DRUNK, DRUNKENNESS. These words are not to be always understood in Scripture in the odious sense which is commonly given them. They often signify no more than to drink as much as we can, and ought to do, at an entertainment made by some friend, where there is no want of wine. Gen. xliii. 34.For instance, it is said that Joseph’s brethren were drunk with him, the second time they came into Egypt, and knew not as yet that he was their brother; it is not credible that they should forget themselves so far upon this occasion, as to be wanting in that decency and respect which they owed to one so considerable as Joseph. The Spouse in Cant. v. 1.the Canticles says to her friends, Come, my friends, drink and be drunken: that is to say, drink, eat, and make good chear. And Haggai i. 6.Haggai; Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye drink, but are not filled with drink: that is to say, ye have not got such a quantity of wine, as to be plentifully stocked with it. And the wise man; Qui inebriat Prov. xi. 25. John xii. 10.ipse quoque inebriabitur. The liberal and beneficent man shall be liberally rewarded. And in the Gospel, Every man first bringeth forth good wine, & cum inebriati fuerint tunc id quod deterius est. Will any one believe, that Jesus Christ waited till the guests were drunk, in order to perform the miracle which he wrought at Cana in their favour? And St. Paul; Alius quidem esurit, alius 1 Cor. xi. 22.autem ebrius est. One wants, and the other abounds.
Drunkenness is sometimes taken for oppression and affliction: Paupercula & ebria Isa. li. 21.non a vino, says Isaiah: Thou who hast been intoxicated with the Cup of God’s wrath. See CUP. Absumet ebria sitientem, says Moses, in a sort of proverbial way: The drunken will devour the thirsty. The rich Deut. xxix. 19. Deut. xxxii. 42.will consume the poor: the strong will overwhelm the weak. The same: I will make mine arrows drunk with blood; and the Psalmist, Visitasti terram, & inebriasti eam. Psalm liv. 10. Isai. xlix. 26.And Isaiah: I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood. And Ezekiel, Thou shalt be filled with Drunkenness Ezek. xxiii. 33.and Sorrow. And again, xxxix. 19. Ye shall drink blood till ye be drunken. Ye shall be drunk with the blood of my sacrifice.