5:22 Those who are champions 1 at drinking wine are as good as dead, 2
who display great courage when mixing strong drinks.
24:9 They no longer sing and drink wine; 3
the beer tastes bitter to those who drink it.
28:7 Even these men 4 stagger because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer –
priests and prophets stagger because of beer,
they are confused 5 because of wine,
they stumble around because of beer;
they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, 6
they totter while making legal decisions. 7
1 tn The language used here is quite sarcastic and paves the way for the shocking description of the enemy army in vv. 25-30. The rich leaders of Judah are nothing but “party animals” who are totally incapable of withstanding real warriors.
2 tn Heb “Woe [to]….” See the note at v. 8.
3 tn Heb “with a song they do not drink wine.”
5 tn Heb “these.” The demonstrative pronoun anticipates “priests and prophets” two lines later.
6 tn According to HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע, the verb form is derived from בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”), not the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”). See earlier notes at 3:12 and 9:16.
7 tn Heb “in the seeing.”
8 tn Heb “[in] giving a decision.”