Proverbs 23:32

At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
– Proverbs 23:32

Wisdom typically looks to the end of a way, or the outcome of a course of action. The previous verse exposed drunkenness’ beginnings and this verse its endings. Excessive indulgence in wine is compared to bites from venomous snakes. Whatever good and pleasure was perceived in wine, the abuse of it has done away with it. Again, the warning against drunkenness is much like the warning against the strange woman (Proverbs 5:3-4, 11).

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