“Be not among winebibbers”: The Hebrew “Be not among” may mean “Don’t keep company with. . .,” or it may mean simply “Don’t be one of the people who. . ..” Expressions of the first sense are, for example, “Don’t associate with people who” (Good News Translation) and “Do not join those who” (New International Version). For the second sense, New Jerusalem Bible has “Do not be one of those” and Contemporary English Version “Don’t be a. . ..” The term “winebibber” is hardly ever heard in modern English. The Hebrew expression means someone who drinks a lot of wine, or “a drunkard.” Scott has “who drink wine to excess” and Contemporary English Version “heavy drinker.” See also Good News Translation.

“Or among gluttonous eaters of meat”: This line continues the sentence begun in the previous line. “Gluttonous eaters of meat” are those who overindulge in eating meat, or as some translations say, “gorge themselves with meat” (New Jerusalem Bible). In simpler language Good News Translation says “who . . . stuff themselves with food.” “Meat” represents the Hebrew term for “flesh,” but this may be used in a more general sense to cover all solid food.

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 .