Verses 4-7 are the second warning given by Lemuel’s mother. This warning is about the dangers of alcoholic drinks.

“It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine”: The repetition of “It is not for kings” adds emphasis to the warning; however, a literal translation in English does not really have that effect. Contemporary English Version avoids repeating the phrase, but gets emphasis by rendering the verb “Kings . . . should not get drunk.” Good News Translation also puts the emphasis at the beginning with “Listen, Lemuel. Kings should not. . ..” The expression “drink wine” does not in itself mean “drink to excess” or “get drunk,” and it is debatable whether that meaning should be understood here. However, the verb should probably be rendered as a habitual action: “Kings should not make a habit of drinking wine.” For “wine” see 9.2.

“Or for rulers to desire strong drink”: This line is parallel to the previous line. “Rulers” is the matching term for “kings”, and “strong drink” matches “wine”. For “rulers” see 8.15, and for “strong drink” see 20.1. The Hebrew rendered “strong drink” is derived from a verb meaning “be intoxicated”; so the Good News Translation rendering “alcohol” is quite correct. But as a term parallel to “wine”, something like “beer” (Scott, New International Version) or “liquor” (New Jerusalem Bible, Revised English Bible) is also acceptable. The word that stands in the Hebrew text before “strong drink” may mean something like “where” or “or”; however, most translations understand a verb like “desire”, “crave,” “love,” or “want” here, and Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports this interpretation.

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 .