Neville Goddard on Proverbs 23:29-32 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Proverbs 23 in context

Scripture Focus

29Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

30They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

31Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

32At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

Proverbs 23:29-32

Biblical Context

Plainly, the passage lists woes and warns that lingering with wine leads to trouble and harm. It ends with the image that the allure bites in the end.

Neville's Inner Vision

Who among us has woe, sorrow, or a bitter quarrel? The words point to a state of intoxication—food for the senses—yet the real poison is not the cup but the belief that you are defined by appetites. In my teaching, the wine is a symbol for attachment to appearances, for the mental habit of chasing color and warmth of sensation. When you fix your gaze on the red, you invite the last bite—a serpent in your own consciousness. But you are not the appetite; you are the I AM, the undivided awareness that witnesses all images and returns them to stillness. If you practice living from the end, you do not look for the cup to satisfy you; you awaken to the truth that satisfaction is already present in awareness. Your inner state determines the outward scene, and the 'poison' dissolves when you refuse to personalize it.