Proverbs 23:34

American Standard Version (1901)

Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְ֭הָיִיתָ כְּשֹׁכֵ֣ב בְּלֶב־יָ֑ם וּ֝כְשֹׁכֵ֗ב בְּרֹ֣אשׁ חִבֵּֽל׃

Transliteration

And you hāyîṯā like one šōḵēḇ in lēḇ-yām, and like one šōḵēḇ in rōʾš ḥibbēl.

Grammar Details

• *hāyîṯā*: qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular - you will be
• *šōḵēḇ*: qal participle, masculine singular - lying down
• *lēḇ-yām*: noun, masculine singular construct + noun, masculine singular - heart of sea/midst of sea
• *rōʾš*: noun, masculine singular construct - top of
• *ḥibbēl*: noun, masculine singular - mast

Word Meanings

• *šōḵēḇ bǝlēḇ-yām*: one lying in the midst of the sea/one who lies in the heart of the ocean
• *šōḵēḇ bǝrōʾš ḥibbēl*: one lying at the top of a mast/one who sleeps on the summit of a ship's mast

Referenced Verses

• Exod 15:8 : 8 And with the blast of thy nostrils the waters were piled up, The floods stood upright as a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea.
• 1 Sam 25:33-38 : 33 and blessed be thy discretion, and blessed be thou, that hast kept me this day from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. 34 For in very deed, as Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, who hath withholden me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child. 35 So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said unto her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. 36 And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. 37 And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 38 And it came to pass about ten days after, that Jehovah smote Nabal, so that he died.
• 1 Sam 30:16-17 : 16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the ground, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. 17 And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, who rode upon camels and fled.
• 2 Sam 13:28 : 28 And Absalom commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now, when Amnon's heart is merry with wine; and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon, then kill him; fear not; have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.
• 1 Kgs 16:9 : 9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah:
• 1 Kgs 20:16-22 : 16 And they went out at noon. But Ben-hadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him. 17 And the young men of the princes of the provinces went out first; and Ben-hadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out from Samaria. 18 And he said, Whether they are come out for peace, take them alive, or whether they are come out for war, take them alive. 19 So these went out of the city, the young men of the princes of the provinces, and the army which followed them. 20 And they slew every one his man; and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued them: and Ben-hadad the king of Syria escaped on a horse with horsemen. 21 And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. 22 And the prophet came near to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest; for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee.
• Joel 1:5 : 5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and wail, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the sweet wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.
• Matt 24:38 : 38 For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
• Luke 17:27-29 : 27 They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise even as it came to pass in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 but in the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all:
• Luke 21:34 : 34 But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare:
• 1 Thess 5:2-7 : 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3 When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape. 4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief: 5 for ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness; 6 so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night: and they that are drunken are drunken in the night.