messes: 2 Samuel 11:8
was five times: Sir John Chardin observes, that "in Persia, Arabia, and the Indies, there are some houses where they place several plates in large salvers, and set one of these before each person, or before two or three, according to the magnificence of each house. The great men of the state are always served by themselves, in the feasts that are made for them; and with great profusion, their part of each kind of provision being always double, treble, or a larger proportion of each kind of meat." Genesis 45:22; 1 Samuel 1:5, 1 Samuel 9:22-24
were merry: Heb. drank largely, Proverbs 31:6; Ecclesiastes 9:7, Ecclesiastes 10:19; Song of Solomon 5:1; Habakkuk 1:6; Matthew 11:19; John 2:10