Proverbs 23:34

in the midst of the sea as if it were a safe resting-place. A strong figure to denote the utter recklessness of danger which excess of drink induces.

upon the top of a mast It only weakens the figure to supply here in the cradle, or the like; just as it does in the former clause to introduce on the deck of a ship. "The rig of an ancient ship was more simple and clumsy than that employed in modern times. Its great feature was one large mast, with one large square sail fastened to a yard of great length," Smith's Dict. of Bible, Art. Ship. The drunkard is as foolhardy as one who should lie down to sleep there.

It is difficult to understand how Dean Stanley finds here "a notice rare in any ancient writings, unique in the Hebrew Scriptures, of the well-known signs of sea-sickness" (Jewish Church, ii. 186).