Proverbs 31:6-7 advises giving strong drink to the one who is perishing and wine to those in bitter distress, so that they may drink and forget their poverty and remember their misery no more. In the New Testament, 1 Timothy 5:23 tells Timothy to stop drinking only water and to take a little wine for his stomach and his frequent illnesses.
The note sets these beside the many warnings against drunkenness, such as Proverbs 20:1, and asks how the Bible’s advice about wine fits together.
Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those in bitter distress;
Proverbs 31:6
Source: see Credits and references (no. 4, p. 6).