Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
All Commentaries on Proverbs 31:6 Go To Proverbs 31
John Chrysostom
AD 407
“Give strong drink unto him who is ready to perish, and wine unto the bitter in soul.” Justly so, because it can mitigate asperity and gloominess and drive away clouds from the brow. “Wine makes glad the heart of man,” says the psalmist. How then does wine produce drunkenness? For it cannot be that one and the same thing should work opposite effects. Drunkenness then surely does not arise from wine but from intemperance. Wine is bestowed upon us for no other purpose than for bodily health; but this purpose also is thwarted by immoderate use. .
