John Gill Commentary Proverbs 20

Wine [is] a mocker, strong drink [is] raging Wine deceives a man; it not only overcomes him before he is aware, but it promises him a pleasure which it does not give; but, on the contrary, excessive drinking gives him pain, and so mocks him; yea, it exposes him to reproach and disgrace, and to the mockery and derision of others; as well as it sets him to scoff at his companions, and even to mock at religion, and all that is good and serious; see (Hosea 7:5) ;

and strong drink not only disturbs the brain, and puts the spirits in a ferment, so that a man rages within, but it sets him a raving and quarrelling with his company, and everybody he meets with; such generally get into broils and contentions, and get woe, sorrow, and wounds, (Proverbs 23:29Proverbs 23:30) .

Aben Ezra gives this as the sense of the words, ``a man of wine'' (that is, one that is given to wine, a wine bibber), so Ben Melech, ``is a mocker, and he cries out for strong drink, that it may be given him;'' which is not a bad sense of the words.

and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise ; whosoever gives himself to it, is not on his guard against it, but is overcome by it, does not act a wise but an unwise part: wine besots as well as deceives men. This may be applied to the wine of fornication, or to the false doctrine and superstition of the church of Rome; with which the nations of the earth are deceived and made drunk, and which puts them upon blaspheming God, deriding his people, and using cruelty to them, (Revelation 17:2Revelation 17:3Revelation 17:6) (Revelation 18:3Revelation 18:23) .

The fear of a king [is] as the roaring of a lion
The wrath and displeasure of a king, which causes fear; see (Proverbs 19:12) ; kings should be terrors to evil works and workers, though not to good ones, (Romans 13:3) . This is true of the King of kings, who one day will be terrible to the drunkards, the mockers, and murderers of his people, before spoken of; [whoso] provoketh him to anger sinneth [against] his own soul ;
he exposes his life to danger: the Targum supplies it as we do. It may be rendered, his "soul sinneth" ^F1 ; he is guilty of sin, as well as is in danger of punishment; see (Proverbs 8:36) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F1: (wvpn ajwx) .

[It is] an honour for a man to cease from strife
As Abraham did, (Genesis 13:7Genesis 13:8) ; when engaged in a quarrel with his neighbour, or in a lawsuit, or in a religious controversy, especially when he finds he is in the wrong; and indeed, if he is in the right, when he perceives it is like to issue in no good, and is only about words to no profit, it is an honour to drop it; but every fool will be meddling ;
with things he has no concern in, or is not equal to; yet will carry on the debate, though it is to his disgrace; see (Proverbs 17:14) .

The sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold

Or, "in the cold"; in the time of cold, as Aben Ezra; in the time of autumn, which is the time of ploughing, when it begins to be cold weather, and winter is drawing on: and this is discouraging to the sluggard, who does not care to take his hands out of his bosom to feed himself, and much less to plough; see (Proverbs 19:24) .

[therefore] shall he beg in harvest, and [have] nothing

He shall ask of those who have ploughed and sowed, and are now reaping and gathering in their increase at harvest time; but they shall give him nothing; for such as will not work should not eat; and if a man will not plough and sow, he cannot expect to reap, nor should he be encouraged in begging.

This holds good in spiritual things; such who have been slothful and sluggish about their spiritual affairs, unconcerned for the grace of God, and indolent in the use of means, or performance of duty, will ask when too late, or of wrong persons, and shall not have it; as the foolish virgins ask oil of the wise, when the bridegroom is come; and the rich man for water from Abraham, when in hell, (Matthew 25:8) (Luke 16:24) .

Counsel in the heart of man [is like] deep water Pure and undisturbed, but secret, hidden, and hard to reach: such are the things of the spirit of a man, the thoughts of his mind, the devices of his heart; which, though easily known by the searcher of hearts, are not easily penetrated by men, and it is not easy to draw out what is in them, especially in some men, who are very close and reserved. This is true of wicked men, who seek sleep to hide their counsel; and of good men, especially studious men, who have gained a great deal of wisdom and knowledge in them, but not very communicative, being slow of speech, and silent in conversation;

but a man of understanding will draw it out; he will find ways and means to discover the secret designs of wicked men, whether against church or state; and, by asking proper questions, an understanding man will get out useful things from men of knowledge, the most reserved: some men must be pumped, and a good deal of pains must be taken with them, to get out anything of them, as in getting water out of a deep well, and which when got is very good; and so is that wisdom and knowledge which is obtained by an inquisitive man from another of superior knowledge, but not very willing to share it.