Proverbs 23:34

Pro 23:34 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.

Ver. 34. Yea, thou shalt be as he, &c.] Thy brains shall crow, and thou shalt be of Copernicus his opinion, that the earth turns round. Thou shalt also be fearless of the greatest danger, and not refuse to sleep upon a mast pole, dance upon a weather cock, &c.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In such great danger shalt thou be.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 34. Lieth down in the midst of the sea] He is utterly regardless of life; which is expressed very forcibly by one in a state of intoxication ascending the shrouds, clasping the mast-head, and there falling asleep; whence, in a few moments, he must either fall down upon the deck and be dashed to pieces, or fall into the sea and be drowned. Reader, if thou be a man given to this appetite, put a knife to thy throat.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(34) As he that lieth down in the midst of the sea.—And so would inevitably be drowned if he trusted to its smooth, glassy appearance.

As he that lieth upon the top of a mast.—Whom every roll of the ship might hurl into the waves. The absolute insensibility of the drunkard to danger is here described. Or it may mean that everything round the drunkard and the ground on which he lies, seem to rock like the waves of the sea, or the masthead of a ship.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

34. in the midst of the sea] as if it were a safe resting-place. A strong figure to denote the utter recklessness of danger which excess of drink induces.

upon the top of a mast] It only weakens the figure to supply here in the cradle, or the like; just as it does in the former clause to introduce on the deck of a ship. “The rig of an ancient ship was more simple and clumsy than that employed in modern times. Its great feature was one large mast, with one large square sail fastened to a yard of great length,” Smith’s Dict. of Bible, Art. Ship. The drunkard is as foolhardy as one who should lie down to sleep there.

It is difficult to understand how Dean Stanley finds here “a notice rare in any ancient writings, unique in the Hebrew Scriptures, of the well-known signs of sea-sickness” (Jewish Church, ii. 186).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Yea, thou shall be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea,.... Not in the open sea, and the waves of it, there fluctuating and tossed about; nor in an island encompassed by sea; but in a ship at sea, a drunken man reels and tumbles about, just as a ship does at sea; hence the motions and agitations of it, and of the men in it, are compared to the reeling and staggering of a drunken man, Psa 107:26;

or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast: where the motion is the greatest. Or all this may be expressive of the dangers which a drunkard is exposed unto, and of his stupidity and insensibility; for though he is in as great danger as one in the circumstances described, in a storm at sea, yet is not sensible of it; which agrees with what follows.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

When. Septuagint, "in a great wave." Never is reason more wanted, nor less able to perform her duty.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

That lieth down to sleep, of which that word is frequently used,

in the midst of the sea; in a ship in the midst of the sea. This phrase notes the temper and condition of the drunkard, the giddiness of his brain, the unquietness of his mind, and especially his extreme danger joined with great security.

The top of a mast; the worst part of the ship, both for its perpetual tossings, and for the hazard of him that sleeps on it.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

As he that lieth down in the midst of the sea. The dazed and unconscious condition of a drunkard is described by one familiar with sea life, as in Psa_104:25, etc.; Psa_107:23, etc. The Hebrew has "in the heart of the sea", (Jon_2:4) i.e. the depth. Many understand the idea to be that the drunkard is compared to a man asleep in a frail boat, or to one slumbering on board a ship sunk in the trough of the sea. But the "lying" here does not imply sleep, but rather immersion. The inebriated person is assimilated to one who is drowned or drowning, who is cut off from all his former pursuits and interests in life, and has become unconscious of surrounding circumstances. This much more exactly represents the case than any notion of sloping amid danger. Septuagint, "Thou shalt lie as in the heart of the sea." Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast; the extreme point of the sailyard, where no one could lie without the greatest peril of falling off. The drunkard is exposed to dangers of all kinds from being unable to take care of himself, and yet is all the time unconscious of his critical situation. Corn. a Lapide, followed by Plumptre, considers that the cradle, or look out, on the top of the mast is meant, where, if the watchman slept, he would be certain to endanger his life. Vulgate, "like a pilot fallen asleep, who has dropped the tiller," and is therefore on the way to shipwreck. Septuagint, "as a pilot in a great storm."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lieth down - To sleep. Sea - In a ship in the midst of the sea.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

v. 34. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, down in its depths, unconscious of his surroundings, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast, asleep in a most perilous position, reeling, staggering to and fro, in momentary danger of being hurled into the waves.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

These verses continue the "thirty sayings" (Proverbs 22:20). It is the continuation of the description of a drunk person.

lies on the top of a mast

The place on the mast where the person lies can be made explicit. AT: "lies in the basket near the top of a mast" (See: Idiom and Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

mast

the long wooden pole to which are attached the sails of a sailing ship

They hit me, ... but I was not hurt. They beat me, but I did not feel it.

Because the drunk person is not thinking clearly, he is imagining that people are hitting and beating him, yet he feels no pain and cannot remember anything.

When will I wake up?

The drunk person is wondering when he will be sober again; when the effect of the wine will stop.

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And you shall be mad like one lying in the midst of the sea.

and like one lying at the top of a mast The mast of a ship sways to fall from it.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.