“Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine” (Proverbs 23:29-30).
Like a talkative owl on a moonless night, this passage begins with six haunting Who…Who…Who…Who…Who…Who’s. And, what a frightening list of miseries—woe, sorrow, contentions, complaints, wounds without cause, redness of eyes! Emotional pain, social conflict, physical accidents, health woes. Any sane thinking person would do everything in his power to avoid these calamities, especially if they were completely avoidable. And they are.
Sin is an irrational phenomenon. Sane people who would otherwise avoid things which might seriously jeopardize their health insanely ignore Solomon’s counsel in these two verses.
“Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise” (Prov. 20:1). “Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine” are the ones who find the low life when searching for the high life in a bottle of booze.
