Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The verse personifies alcohol, not just describing its effects, but as if it's actively mocking and raging against the person who indulges. This isn't just about losing control; it's about being tricked into embracing something that strips away your wisdom and dignity, making you foolish and prone to destructive behavior.
Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
English Standard Version (ESV)
This verse kicks off a new section in Proverbs, shifting from general wisdom sayings to more specific observations, often framed as pronouncements from a wise observer. It’s part of a collection of sayings that continue to contrast wise choices with foolish ones, painting vivid pictures of the consequences of misjudgment. The immediate context highlights the folly of losing self-control through drink, setting a tone for the chapter’s focus on temperance, honesty, and wise relationships.
Proverbs uses vivid imagery, giving inanimate things human-like actions. What happens when wine and strong drink are described as acting like people?
This verse personifies the effects of alcohol, calling wine a 'mocker' and strong drink a 'brawler.' This isn't just poetic language; it highlights how these substances actively deceive and incite negative behavior.
The Mocker
Wine, when immoderately consumed, doesn't just intoxicate; it makes a person a 'mocker.' This means it leads them to scorn God, ridicule others, and lose their sense of reverence and seriousness. It strips away dignity and replaces it with foolishness and disrespect.
The Brawler
Strong drink is described as 'raging' or 'a brawler.' This points to the way it inflames passions, leading to anger, fury, and conflict. It stirs up internal turmoil and often results in outward aggression and disputes.
The verse concludes with a stark warning about who is 'not wise.' What does it mean to be 'deceived' by drink, and why is it fundamentally unwise?
The core of the verse's warning lies in the phrase 'whoever is led astray by it is not wise.' To be 'led astray' or 'deceived' by wine or strong drink means to fall prey to its illusions and destructive power.
Loss of Reason
Ask a follow-up
Alcohol clouds judgment and impairs decision-making. It steals a person's capacity for clear thinking and wise choices. The deception lies in the temporary, false sense of pleasure or courage it offers, which ultimately leads to shame, loss, and ruin.
Rejection of Wisdom
True wisdom, as Proverbs consistently teaches, involves understanding and honoring God, exercising self-control, and living a life of integrity. Succumbing to drunkenness is the opposite of this; it's a willful surrender of one's faculties and a rejection of the path of wisdom for the allure of fleeting, harmful indulgence.
Understand the original words
yayin · Hebrew Noun
Fermented juice or an alcoholic beverage; biblically, it is often a symbol of joy and provision, but when abused, it is associated with intoxication, loss of self-control, and moral compromise.
lets · Hebrew Noun
One who ridicules, scoffs, or treats with contempt; in wisdom literature, it describes one who mocks divine or human standards of conduct, leading to moral foolishness.
shekar · Hebrew Noun
Intoxicating liquor distinct from wine, often associated with strong drink; its abuse is consistently warned against as leading to erratic behavior, violence, and lack of wisdom.
This passage describes rulers who are drunk and reveling, showing how the spiritual intoxication of rulers leads to corruption and mocking of God's ways.
Romans 13:13This New Testament passage directly parallels the idea by warning against revelry, drunkenness, and sensuality, linking them to a lack of wisdom and order.
Galatians 5:19-21This text lists 'drunkenness, carousing, and the like' as works of the flesh, highlighting how such behaviors alienate people from God's kingdom and demonstrate a profound lack of spiritual wisdom.
Proverbs 23:20-21This passage warns against drinking too much wine and eating too much meat, stating that overindulgence leads to poverty and sleepiness, reinforcing the idea that succumbing to such desires is unwise.
Ephesians 5:18In contrast to being drunk with wine, this verse calls believers to be 'filled with the Spirit,' presenting a clear choice between foolish, destructive intoxication and wise, Spirit-led living.
ellicottProverbs 20:1: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
XX. (1) Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging—i.e., producing these effects in those who subject themselves to their power.
cambridgeProverbs 20:1: "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."
1 . a mocker ] Rather a scorner , Proverbs 1:22 , note. raging ] Rather, a brawler , R.V. In each case the thing is personified in its victim. The drunkard in his cups becomes impious towards God and quarrelsome towards his neighbour. is deceived ] erreth , R.V., reeleth , R.V. marg.
The verse personifies alcohol, not just describing its effects, but as if it's actively mocking and raging against the person who indulges. This isn't just about losing control; it's about being tricked into embracing something that strips away your wisdom and dignity, making you foolish and prone to destructive behavior.
This verse kicks off a new section in Proverbs, shifting from general wisdom sayings to more specific observations, often framed as pronouncements from a wise observer. It’s part of a collection of sayings that continue to contrast wise choices with foolish ones, painting vivid pictures of the consequences of misjudgment. The immediate context highlights the folly of losing self-control through drink, setting a tone for the chapter’s focus on temperance, honesty, and wise relationships.
This verse kicks off a new section in Proverbs, shifting from general wisdom sayings to more specific observations, often framed as pronouncements from a wise observer. It’s part of a collection of sayings that continue to contrast wise choices with foolish ones, painting vivid pictures of the consequences of misjudgment. The immediate context highlights the folly of losing self-control through drink, setting a tone for the chapter’s focus on temperance, honesty, and wise relationships.
"Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise." — The verse personifies alcohol, not just describing its effects, but as if it's actively mocking and raging against the person who indulges. This isn't just about losing control; it's about being tric…
Get the original Greek and Hebrew, verse-by-verse context, and related passages inside the app.
Last reviewed October 2026