In Deut 21:20 and Proverbs 23:21, it is זלל. The Gesenius Entry has indications of "squandering" and "profligacy". In Matthew 11:19 and Luke 7:34, it is φαγος, The LSJ Entry is tiny, and only refers to one external source, Zenobius Paroemiographus 1.73. The word could mean merely "an eater", since φαγω means "eat".
In religion
Judaism
, for example, prohibits excessive eating and drinking in Hilchot De'ot.. The Chofetz Chaim prohibits gluttony on the basis of Leviticus 19:26, in Sefer Ha-Mitzvot Ha-Katzar.
Catholicism
Church leaders from the asceticMiddle Ages took a more expansive view of gluttony:
, a doctor of the Church, described the following ways by which one can commit sin of gluttony, and corresponding biblical examples for each of them: 1. Eating before the time of meals in order to satisfy the palate. 2. Seeking delicacies and better quality of food to gratify the "vile sense of taste." 3. Seeking to stimulate the palate with overly or elaborately prepared food. 4. Exceeding the necessary quantity of food. 5. Taking food with too much eagerness, even when eating the proper amount, and even if the food is not luxurious. The fifth way is worse than all others, said St. Gregory, because it shows attachment to pleasure most clearly. To recapitulate, St Gregory the Great said that one may succumb to the sin of gluttony by: 1. Time ; 2. Quality; 3. Stimulants; 4. Quantity; 5. Eagerness. He asserts that the irregular desire is the sin, not the food: "For it is not the food, but the desire that is in fault".
In his Summa Theologica, St. Thomas Aquinas reiterated the list of five ways to commit gluttony:
Laute - eating food that is too luxurious, exotic, or costly
Studiose - eating food that is excessive in quality
Nimis - eating food that is excessive in quantity
Praepropere - eating hastily
Ardenter - eating greedily
St. Aquinas concludes that "gluttony denotes inordinate concupiscence in eating"; the first three ways are related to the food itself, while the last two related to the manner of eating. He says that abstinence from food and drink overcome the sin of gluttony, and the act of abstinence is fasting. In general, fasting is useful to restrain concupiscence of the flesh.
St. Alphonsus Liguori
wrote the following when explaining gluttony:
"Pope Innocent XI has condemned the proposition which asserts that it is not a sin to eat or to drink from the sole motive of satisfying the palate. However, it is not a fault to feel pleasure in eating: for it is, generally speaking, impossible to eat without experiencing the delight which food naturally produces. But it is a defect to eat, like beasts, through the sole motive of sensual gratification, and without any reasonable object. Hence, the most delicious meats may be eaten without sin, if the motive be good and worthy of a rational creature; and, in taking the coarsest food through attachment to pleasure, there may be a fault."
Islam
An interpretation of the meaning of a part of a Qur'anic verse is as follows: “and eat and drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He likes not Al‑Musrifoon ” The Sunnah encourages moderation in eating, and strongly criticizes extravagance. The Prophet said: The son of Adam does not fill any vessel worse than his stomach. It is sufficient for the son of Adam to eat a few mouthfuls, to keep him going. If he must do that, then let him fill one third with food, one third with drink and one third with air.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi ; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah.
- "And they 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.
- "Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."
- "When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee. And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite."
- "Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it."
- "For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! But wisdom is justified of all her children."
In arts
the famous Greek poet states, "All that I have given to my stomach has disappeared, and I have retained all the fodder that I gave to my spirit." Popular quote "Eat to live, not live to eat" is commonly attributed to Socrates. A quotation from Rhetorica ad Herennium IV.28 : "Esse oportet ut vivas; non vivere ut edas" is credited by the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs to Cicero.
