Proverbs 31:4

Authorized King James Version (1611)

[It is] not for kings, O Lemuel, [it is] not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

אַ֤ל לַֽמְלָכִ֨ים ׀ לְֽמוֹאֵ֗ל אַ֣ל לַֽמְלָכִ֣ים שְׁתוֹ־יָ֑יִן וּ֝לְרוֹזְנִ֗ים *או **אֵ֣י שֵׁכָֽר

Transliteration

ʾal lamlākîm Lĕmôʾēl ʾal lamlākîm šĕtô-yāyin ûlĕrôzĕnîm ʾê šēkār

Grammar Details

• *ʾal*: negative particle - not/do not
• *lamlākîm*: preposition *lə* + definite article + noun, masculine plural - for the kings
• *Lĕmôʾēl*: proper name, masculine singular
• *šĕtô*: Qal infinitive construct - to drink
• *yāyin*: noun, masculine singular - wine
• *ûlĕrôzĕnîm*: conjunction *wə* + preposition *lə* + noun, masculine plural - and for rulers
• *ʾê*: interrogative/exclamation particle - where/not
• *šēkār*: noun, masculine singular - strong drink/intoxicating drink

Word Meanings

• *ʾal*: not/do not (prohibitive)
• *Lĕmôʾēl*: personal name meaning 'belonging to God'
• *šĕtô*: to drink/drinking of
• *yāyin*: wine/fermented grape drink
• *rôzĕnîm*: rulers/potentates/dignitaries
• *ʾê*: where is?/not (alternative reading *או* as 'or')
• *šēkār*: strong drink/intoxicating beverage/liquor

Referenced Verses

• Eccl 10:17 : 17 Blessed [art] thou, O land, when thy king [is] the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
• Prov 20:1 : 1 ¶ Wine [is] a mocker, strong drink [is] raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.
• Isa 5:22 : 22 Woe unto [them that are] mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
• Isa 28:7-8 : 7 But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble [in] judgment. 8 For all tables are full of vomit [and] filthiness, [so that there is] no place [clean].
• Lev 10:9-9 : 9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: [it shall be] a statute for ever throughout your generations: 10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;
• Hos 4:11-12 : 11 Whoredom and wine and new wine take away the heart. 12 ¶ My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused [them] to err, and they have gone a whoring from under their God.
• Hab 2:5 : 5 ¶ Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, [he is] a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and [is] as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
• Mark 6:21-28 : 21 And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief [estates] of Galilee; 22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give [it] thee. 23 And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give [it] thee, unto the half of my kingdom. 24 And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. 25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. 26 And the king was exceeding sorry; [yet] for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. 27 And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.
• Hos 7:3-5 : 3 They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. 4 They [are] all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, [who] ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened. 5 In the day of our king the princes have made [him] sick with bottles of wine; he stretched out his hand with scorners.
• 1 Kgs 20:12 : 12 ¶ And it came to pass, when [Benhadad] heard this message, as he [was] drinking, he and the kings in the pavilions, that he said unto his servants, Set [yourselves in array]. And they set [themselves in array] against the city.
• 1 Kgs 20:16-20 : 16 And they went out at noon. But Benhadad [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 Benhadad sent out, and they told him, saying, There are men come out of Samaria. 18 And he said, Whether they be come out for peace, take them alive; or whether they be come out for war, take them alive. 19 So these young men of the princes of the provinces came out of the city, and the army which followed them. 20 And they slew every one his man: and the Syrians fled; and Israel pursued them: and Benhadad the king of Syria escaped on an horse with the horsemen.
• Esth 3:15 : 15 The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed.
• Dan 5:2-4 : 2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which [was] in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. 3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which [was] at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. 4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.