Genesis 9:21

Hebrew Bible

20 Noah, a man of the soil, began to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers who were outside.

Genesis 43:34

Hebrew Bible

33 They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment. 34 He gave them portions of the food set before him, but the portion for Benjamin was five times greater than the portions for any of the others. They drank with Joseph until they all became drunk.

1 Samuel 1:13

Hebrew Bible

12 It turned out that she did a great deal of praying before the Lord. Meanwhile Eli was watching her mouth. 13 As for Hannah, she was speaking in her mind. Only her lips were moving; her voice could not be heard. So Eli thought she was a drunkard. 14 Then he said to her, “How much longer do you intend to get drunk? Put away your wine!”

1 Samuel 25:36

Hebrew Bible

35 Then David took from her hand what she had brought to him. He said to her, “Go back to your home in peace. Be assured that I have listened to you and responded favorably.” 36 When Abigail went back to Nabal, he was holding a banquet in his house like that of the king. Nabal was having a good time and was very intoxicated. She told him absolutely nothing until morning’s light. 37 In the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these matters. He had a stroke and was paralyzed.

2 Samuel 11:13

Hebrew Bible

12 So David said to Uriah, “Stay here another day. Tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem both that day and the following one. 13 Then David summoned him. He ate and drank with him, and got him drunk. But in the evening he went out to sleep on his bed with the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his own house. 14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah.

 Notes and References

"... Thematic evidence converged with all of this as well. Certain themes continue to surface - and not in a haphazard way. For example, the collection develops the matter of drunkenness five times: Noah makes wine and gets drunk after the flood (Genesis 9:21); Joseph’s brothers get drunk when they mistakenly think that they are out of trouble in Egypt (Genesis 43:34); the priest Eli sees Samuel’s mother, Hannah, praying silently and mistakenly thinks that she is drunk (1 Samuel 1:13); Abigail’s husband, Nabal, gets drunk while his wife is secretly meeting with David (1 Samuel 25:36); and David later gets Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, drunk as part of David’s plan to cover up his affair with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:13). The indicator that these are not merely five unrelated tales that involve a little alcohol is the fact that in every one of these cases someone is deceived ..."

Friedman, Richard Elliott The Hidden Book in the Bible (p. 31) Harper San Francisco, 1998

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.