Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.
Ver. 6. Give strong drink to him, &c.] To those that stand at the bar, rather than to them that sit on the bench. Wine maketh glad the heart of man. Judges 9:13 Psa 104:15 Plato calls wine and music the μαλακτικα - mitigators of men's miseries. Hence that laudable custom among the Jews at funerals to invite the friends of the deceased to a feast, and to give them the "cup of consolation." Jer 16:7 And hence that not so laudable of giving wine, mingled with myrrh, to crucified malefactors, to make them die with less sense. a Christ did not like the custom so well, and therefore refused the potion. People should be most serious and sober when they are to die, since in death, as in war, non licet bis errare It is not permitted to error twice. - if a man miss at all, he misses for all and for ever. Vitellius therefore took a wrong course, who, looking for the messenger Death, made himself drunk to drown the fear of it. b
And wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.] Heb., Bitter of spirit, as was Naomi when she would needs be called "Marah"; Rth 1:20 as was Hannah when she pleaded that she had neither drank wine nor strong drink (though at that time she had need enough of it), but was "a woman of a sorrowful spirit"; 1Sa 1:15 as was David when his heart was leavened and soured with the greatness of his grief, and he was "pricked in his reins." Psa 73:21 This grief was right, because according to God - η κατα Yεον λυπα, 2Co 7:11 so was that bitter mourning, Zec 10:12 and Peter's weeping bitterly. These waters of Marah, that flow from the eyes of repentance, are turned into wine; they carry comfort in them; there is a clear shining after this rain. 2Sa 23:4 Such April showers bring on May flowers.
“Deiecit ut reveler, premit ut solatia praestet:
Enccat ut possit vivificare Deus.”
a Bacchus et afflictis requiem mortalibus affert. - Tibul.
b Vitellius trepidus, dein temulentus.