Red Wine! Don't Look! (Proverbs 23:31)

‎    אַל־תֵּ֥רֶא יַיִן֘ כִּ֪י יִתְאַ֫דָּ֥ם כִּֽי־יִתֵּ֣ן (בַּכִּיס) [בַּכּ֣וֹס] עֵינ֑וֹ יִ֜תְהַלֵּ֗ךְ בְּמֵישָׁרִֽים׃

Proverbs 23:31 Do not look at wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly;

What does this prohibition mean? Solomon gives three features that qualify the prohibition “Do not look [at] wine”:  when (a) it is red, (b) it sparkles in the cup [lit: when it gives its eye in the cup], and (c) it goes down smoothly [lit. it walks about in straightness].

The key question is do these three qualifiers indicate something about the nature of the wine or something about the purpose for the drinking?

The LXX translates/interprets “don’t be drunk with wine” (μὴ μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ), which appears to be quoted by Paul in Eph. 5:18 where the exact same phrase occurs.

My best understanding of “do not look upon wine when it is red” is as follows. Contextually, the son is being warned against the destructive consequences that attend drunkenness, both physically (23:19-21) and morally (29-35). The description of wine as “red” could refer to non-fermented wine. However, the warning would lose its contextual relevance because unfermented wine, whether diluted or not, cannot cause drunkenness. Since the call is to avoid drunkenness, the prohibition in v. 31 must be read as prohibiting the imbibing of alcoholic wine in a way that leads to intoxication, which is precisely what the LXX’s rendering μὴ μεθύσκεσθε οἴνῳ does.

The interpretive options that would prohibit drunkenness are (1) do not drink alcoholic wine at all, (2) do not drink undiluted (alcoholic) wine, or (3) do not make drinking alcoholic wine a focus of pleasure seeking. I.e., keep it always as a secondary feature to avoid intoxication.

  The first option runs afoul of multiple textual evidences: the required creation of wine and strong drink for sacrificial purposes (Lev. 23:13; Exod. 29:40), the implication of the Priestly prohibition and the Nazirite vow that beverage use of wine was typical (Lev. 10:9; Num. 6), Deuteronomy’s permission to buy wine or strong drink with tithe monies (Deut. 14:26), OT and NT recommendations of medicinal use of wine (Prov. 31:6; 1 Tim. 5:23), and hymnic affirmations of wine as a gift of God (Psa. 104:15; Isa. 25:6). And, contextually, the text doesn’t say don’t drink wine -- it intends to forbid intoxication, either with alcohol (29-35) or promiscuous sex (26-28).

The second option is viable as a potential solution to the problem and fits with (a) extant descriptions of wine-drinking practices in the ANE (2 Macc. 15:39), (b) the fact that wine diluted to typical drinking ratios would no longer be red or sparkle or go down smoothly, and (c) the warning not to be among those who “tarry long over wine” (30). I like this option; however, evidential support for wine-to-water ratios in Israel doesn’t extend back beyond the intertestamental period, and the dilution solution isn’t necessary to accomplish the text’s purpose.

The third option seems most likely to me at present (2018). The sensuous descriptions of color, sparkle, experiential pleasure of drinking, and long tarrying all suggest a deliberate pursuit of pleasure via wine. When drinking wine for pleasure is the focus of social interaction it regularly leads to intoxication.

As Waltke, NICOT, 2:264 say: “The prohibition arms the youth against addiction by nipping the temptation in the bud. ... Proverbs speak both favorably and unfavorably of intoxicants. The issue is how to use it wisely without abusing it. Addiction begins with the first drink. So how does one take any intoxicant without potentially becoming addicted to it? The command resolves the problem by disallowing one to be caught by the enticements of wine. When one is charmed by its color, its sparkle, the goblet’s shape, and its delectable taste as it glides down smoothly shove it aside.”

This text, therefore, sets a boundary that is less than absolute prohibition. Nonetheless, wisdom may, as in the case of kings (Prov. 31:4-5), dictate that complete abstinence is prudent. The choice of a prudent path shouldn’t be reviled by those who choose a permissible though less prudent path. And the prudent should not condemn the permissible, though they should remind of its dangers.

Edit: Personally, I practice complete abstinence in consideration of wisdom principles, for testimony's sake, and to avoid being a stumbling block to others. My choice is also reflected in my commitment as a Bible Methodist elder to abstain from all beverage use of alcohol.