I’ve bitten off more than any of us can chew, as I’ve promised to try and cover most of the Old Testament with this post. Some will have little patience for this kind of Bible study, and I’m okay with that. But some would like to see what all of Scripture has to say about alcohol, so we’ll continue on with this series.
I’m going to have to try and group ideas here and will not be able to cover every pertinent text. I’ll do my best to give representative texts for the different ideas presented:
• If the Pentateuch was ambiguous about its view toward drunkenness, some statements in the books of the prophets are less so. They condemn alcohol abuse. (Isaiah 5:11-12, 22; 28:1-8; Amos 4:1; 6:6) We should also note Eli’s reaction to Hannah’s apparent drunkenness. (1 Samuel 1:12-14)
• Wine was given to man for his enjoyment. (Psalm 104:14-15; Jeremiah 31:12-14)
• Wine was given to man to “gladden his heart.” (Judges 9:13; Ecclesiastes 9:7; 10:19; Zechariah 10:7)
• Wine is a sign of blessing and abundance; lack of wine is a sign of punishment and hardship. (Joel 2:24-26; 3:18; Isaiah 24:7-11)
• The joyous drinking of wine is part of God’s promise for the future (Isaiah 25:6-9; 62:8-9; Jeremiah 31:12-14; Amos 9:13).
This Old Testament survey reflects the practice of the Puritans that we saw in an earlier post, where they praised wine as a gift from God and condemned drunkenness as a work of the devil.
But does wine really mean wine in the Bible? Sadly, I guess this has to be addressed sometime. The theory of “wineless” wine was invented in the 19th century and refuses to go away, despite all evidence to the contrary. Rather than offer a long, drawn out argument, let me refer you to a thorough post on The Two Wine Theory. For those who don’t wish to read there, here are some pertinent quotes:
Against this view is the nearly unanimous testimony of the lexicons, dictionaries, encyclopedias and historians that the terms for wine (yayin in Hebrew, and oinos in Greek) refer to a clearly alcoholic substance. Gentry [author of God Gave Wine—Tim] quotes a couple lexicons and the TWOT as unequivocally stating that yayin is alcoholic. Strong’s Concordance Dictionary notes: “yayin; from an unused root meaning to effervesce; wine (as fermented); by implication intoxication; — banqueting, wine, wine (-bibber).” Nelson’s Expository Dictionary of the Old Testament (edited by Merril Unger and William White Jr., and part of Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary states: “Yayin… is the usual Hebrew word for fermented grape…. [It] clearly represents an intoxicating beverage.” The article for “wine” in the revised ISBE (edited by Geoffrey Bromiley) states “Both yayin and tirosh are fermented grape juice with alcoholic content; hence both are able to cause intoxication (cf. Hos. 4:11) and are to be distinguished from ‘must’ or unfermented grape juice.” The New Unger’s Bible Dictionary [Chicago: Moody Press, 1988; edited by Merrill F. Unger] states, “In most of the passages in the Bible where yayin is used (83 out of 138), it certainly means fermented grape juice; and in the remainder it may fairly be presumed to do so. The intoxicating character of yayin in general is plain from Scripture.”
There is no reason to think that the wine that “gladdens men’s hearts” is anything but fermented wine, wine containing alcohol.
[I’m largely refraining from commenting on comments, trying to present my thoughts bit by bit. Toward the end of the series, I’ll try and be more interactive.]
Previous posts in this series:
The Christian and Alcohol (Alcohol abuse)
The Christian and Alcohol, Part 2 (Alcohol in the history of the U.S.)
The Christian and Alcohol, Part 3 (Seeing what the Bible says about alcohol)
The Christian and Alcohol, Part 4 (What the Pentateuch says about alcohol)