And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
Ver. 13. Should I leave my wine?] This is the drunkard's motto, Malle so, vitam quam vinum eripi. a Take away my liquor, you take away my life. Ambrose reporteth of one Theotimus (too good a name for such a wretch), that, having a disease upon his body, and told by the physician that unless he did abstain from wine he was like to lose his eyes, Vale lumen amicum, said he, If they will not away with wine, they are no eyes for me. He would rather lose his sight than his sin. So will many their souls. Woe to those drunkards of Ephraim!
Which cheereth God and man.] God, because poured out in sacrifices of a sweet smelling odour to him: and man, by "refreshing his spirits"; Psa 104:15 Pro 1:6 whence Plato reckoneth wine among the μαλακτικα of man's life: and Simonides saith that it is αμυντωρ δυσφροσιναων, an expeller of sadness.
a Aug., De Temp. Serm., 131.