistin of wine every day. One day he drank eleven kistin, and he lay down but sleep would not come. He awoke in the dark and went to the storekeeper. He said to him: ‘Sell me one kista.’ He [the storekeeper] said to him: ‘I will not open for you, because it is dark and I fear the watchmen.’ He directed his eyes and saw a hole in the door. He said to him: ‘Give me from it through the hole, you will position it inside and I will drink it outside.’ He did so for him. He drank and fell asleep before the door. The watchmen passed by him; they thought he was a thief, they struck him and they wounded him. They proclaimed about him: “To whom wounds without cause” – to whom wounds for nothing? “To whom redness of eyes” – to whom eyes red like the sun?
All these befall whom? “Those who linger over wine” – this is one who enters the store first and leaves last. “To those who come to assess the mixture” – to one who hears that this [particular] person has fine wine and pursues him. What is written about him at the end? “Its [wine’s] end is that it bites like a serpent and secretes [poison] like an adder” (Proverbs 23:32). Just as this adder separates between death and life, so wine separated between Adam and Eve, as Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Ilai said: The tree from which Adam the first man ate was a grape [vine]. That is what is written: “Their grapes are grapes of gall, bitter clusters for them” (Deuteronomy 32:32). These brought bitterness to the world.
Alternatively, “and secretes [yafrish] like an adder” – just as this adder separates [mafrish]⁷The verb lehafrish can mean both to secrete and to separate. between death and life, so, wine separated between Noah and his sons for enslavement. That is what is written: “He drank from the wine and was intoxicated and he was exposed inside the tent” (Genesis 9:21), as a result⁸ Subsequently, Noah’s son Ham, father of Canaan, “saw the nakedness of his father.” he [Noah] said: “Cursed is Canaan [a slave of slaves he shall be to his brothers]” (Genesis 9:25).
“And secretes [yafrish] like an adder” – just as this adder separates [mafrish] between death and life, so wine separated between Lot and his daughters for mamzerut.⁹The status of a child born from incest. That is what is written: “They gave their father to drink that night” (Genesis 19:33), as a result he said: “Lot’s two daughters conceived from their father” (Genesis 19:36).
Alternatively, “and secretes like an adder” – just as this adder separates between death and life, so wine separated between Aaron and his sons for death, as it is taught: Rabbi Shimon says: The sons of Aaron died only because they entered the Tent of Meeting intoxicated with wine. Rabbi Pinḥas in the name of Rabbi Levi said: This is comparable to a king who had a loyal member of his household. He found him standing at the entrance of his house, and he decapitated him without saying anything and appointed another member of his household in his stead. We do not know the reason that he killed the first one. It is only from what he commanded the second one and said to him: ‘Do not enter the house’ that we know why he killed the first one. Likewise, “Fire emerged from before the Lord and consumed them” (Leviticus 10:2) – we do not know the reason they died. It is only from what he commanded Aaron and said to him “You shall not drink wine or intoxicating drink” (Leviticus 10:9), that we know that they died only due to the wine.
Alternatively, “and secretes like an adder” – just as this adder separates between death and life, so wine separated between the ten tribes and the tribes of Judah and Benjamin for exile. That is what is written: “Woe! Those who rise early in the morning pursue intoxicating drink; those who tarry late, wine will inflame” (Isaiah 5:11), as a result: “Therefore, My people is exiled for lack of knowledge” (Isaiah 5:13).
Alternatively, “and secretes like an adder” – just as this adder separates between death and life, so wine separated the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin for exile. That is what is written: “These too erred with wine and strayed with intoxicating drink” (Isaiah 28:7); these and those.¹⁰Not only the ten tribes of Israel but also the tribes of Judah and Benjamin were eventually exiled.
Alternatively, “and secretes like an adder” – just as this adder separates between death and life, so wine separated between kingdom and kingdom for death. That is what is written: “Belshatzar said, as he tasted the wine” (Daniel 5:2), as a result it says: “During that night, Belshatzar the Chaldean king was killed” (Daniel 5:30).
Alternatively, “and secretes like an adder” – just as this adder separates between death and life, so wine separated between Aḥashverosh and Vashti for death. That is what is written: “On the seventh day, when the king was merry with wine” (Esther 1:10) – as a result he became angry and killed her.

Another interpretation (of Prov. 23:31): WHEN IT GIVES ITS COLOR TO THE CUP. When one sees his comrade drinking, he says: Pour one for me to drink. Then he drinks and defiles himself in dung and urine. (Ibid., cont.:) HE/IT¹⁷In the Biblical context it is the wine that goes down smoothly. GOES DOWN SMOOTHLY. He ends in selling all the objects in his house and all his useful implements. Thus he {has the use of} [is left with] no clothes and no useful implements for the house, so that < he is left > {without a utensil} [with nothing]. So from < having > everything, HE GOES DOWN SMOOTHLY.¹⁸See Yoma 74b–75a.

Another interpretation (of Prov. 23:31): HE/IT GOES DOWN SMOOTHLY. In the end he declares transgressions permissible and makes them {a common like something accessible < to all >} [something accessible < to all > like a common]. He converses with a woman in the market place where he talks obscenely and says evil things in a drunken state without being ashamed, because he is confused and knows neither what he is saying nor what he is doing. (Prov. 23:32:) IN THE END IT WILL BITE LIKE A SNAKE. When the snake bites a person, he does not feel it for an time; but after he goes home, < the poison in > the wound permeates him. IN THE END IT WILL BITE LIKE A SNAKE, most certainly like a snake. Just as in the case of the snake, < the Holy One > cursed the land on account of it, as stated (in Gen. 3:17): CURSED IS THE LAND BECAUSE OF YOU; so in the case of wine, a third of the world was cursed on account of it, as stated (in Gen. 9:24–25): THEN NOAH AWOKE FROM HIS WINE…, [AND HE SAID: CURSED BE CANAAN].¹⁹As Enoch Zundel explains in his commentary on Tanh., Lev. 3:5, Canaan’s curse comes through his father Ham, upon whom the curse actually fell. Since Ham represented a third of Noah’s sons, a third of the world came from him. So also Numb. R. 10:2. Ergo (in Prov. 23:32): IN THE END IT WILL BITE LIKE A SNAKE…. (Vs. 33:) YOUR EYES WILL SEE STRANGE THINGS. See what wine causes one who drinks it! It causes him to serve idols. So it says (in Is. 28:7): THESE ALSO REEL WITH LIQUOR AND STAGGER WITH STRONG DRINK. What is the meaning of {REEL?} [THESE? < These of > which they spoke] (in Exod. 32:4): THESE ARE YOUR GODS, O ISRAEL. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 32:6): AND THE PEOPLE SAT DOWN TO EAT AND DRINK, AND ROSE UP TO {PLAY} [TO ENGAGE IN AMOROUS SPORT].²⁰See above, Gen. 2:21. < It was > because of wine that they said (in Exod. 32:4) THESE ARE YOUR GODS, O ISRAEL. Therefore (in Prov. 23:33): AND YOUR HEART WILL SPEAK DECEITFUL THINGS. Thus it causes four things: idolatry, uncovering of nakedness, shedding of blood, and evil speech. See how strong wine is! So it is written (in Hab. 2:5): AND MOREOVER, WINE IS TREACHEROUS. It is also written (in Prov. 21:24): A SCORNER AND ARROGANT ONE, INSOLENT IS HIS NAME.²¹In the Masoretic Text SCORNER and INSOLENT are reversed. Now INSOLENT must mean idolatry. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 119:21): YOU REBUKE THE CURSED INSOLENT ONES. Moreover, INSOLENT ONES must < also > refer to the uncovering of nakedness. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 86:14): O GOD, INSOLENT ONES HAVE RISEN UP OVER AGAINST ME….; and it says (in Ps. 19:14 [13]): ALSO KEEP YOUR SERVANT FROM INSOLENT ONES. Moreover, when one drinks and transgresses, he sees the whole world as a ship. It is so stated (in Prov. 23:34): YOU WILL BE LIKE ONE WHO LIES DOWN IN THE MIDST OF THE SEA. When he lies down they smite him, but he does not feel it. Thus it is stated (in vs. 35): THEY STRUCK ME, BUT I FELT NO HURT; THEY BEAT ME, BUT I DID NOT KNOW IT. So when he is unknowing and unashamed, he uncovers himself. Then afterwards he returns and seeks it (i.e., wine). [Thus it is stated] (ibid.): WHEN I WAKE UP, I SEEK IT YET AGAIN.

(Fol. 74b) It is written (Deu. 8, 16) Who hath fed thee in the wilderness with manna; and it is also written (Ib. ib. 3) And He afflicted thee and suffered thee to hunger. R. Ami and R. Asi both explained [of what such affliction consisted] . One said that you cannot compare a person who has bread in his basket with one who has none (i.e., the craving of him who lacks the opportunity of gratifying his hunger is much more intense then that of him who has the opportunity). The other said that you cannot compare one who sees what he eats with one who does not see what he ats. "This suggests," said R Joseph, "that the blind are never satisfied." "Therefore," said Abaye, "he who must eat, should eat only by day, and not by night." R. Zera said: "Where is the Biblical passage to prove it? (Ecc. 69) Better is what one seeth with the eyes than the wandering of desire." (Pr. 23, 31) When he glances into the cup, he drinks it down smoothly. R. Ami and R. Assi both explained this passage. One explained it: (Fol. 75) "Whoever glances into the cup, to him the entire world appears common (he disregards other people's rights)"; and the other said: "Whoever glances into the cup, to him all forbidden connections appear common (to which all have access)." (Ib. 12, 26) If there is care in the heart of a man, he shall suppress it. R. Ami and R. Assi both explained this. One said: "This means that he should dismiss, it from his mind." The other said: "He should speak it out to others." (Is. 65, 25) The serpent, dust shall be his food. R. Ami and A. Assi both explained this. One said this means: "Even if he eats the best things in the world, he tastes the flavor of earth"; and the other said: "Even after eating the best things in the world, he finds no satisfaction until he eats earth." We are taught in a Baraitha: R. Jose said: "Come and see how the custom of the Holy One, praised be He! differs from that of frail man. When one frail man provokes another, the latter tries to embitter his life; but the Holy One, praised be He! is not so. The serpent is cursed by Him, yet it climbs up the roof and finds its food; it then descends to the ground and finds its food there. Canaan was cursed. Nevertheless, he eats what his master eats, drinks what his master drinks. Woman was cursed, yet all run after her. The earth was cursed, yet the world is sustained by it."

And to the elders of Israel: Rabbi Akiva said, "Israel is compared to a bird - just like a bird cannot fly without wings, so [too,] Israel cannot do anything without elders. Rabbi Yose bar Chalafta said, "Great is old age - as if they are elders, they are beloved; and if they are youths, the Holy One, blessed be He, makes old age spring upon them [early]." Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai said, "Not [only] in one place, nor in two or three places do we find that the Omnipresent dispenses honor to the elders: In Egypt, as it is stated (Exodus 3:18), 'And they will listen to your voice and you will come, you and the elders of Israel'; at the [burning] bush, 'Go and collect the elders of Israel' (Exodus 3:16); at Sinai, 'you and Aharon, Nadav and Avihu and seventy of the elders of Isreal' (Exodus 24:10); at the tent of meeting, 'to Aharon and to his sons and to the elders of Israel. So [too,] in the future to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, dispenses honor to the elders, as it is stated (Isaiah 24:23), 'And the moon will be embarrassed and the sun ashamed, since the King, the Lord of hosts [will be] on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and across from His elders will be honor.'" The Sages, may their memory be blessed, said, "The Holy One, blessed be He, will in the future make an assembly of His elders. And that is what the verse states, 'since the King, the Lord of hosts [will be] on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and across from His elders will be honor.'" And the Holy One, blessed be He, honors the righteous ones and the pious ones, but any time that a mistake comes from them, He chastises them. See that which is written about the sons of Aharon, as they were assistant priests and erred with wine, as so did they, may their memory be blessed, say - that they were inebriated with wine; and hence the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded after their death, to warn about wine, as it is stated, "Wine and strong drink shall you not drink, you and your sons with you." The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "Be careful with wine. See that which Noach did, as he began to err with it, as it is stated (Genesis 9:20), 'And Noah, the man of the earth, began to plant a vineyard,' and it is written (Genesis 9:21), 'And he drank from the wine and he became drunk and he revealed himself.' What caused him to become disgraced? The wine. And it caused him to bring a curse upon his seed, as it is stated (Genesis 9:25), 'And he said, "Cursed is Canaan."' And hence, be warned about wine, since wine brings a person to all the sins in the world - to licentiousness, to the spilling of blood, to theft and to all the [other] sins in the world." And does it not gladden the heart of man; and the verse praise it like one reading in the Torah? As it is stated, (Psalms 104:15), "And wine gladdens the heart of a man," and it states (Pslams 19:9), "The precepts of the Lord, gladdening the heart." And further, He bequeaths the Garden of Eden to those occupied with Torah and its precepts, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 30:20), "as it is your life and the length of your days"; and a drunk - when the wine is still with him - sits happily, as if he was sitting in the Garden of Eden. [The resolution is] like [the story of] that student who was a pious man, and he had a father that drank heavily. And each time he would fall in the marketplace [from drinking], people would come and hit him with stones and pebbles. And they would yell and call out behind him, "Look at the drunkard." And when his son the pious man saw, he was embarrassed and wished for his soul to die. And every day, he would say to [his father,] "I will order [it] and they will bring you from every wine that they sell in the province to your house, and [just] don't go to drink in the tavern, such that you make a disgrace of yourself and of me." And he [would] say this to him once or twice every day, until his father said that he would do this, as he said, not to go to drink in the tavern. And so did the pious man do, that he would make food and drink for him every day and every night and put him to sleep in his bed, and then leave. One time, rain was falling and that pious man went out to the marketplace and was walking to the synagogue for prayer. And he saw a drunkard laying in the marketplace and a puddle of water was falling on him. And the young men and the youths were hitting him with stones and pebbles and throwing clay in his face and into his mouth. When this pious man saw, he said in his heart, "I will go to father and bring him to here, and I will show him this drunkard and the disgrace that the young men and youths make out of him; maybe he will prevent his mouth from drinking in the tavern and from getting drunk." And so did he do, he brought him to there and showed [the drunkard] to him. What did his old father do? He walked over to the drunkard and asked him in which [tavern] he drank that wine from which he became drunk. His pious son said to him, "Father, for this did I call you? Rather to see the disgrace they make out of him, as so do they do to you at the time that you drink - maybe you will prevent your mouth from drinking in the tavern?" He said to him, "My son, I have no enjoyment and Garden of Eden in my life besides this." When the pious man heard, he left with a bitter spirit. But the precepts and the Torah are not [just like] the joy of wine - since when the wine leaves his body, sorrow comes into his heart, 'this one leaves and that one comes'; but the Torah and the commandments are a delight and joy in this world and in the world to come, as it is stated, "as it is your life and the length of your days" - in this world and in the world to come, which is completely long. And you will find further with the sacrifices that it states about the lambs, "two one-year old unblemished lambs" (Numbers 28:9); about the bread, two issaron; but about the wine, [only] a quarter of a hin. So little would they offer [of the wine] to make known proper action (derekh erets). As much wine brings a person to sin, to great grief and to loss of the purse, as it is stated (Proverbs 23:31), "Do not ogle that red wine, as it lends its color to the cup, as it flows on smoothly" - in his home, such that there not be with what to cook, since he sells and gives everything for the sake of wine. Another [understanding]: Do not read it [as] "to the cup (kos)," but rather "to the purse (kis)," as he puts an evil eye into his purse. And so do you find with the Children of Ephraim, as it states (Hosea 7:11), "But Ephraim was like a silly dove, with no heart." Why? Because they drink much wine; and it states (Isaiah 28:1), "Woe, the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim." And we have also found with a man and a woman that the verse states to take out their son to pelt him with stones, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 21:18), "And if a man has a son that is wild and rebellious," and it states (Deuteronomy 21:19), "And his father and his mother shall grab him." And why all of this? Because he went out to bad culture, such that he will spend his money, steal and do sins, and become liable for the death penalty. And before he becomes liable for death, "And his father and his mother shall grab him, etc. And all of the people of his city shall pelt him, etc." (Deuteronomy 21:19-21). And know [from this], that there is great evil in drinking much wine. And how much meat does he eat more than another man, for which he is liable for death? One litra. And another verse states, "Do not be of those who guzzle wine, or glut themselves on meat to them" (Proverbs 23:20). What is [the meaning of] "to them?" Meaning to say, to them do they do the evil - as they spend [all] their money and come to disgrace; and in the end, they become liable for death in this world and in the world to come.