Vol.10 No.5

Wine in the Bible
Does the Bible sanction the use of fermented beverages?
By Staci Osterman

Today, in the U. S., alcohol consumption is responsible for nearly half of all fatal traffic accidents.¹ Also, 5,000 babies are born each year with with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, disabilities caused by maternal drinking and the leading cause of mental retardation.² An unknown number are born with Fetal Alcohol Effects, behaviors and disabilities that may not show up for several years in the child of a mother who consumed any amount of alcohol while pregnant. (See “Baby on Board—No Alcohol Please!” in this issue.) Even more distressing is that a large portion of the over 100 million drinkers in America are churchgoers.

For centuries there have been two opposing sides to the issue of wine in the Bible. Temperance reformers quote Solomon: “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” (Proverbs 20:1). Moderate alcohol users argue that if the Bible mentions wine it must be alcoholic in all instances. Let us study the use of this word wine in the Bible and see what God says about the use of fermented beverages. In our search, we will use the King James Version of the Bible.

Wine in a household dictionary probably has one definition: an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grape juice. Even Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible defines the Hebrew yayin and Greek oinos as a fermented beverage. Thus, many assume the Bible speaks of wine only as a fermented beverage.

However, until very recently, wine has had several meanings. Funk and Wagnall’s New Standard Dictionary of the English Language (1955), defines wine “in loose language the juice of the grape whether fermented or not.” Webster’s first dictionary (1828), defined must as “new wine pressed from the grape, but not fermented.”³

In ancient literature wine had the dual meaning of fermented or unfermented grape juice. Aristotle wrote of a sweet grape beverage he called wine: “It has not the effect of wine, for it does not intoxicate like ordinary wine.”⁴ Marcus Cato describes “wine still hanging on the grapes.”⁵ Since wine could be fermented or unfermented, the translators of the King James Version of the Bible did not always specify which meaning the Hebrew yayin or Greek oinos had in a text.

Here an objection is often raised. Did the ancients preserve grape juice so it would not ferment? Yes. We will look at four ways this was done.

The most common method was boiling grape juice at high temperatures to kill all yeast germs. This left a thick syrup that could be diluted with water when needed. “The Mishna (a collection of ancient Jewish writings held in the highest esteem by the Jews) states that the Jews were in the habit of using boiled wine.”⁶

Another type of preservation was filtration. Grapes were placed in vats, their natural weight causing the juice to flow from them. This juice did not contain the pulpy skins which fermented easily, and, when sealed in jars using pitch, its high sugar content allowed it to last. This unfermented wine, wrote Pliny, “neither inflames the brain nor infests the mind and passions, and is much more pleasant to drink.”⁷

Keeping the juice in cold storage also preserved it. The must—first juice to flow from the vat before being pressed—was placed in pitch-coated jars which were submerged in a cool pond or cistern forty days. Such wine remained sweet the whole year.

The last method involved burning sulphur in the tops of filled jars or in empty jars prior to filling. The sulphuric fumes absorbed oxygen in the juice, preventing the formation of yeast germs. Another variation added egg yolks, mustard seeds, or other sulphuric substances. Thus, the practice of keeping sweet wine unfermented was not uncommon.

Remembering that the Hebrew yayin can be translated fermented or unfermented, we find strong biblical support for unfermented wine. Following the Babylonian siege, Gedaliah admonished the Israelites left in Judah, “gather ye wine [yayin], and summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels.” Many of the scattered Jews returned and “gathered wine and summer fruits very much” (Jeremiah 40:10, 12). Isaiah spoke of gladness removed from vineyards because men were able to “tread out no wine [yayin] in their presses” (Isaiah 16:10). This wine would be unfermented since fermented wine involves a time-controlled process.

God has placed a special blessing on unfermented wine. “Thus saith the Lord, As the new wine [tirosh] is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it …” (Isaiah 65:8). Tirosh is Hebrew for freshly squeezed grape juice. In choosing the Levites as priests, God promised: “All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine [tirosh], and of the wheat, the firstfruits …  them have I given thee” (Numbers 18:12).  And Solomon admonishes, “Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine [tirosh]” (Proverbs 3: 9, 10).

The New Testament mentions wine thirty-seven times, referring to unfermented grape juice. Ernest Gordon notes,  “in the Septuagint (a Greek translation of the Old Testa-ment) the Hebrew word for grape juice, tirosh, is translated at least 333 times by the Greek word oinos; wine, and the adjective ‘new’ is not present. Oinos without qualification, then, can easily mean unfermented wine in the New Testament.”⁸

Jesus and the apostles drank the fresh juice of the vine. The marriage at Cana shows how Jesus supernaturally shortened the natural process for creating grape juice (John 2:1–11). This miracle also demonstrated His power to transform sinners into children of God.

At the Last Supper, Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Passover. Nothing fermented or possessing yeast could be in the house (Exodus 12:14–20; 13:7). Because fermentation symbolized sin, it would have been blasphemous for Jesus to use fermented wine to represent His blood, since He was sinless. Instead, He took the cup of fresh juice and  said, “Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:27–29, italics supplied).

Some argue that Paul advised Timothy to drink a little alcohol “for thy stomach’s sake” (1 Timothy 5:23). The meaning is clear after reading this prescription by Athenaeus the Grammarian (about a.d. 200): “Let him take sweet wine, either mixed with water or warmed, especially that kind called protrops, the sweet … glukus, as being good for the stomach; for sweet wine [oinos] does not make the head heavy.”⁹

n startling contrast to God’s blessing on unfermented wine, are His fearful denunciations and warnings against drinking fermented wine: “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder” (Proverbs 23:31, 32).

The evil effects of alcohol are clearly mentioned in Scripture. Like a snake, it is deceptive in its promises and cruel in its treatment. Slowly, it beclouds the mind, dulling the perception and making one incapable of wise discernment. Isaiah lamented: “the priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they are swallowed up of wine, they are out of the way through strong drink; they err in vision, they stumble in judgment” (Isaiah 28:7). And Solomon pleaded in Proverbs 31:4, 5, “It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink: Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.”

Today, even medical science has shown how fermented beverages can destroy the body temple Jesus sought to redeem. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20). A close look at the cross and the price paid will remove all desire in our hearts to be trapped in the self-destructive snare of alcohol. We are warned, in 1 Corinthians 3:17,  “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” Also at stake are the lives of innocent children affected by the use of alcoholic beverages during pregnancy and the victims of accidents, negligence, and abuse caused under the influence of alcohol.

As Christian believers, looking for the imminent return of Jesus, the Bible’s admonitions to abstain from fermented beverages hold special meaning. We live in the last days. Satan’s greatest deceptions are soon to be unleashed. “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The only way we can stand the test is to have clear minds that can perceive truth. God calls now to each of His children, “Do not drink wine nor strong drink …that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between un-clean and clean” (Leviticus 10:9, 10).

Despite the prevailing view that the Bible supports the moderate use of alcohol, we have seen that God has set a standard of total abstinence for Christians. Instead of wine, we should be filled with His Spirit that we may be a holy people that seek and know righteousness. “But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7).

References:

1. Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD). www.madd.org/stats/default.shtml. September 7, 1998.
2. National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, 1998, www.nofas.org.
3. Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828.
4. Samuele Bacchiocchi, Wine in the Bible, abridged ed., p. 16.
5. Marcos Cato, On Agriculture, See note 4.
6. John Kitto, Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature, 1845 ed., s.v. “Passover,” p. 477.
7. Ibid., p. 36.
8. Ernest Gordon, Christ, the Apostles and Wine, An Exegetical Study.
9. See note 4, p. 16.