When I hear the word gluttony, my mind goes straight to Jabba the Hutt from the Star Wars Universe. I get queasy thinking about his tent folds of fat dripping over his chin, stomach and arms, and his slimy skin glistening over his monstrous flesh. Not to mention the fact that he has a scantily clad, Princess Leia, chained up as his slave nearby.
Jabba the Hutt is repulsive because he embodies greed, lust and gluttony.
What is gluttony?
According to the Collins Dictionary, gluttony is the act or habit of eating too much and being greedy.
Now, being pregnant is the time in a woman’s life where she can gorge without being criticised. I never felt judged, even when I ballooned to the size of a house. Though as a pregnancy progresses, it’s often hard to tell the difference between the belly fat and the baby bump
The act of eating is never so pleasurable as it is during this special time. Unless of course morning sickness sends you driving the porcelain bus. (Baby number one had me puking for the whole nine months).
I had a dear friend of mine whose sister was expecting her first child. Her pregnant sister made her sit down to eat with her at every meal—virtually forcing her to mirror her sister’s appetite.
When her pregnant sister ate chicken, she had to eat chicken. When she tucked into silken tofu, so did my friend. Taste for taste and portion for portion. My friend never ate so much rice in her entire life.
After nine months of continuous feasting, my friend looked as pregnant as her expectant sister did.
Certain Hollywood celebrities have even been paid thousands of dollars to indulge in excessive amounts of food. That’s what some would consider a dream job.
Matt Damon put on 14 kilograms to play Mark Whitacre in the movie The Informant.
“It was very, very easy to gain weight. Very, very fun,” Damon said. “I just basically ate everything I could see for a few months.”
This is why we don’t hear much preaching from the pulpit about gluttony. Let’s be honest, eating delicious food is fun. Who hasn’t gone for that third helping of mum’s legendary scotch fillet steak, or nan’s eggplant lasagne. Have another slice of Pavlova, anyone?
Even our celebrations at church or youth group revolve around the preparation and eating of sumptuous food. Pot lucks, regressive dinners, soup nights, post Covid Lockdown parties, you name it—we will have some food to celebrate it.
There’s no fat shaming here.
Which is why I was horrified when my eyes ran over the print in Deuteronomy 21:20-21. This is the first mention of gluttony in the Bible, a sin that contributes to capital punishment.
And they (the parents) shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
And the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
A cursory glance would lead you to believe that in ancient Israel too much flat bread, hummus and roast lamb could bring about your demise by public execution. Seems harsh . . . very harsh. That’s because it is, if the definition of gluttony is purely restricted to excessive consumption of food.
How would a Hebrew understand the word glutton?
These verses become clearer when we take a closer look at the meaning of the word glutton in the original language of the Israelites.
In the Strong’s Concordance, the word glutton comes from the Hebrew word zalal, which means to ‘shake’ hence to ‘be loose’ morally. It means to be worthless, prodigal, riotous (eater) and vile.
In line with this, a glutton in Unger’s Bible Dictionary stands for a free liver, one who is unrestrained.
According to Guzik, the son is not a small child or even a teenager—but a son past the age of accountability, who sets himself in determined rebellion against his father and mother.
The parents have disciplined him repeatedly, but he will not listen nor will he obey. He is stubborn, rebellious, a glutton—morally loose and out of control, and an alcoholic. One commentator has said that, “this child has grown up as a career criminal.”
Proverbs 23:21a
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty.
Gluttony can begin with too much eating and this lack of self-control develops into moral decline. Drunkenness is liquid gluttony—drinking too much alcohol. Together they entwine to form a rope around a person’s neck.
How has this rebellious son become a career criminal?
Rioting, eating and drinking through the night into the small hours of the morning leads to exhaustion and hangovers. Early starts for the working day slip right through as the son sleeps in, missing the opportunity for an honest day’s work.
How can this man finance his unprincipled and excessive lifestyle if his employment opportunities dry up due to his own negligence?
The rebellious son turns to a life of crime. He may join a gang, commit violent acts, extort money, and steal to feed his lusts.
Proverbs 28:7
Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son; but he that is a companion of riotous (gluttonous) men shame his father.
The realisation that the word glutton in many instances refers to being morally loose is helpful, particularly in the difficult passage of Deuteronomy 21.
The rules the Lord set in place for ancient Israel were to provide His people with protection and blessings, not just lofty moral standards.
The guilt of the stubborn and rebellious son was not only against his mother and father, but also against the entire Israelite community. The law was in place to provide social order, so that an immature generation would think twice about rebelling against their parents and elders.
It acted as an effective and strong deterrent because there is no scriptural example of a son being stoned to death under Deuteronomy 21:21.
Well, I hope this has cleared up these controversial scripture verses. In the meantime, let us all work to becoming glutton free.
Join me for part 2 of this topic in my next post.
Bibliography
Author not specified, 2009. ‘Matt Damon talks gaining weight for “The Informant”’, NBCMiami. Retrieved 11 July 2021 from
Collins English Dictionary online. Retrieved 11 July 2021 from
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/gluttony
Guzik, S. 2018. ‘Deuteronomy 21—Various Laws’, Enduring Word. Retrieved 11 July from
Deuteronomy Chapter 21
Strong, J. 1995, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville.
Unger, M.F. 1988, The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Moody Press, Chicago.
Verret, B. 2020, ‘What is Gluttony, and is it a Sin?’, BibleStudyTools. Retrieved 11 July from
https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/what-is-gluttony-and-is-it-a-sin.html
Hey Miss,
Another great post! Really good to know that I’m not the only one who is eating during lockdown lol. But it was really interesting to know that gluttony is not just being greedy, but also to ‘be loose’ morally as you said.
Can’t wait for the next post!
– Dim
Thanks for your comment, Dim. See you in our Zoom Bible class. Perhaps we can open it up for further discussion.
Cheers,
Mrs N
Donuts, yum
Hungry?