This verse supports the warning in the previous verse by describing the real result of drinking too much wine.

“At the last it bites like a serpent”: The Hebrew of this line begins “the after-part of it,” where “it” refers back to “wine” in the previous two verses. A number of versions say “In the end it. . .”; Contemporary English Version has “but later. . .” and Good News Translation “The next morning.” These are all suitable models. “It bites like a serpent” is a simile, in which the point of comparison is the painful or deadly outcome. “Serpent” is the general Hebrew word for “snake,” although we may assume that in this context a poisonous snake is meant. The parallel term in the next line, “adder” or “viper” (New International Version), certainly refers to a type of snake that is poisonous.

“And stings like an adder”: The two words of this line in Hebrew have almost the same meaning as the corresponding words in the previous line. “Stings” is a rare word that is said to mean “pierces”; here it may picture the way a poisonous snake strikes with its fangs, so New International Version has “poisons.” It is not clear which snake the word translated “adder” refers to. Some take it to be a “viper” (New International Version, Scott), but Isa 59.5 speaks of this same snake laying eggs, which is not true of the viper. Revised English Bible “cobra” seems unlikely. In translation a more general expression, such as “poisonous snake,” may be used to render “adder” here.

Since the two lines of this verse say almost the same thing, in some languages it may be better to combine them than to repeat the thought twice. This is the approach of Good News Translation and also Contemporary English Version (“but later it bites like a poisonous snake”). Another possible approach is to use two images of pain-inflicting creatures that are appropriate in the culture of the translator: “It bites like a viper. It stings like a scorpion.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Proverbs. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .