some get buzzed on one glass, legally intoxicated on two, and would fail a breath test. Be truthful those that choose to drink, is it for the taste or the buzz, i can hardly believe its only for the taste.
DRINKING AND THE SCRIPTURES
- Thread starter dcontroversal
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Proverbs 23:29-35, Romans 13:11-14, 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, 1John 3:7-1, Ecclesiastes11:9, Matthew 24: 42-51. here are some scriptures, i don't know the copy paste thing, and typing would take a while, so if someone else could, that would be great.
E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
no one is defending booze,
we are calling for people to interpret the word of God correctly. and showing a pharisee attitude by adding to the laws of God.
My problem isn't the booze issue, but that there are those that are teaching Jesus drank alcoholic wine, created alcoholic wine for people to get drunk on, making it acceptable for them to drink it themselves. If you want to drink, then drink! Just don't drag Jesus down to your level to do it!
E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
so your problem is accepting what the word of God says.
ok thanks. thats all we needed to know.
No, my problem is you're misinterpreting scripture & declaring others that don't agree heretics. Projecting guilt on me isn't gonna take away your guilt or make you acceptable.
I have said it before , & I'll say it again, when someone battles so hard to lay a false foundation & get it accepted, that person has an agenda. And it doesn't take a college professor to figure out what it is. It's not only about wine, but it's about watering down the scriptures until "another Jesus" emerges. Just more proof we're nigh at the door of our salvation.
I have said it before , & I'll say it again, when someone battles so hard to lay a false foundation & get it accepted, that person has an agenda. And it doesn't take a college professor to figure out what it is. It's not only about wine, but it's about watering down the scriptures until "another Jesus" emerges. Just more proof we're nigh at the door of our salvation.
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E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
What guilt. there is no other way to interpret those passages. To do so would destroy historical context. What the plain word says, and what God says. There would be no jewish wedding feast with just plain grape juice. No historical book would show this, it was a time to celebrate, and they celebrated with wine (the real wine, not grape juice)
You want to try to shove your unfounded interpretation which has no backing historically or biblically down peoples throats and say we are misinterpreting falsely. And you expect us just to go away lightly?
Then tell us, Why is it that your trying so hard to lay a foundation which is against jewish tradition, jewish laws and biblical foundation. What agenda do you have?
E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
who is taking from the law? other than those twisting the law to fit their belief and not taking the law literally.
Since it's a proven fact that the Greek word for wine is a generic term for all grape drinks, one cannot automatically assume it's alcoholic. Do the research. there's no need to believe me for face value. Check it yourself.
E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
Your right.
But research shows that a jewish wedding feast was a week long. they drank alot of wine (not grape juice) and the celebrated two people coming together.
It does not mean they became drunkards. Probably most people just drank to enjoy. not get so drunk they would pass out.
Research precludes us from thinking it was grape juice. But people will only see what they want to see.
E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
Research has already been dumped. You people ignore it. even though the proof is on the table. you ignore strict biblical proof which would show you that grape juice is not what is spoken of here/
It's not about the research, it's about understanding the times as it relates to us. Would you talk about someone if he drank lots of grape juice? No, No. Jesus was drinking as is stated, the Son of man came eating and drinking. In other words, Jesus enjoyed the gifts of the Father. That's why He thanked Him for every meal.
E
eternally-gratefull
Guest
not just this.
imagine a wedding celebration where they served just grape juice. who is going to show up??
The Meaning of Wine
WINE IN THE BIBLE: A BIBLICAL STUDY ON THE USE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
The universally accepted definition of "wine" as "fermented grape juice" may well explain why many Bible believing Christians have come to believe that the "wine" mentioned in the Bible must in all instances be alcoholic. This assumption, known as the "one wine theory," has greatly prejudiced the study of the Biblical teachings on the use of alcoholic beverages by leading many sincere Christians to believe that God approves the moderate use of fermented, intoxicating wine. The reasoning can best be illustrated syllogistically, as follows:
1. The Bible, like today’s English language, knows only of alcoholic wine.
2. Wine is praised in the Bible as a gracious divine blessing.
3. Therefore, the Bible approves the moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages.
The problem with this syllogism is that its first premise is very wrong. As this chapter will show, the Bible knows of two distinctly different grape beverages: the first, unfermented, refreshing and lawful; the second, fermented, intoxicating and unlawful. This view of two kinds of wines in the Bible is flatly denied by numerous scholars. Dunlop Moore states emphatically: "The theory of two kinds of wine—the one fermented and intoxicating and unlawful, and the other unfermented, unintoxicating, and lawful—is a modern hypothesis, devised during the present century, and has no foundation in the Bible, or in Hebrew or classical antiquity."1 An even stronger denial of the two wines theory is found in E. W. Bullinger’s The Companion Bible, which says: "The modern expression, ‘unfermented wine,’ is a contradiction of terms. If it is wine, it must be fermented. If it is not fermented, it is not wine, but a syrup."2
Objective of Chapter. We intend in this chapter to examine if indeed the theory of two kinds of wine has no Biblical and historical foundation, as many contend. To some readers this investigation may seem rather technical and not directly related to the study of the Biblical teaching on alcoholic beverages. Yet, this investigation is essential to understand what the Bible has to say on this timely subject. In fact, our conclusion regarding the secular and Biblical usage of the term "wine" will enable us to clarify the apparent contradiction between those Biblical passages commending and those condemning the use of wine.
Procedure. The procedure we shall follow is to trace the secular usage of the word "wine" backward, from English, to Latin, Greek and finally Hebrew. This historical survey across four languages is justified by the fact that the English word "wine" is directly related linguistically to the Latin vinum, the Greek oinos, and the Hebrew yayin. The relationship of sound and look between these words becomes clearer when we place these respective words side by side without the case ending um for the Latinvin(um), os for the Greek oin(os) and without the prefix yafor the Hebrew (ya)yin (originally yayin). Without the case endings or suffix these four words look like this: wine, vin, oin, yin. The linguistic relationship among them is self-evident. They all have a similar stem in common. This indicates that it is the sound of the same word which has been transliterated rather than the equivalent meaningwhich has been translated with a different word.
In view of their similarity in sound and look we must ascertain what these related words actually mean in the various languages. We shall conduct our investigation beginning with the usage of the word "wine" in the English language and then move backward to the Latin vinum to the Greek oinos and finally to the Hebrew yayin. We trust that this procedure will help the Bible reader to see the historical continuity existing in the secular and Biblical usage of this one-related-word as a designation for both fermented and unfermented grape juice.
This chapter is divided into two parts. The first examines the secular usage of wine, vinum, oinos, and yayin. The second considers the Biblical usage of the Greek oinosand the Hebrew yayin.
Past Usage of "Wine." This restrictive meaning of "wine" represents, however, a departure from the more classical dual meaning of the word as a designation for both fermented or unfermented grape juice. To verify this fact one needs only to consult some older dictionaries. For example, the 1955 Funk & Wagnalls New "Standard" Dictionary of the English Language defines "wine" as follows: "1. The fermented juice of the grape: in loose language the juice of the grape whether fermented or not." This definition shows that forty years ago the loose usage of "wine" referred to "the juice of the grape whether fermented or not." It is noteworthy that even the more recent New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language (1971) defines "must" as "Wine or juice pressed from the grapes but not fermented." This definition clearly equates "wine" with grape juice.
The 1896 Webster’s International Dictionary of the English Language which defines "wine" as "the expressed juice of grapes, especially when fermented . . . a beverage . . . prepared from grapes by squeezing out their juice, and (usually) allowing it to ferment." This definition is historically accurate, since it recognizes that the basic meaning of "wine" is "the expressed juice of grapes," which is usually, but not always, allowed to ferment.
"The problem," as Robert Teachout points out, "is that people have taken the very usual meaning of the word (whether in Hebrew, Greek, Latin or English)—as an intoxicating beverage—and have made it the onlydefinition of the word. That is incorrect scholarship! It is inaccurate both biblically and secularly, and it is inaccurate in the English language historically."3
Older English Dictionaries. The inaccuracy in the English language becomes even more evident when we look at older English dictionaries. For example, the 1828Webster’s Dictionary defines the word "must" as "new wine—wine pressed from the grape, but not fermented."4 Note that the unfermented grape juice is here explicitly called "new wine."
The 1759 Nathan Bailey’s New Universal English Dictionary of Words and of Arts and Sciences offers the following definition for "wine": "Natural wine is such as it comes from the grape, without any mixture or sophistication. Adulterated wine is that wherein some drug is added to give it strength, fineness, flavor, briskness, or some other qualification."5 Note that in this definition Bailey does not use the word "fermented," though it is implied in some of the wines he describes.
Other eighteenth-century lexicographers define the word "wine" very similarly. John Kersey’s Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum, or A General English Dictionary, published in London in 1708, says: "Wine, a liquor made of the juice of grapes or other fruits. Liquor or Liquour, anything that is liquid; Drink, Juice, etc. Must, sweet wine, newly pressed from the grape."6 In this definition "wine" explicitly includes "must, sweet wine, newly pressed from the grape."
Benjamin Marin’s Lingua Britannica Reformata or A New English Dictionary, published in 1748, defines "wine" as follows: "1. the juice of the grape. 2. a liquor extracted from other fruits besides the grape. 3. the vapours of wine, as wine disturbs his reason."7 It is noteworthy that here the first meaning of "wine" is "the juice of the grape," without any reference to fermentation.
A clear example of the use of the term "wine" to refer to unfermented grape juice is provided by William Whiston’s translation of Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, first published in 1737. Referring to Joseph’s interpretation of the cupbearer’s dream, Josephus writes: "He therefore said that in his sleep he saw three clusters of grapes hanging upon three branches of a vine, large already, and ripe for gathering; and that he squeezed them into a cup which the king held in his hand and when he had strained the wine, he gave it to the king to drink . . . Thou sayest thatthou didst squeeze this wine from three clusters of grapeswith thine hands and that the king received it: know, therefore, that the vision is for thy good."8
In this translation Whiston uses "wine" as a proper rendering for fresh, unfermented grape juice (gleukos), obviously because in this time "wine" meant either fermented or unfermented grape juice. Josephus’ statement offers another significant insight, namely, that it was customary long before Israel became a nation to squeeze the juice from grapes and drink it immediately in its fresh, unfermented state. This is what Josephus calledgleukos, the term which our English translators render "wine" or "new wine" in Acts 2:13. Does not this translation support the conclusion that unfermented grape juice was called "wine" in older English usage?
Bible Translations. The above sampling of definitions of "wine" from older English dictionaries suggests that when the King James Version of the Bible was produced (1604-1611) its translators must have understood "wine" to refer to both fermented and unfermented wine. In view of this fact, the King James Version’s uniform translation of the Hebrew yayin and Greek onios as "wine" was an acceptable translation at that time, since in those days the term could mean either fermented or unfermented wine, just as the words it translates (yayin or oinos) can mean either. Today, however, when "wine" has assumed the sole meaning of fermented grape juice, modern translations of the Bible should indicate whether the text is dealing with fermented or unfermented grape juice. By failing to provide this clarification, uninformed Bible readers are misled into believing that all references to "wine" in the Bible refer to fermented grape juice.
Parkinson in his Theatrum Botanicum published in 1640, explains that "The juyce or liquor pressed out of the ripe grapes, is called vinum, wine. Of it is made both sapa anddefrutum, in English cute, that is to say, boiled wine, and both made of mustum, new wine; the latter boyled to the halfe, the former to the third part."11 This explanation is significant because it attests that the juice pressed out of ripe grapes was called "vinum, wine," and when boiled it became "sapa" or "defrutum," depending on how much it was boiled down.12
Pliny (A. D. 24-79), the renowned Roman scholar and author of the celebrated Natural History, lists the boiled wines sapa and defrutum among the vinum dulce—"sweet wine." To these he adds other kinds of unfermented sweet wines known as semper mustum—"permanent must," passum—"raisin wine," and militites—"honey-wine." The last was made from must "in the proportion of thirty pints of must of a dry quality to six pints of honey and a cup of salt, this mixture being brought to the boil."12
W. Robertson in his Phraseologia Generalis, published in 1693, defines the Latin mustum as "new wine" and the phrase vinum pendens as "wine yet on the tree."13 Thomas Aquinas, the "Angelic Doctor" of the Roman Catholic Church, explains that "grape juice—mustum" can be used for the Eucharist, because it already "has the specific quality of wine [speciem vini]."14
The foregoing examples suffice to show that the Latin wordvinum, like its derived English wine, has been historically used to refer either to fermented or unfermented grape juice. Further documentation from ancient Roman writers supporting this conclusion will be given in Chapter 4, where we shall examine the ancient methods for preserving wine unfermented.
In the light of such a categorical claim, it is important to ascertain if indeed it is true that in classical Greek oinos meant only fermented grape juice. If this claim can be shown to be untrue—by submitting literary examples whereoinos refers also to unfermented grape juice—then it is certainly possible that the same dual meaning of oinos is present also in the New Testament and in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint.
WINE IN THE BIBLE: A BIBLICAL STUDY ON THE USE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Chapter 2
THE MEANING OF “WINE”
Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Andrews University
"Why devote a chapter of this book to the definition of "wine"? Everybody knows that wine is the fermented juice of grapes! Such a surprise is understandable because most of today’s English dictionaries define"wine" as "fermented grape juice" or "the fermented juice of grapes," making no allowance for unfermented grape juice to be called "wine."THE MEANING OF “WINE”
Samuele Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Andrews University
The universally accepted definition of "wine" as "fermented grape juice" may well explain why many Bible believing Christians have come to believe that the "wine" mentioned in the Bible must in all instances be alcoholic. This assumption, known as the "one wine theory," has greatly prejudiced the study of the Biblical teachings on the use of alcoholic beverages by leading many sincere Christians to believe that God approves the moderate use of fermented, intoxicating wine. The reasoning can best be illustrated syllogistically, as follows:
1. The Bible, like today’s English language, knows only of alcoholic wine.
2. Wine is praised in the Bible as a gracious divine blessing.
3. Therefore, the Bible approves the moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages.
The problem with this syllogism is that its first premise is very wrong. As this chapter will show, the Bible knows of two distinctly different grape beverages: the first, unfermented, refreshing and lawful; the second, fermented, intoxicating and unlawful. This view of two kinds of wines in the Bible is flatly denied by numerous scholars. Dunlop Moore states emphatically: "The theory of two kinds of wine—the one fermented and intoxicating and unlawful, and the other unfermented, unintoxicating, and lawful—is a modern hypothesis, devised during the present century, and has no foundation in the Bible, or in Hebrew or classical antiquity."1 An even stronger denial of the two wines theory is found in E. W. Bullinger’s The Companion Bible, which says: "The modern expression, ‘unfermented wine,’ is a contradiction of terms. If it is wine, it must be fermented. If it is not fermented, it is not wine, but a syrup."2
Objective of Chapter. We intend in this chapter to examine if indeed the theory of two kinds of wine has no Biblical and historical foundation, as many contend. To some readers this investigation may seem rather technical and not directly related to the study of the Biblical teaching on alcoholic beverages. Yet, this investigation is essential to understand what the Bible has to say on this timely subject. In fact, our conclusion regarding the secular and Biblical usage of the term "wine" will enable us to clarify the apparent contradiction between those Biblical passages commending and those condemning the use of wine.
Procedure. The procedure we shall follow is to trace the secular usage of the word "wine" backward, from English, to Latin, Greek and finally Hebrew. This historical survey across four languages is justified by the fact that the English word "wine" is directly related linguistically to the Latin vinum, the Greek oinos, and the Hebrew yayin. The relationship of sound and look between these words becomes clearer when we place these respective words side by side without the case ending um for the Latinvin(um), os for the Greek oin(os) and without the prefix yafor the Hebrew (ya)yin (originally yayin). Without the case endings or suffix these four words look like this: wine, vin, oin, yin. The linguistic relationship among them is self-evident. They all have a similar stem in common. This indicates that it is the sound of the same word which has been transliterated rather than the equivalent meaningwhich has been translated with a different word.
In view of their similarity in sound and look we must ascertain what these related words actually mean in the various languages. We shall conduct our investigation beginning with the usage of the word "wine" in the English language and then move backward to the Latin vinum to the Greek oinos and finally to the Hebrew yayin. We trust that this procedure will help the Bible reader to see the historical continuity existing in the secular and Biblical usage of this one-related-word as a designation for both fermented and unfermented grape juice.
This chapter is divided into two parts. The first examines the secular usage of wine, vinum, oinos, and yayin. The second considers the Biblical usage of the Greek oinosand the Hebrew yayin.
PART I: SECULAR USAGE OF THE WORD "WINE"
1. The Meaning of "Wine" in English
Current Usage of "Wine." Most people assume today that the word "wine" can refer only to fermented, intoxicating grape juice, or to the fermented juice of any fruit used as beverage. The basis for this assumption is the current definition given to the word by most modern dictionaries. For example, the seventh edition of theMerriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines "wine" as follows: "1: fermented grape juice containing varying percentages of alcohol together with ethers and esters that give it bouquet and flavor. 2: the usu. fermented juice of a plant product (as a fruit) used as a beverage. 3: something that invigorates or intoxicates." Note that no mention at all is made in this current definition of unfermented grape juice as one of the possible meanings of "wine." It is not surprising that people who read a definition such as this, common to most dictionaries, would naturally assume that "wine" can only mean a fermented juice.1. The Meaning of "Wine" in English
Past Usage of "Wine." This restrictive meaning of "wine" represents, however, a departure from the more classical dual meaning of the word as a designation for both fermented or unfermented grape juice. To verify this fact one needs only to consult some older dictionaries. For example, the 1955 Funk & Wagnalls New "Standard" Dictionary of the English Language defines "wine" as follows: "1. The fermented juice of the grape: in loose language the juice of the grape whether fermented or not." This definition shows that forty years ago the loose usage of "wine" referred to "the juice of the grape whether fermented or not." It is noteworthy that even the more recent New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language (1971) defines "must" as "Wine or juice pressed from the grapes but not fermented." This definition clearly equates "wine" with grape juice.
The 1896 Webster’s International Dictionary of the English Language which defines "wine" as "the expressed juice of grapes, especially when fermented . . . a beverage . . . prepared from grapes by squeezing out their juice, and (usually) allowing it to ferment." This definition is historically accurate, since it recognizes that the basic meaning of "wine" is "the expressed juice of grapes," which is usually, but not always, allowed to ferment.
"The problem," as Robert Teachout points out, "is that people have taken the very usual meaning of the word (whether in Hebrew, Greek, Latin or English)—as an intoxicating beverage—and have made it the onlydefinition of the word. That is incorrect scholarship! It is inaccurate both biblically and secularly, and it is inaccurate in the English language historically."3
Older English Dictionaries. The inaccuracy in the English language becomes even more evident when we look at older English dictionaries. For example, the 1828Webster’s Dictionary defines the word "must" as "new wine—wine pressed from the grape, but not fermented."4 Note that the unfermented grape juice is here explicitly called "new wine."
The 1759 Nathan Bailey’s New Universal English Dictionary of Words and of Arts and Sciences offers the following definition for "wine": "Natural wine is such as it comes from the grape, without any mixture or sophistication. Adulterated wine is that wherein some drug is added to give it strength, fineness, flavor, briskness, or some other qualification."5 Note that in this definition Bailey does not use the word "fermented," though it is implied in some of the wines he describes.
Other eighteenth-century lexicographers define the word "wine" very similarly. John Kersey’s Dictionarium Anglo-Britannicum, or A General English Dictionary, published in London in 1708, says: "Wine, a liquor made of the juice of grapes or other fruits. Liquor or Liquour, anything that is liquid; Drink, Juice, etc. Must, sweet wine, newly pressed from the grape."6 In this definition "wine" explicitly includes "must, sweet wine, newly pressed from the grape."
Benjamin Marin’s Lingua Britannica Reformata or A New English Dictionary, published in 1748, defines "wine" as follows: "1. the juice of the grape. 2. a liquor extracted from other fruits besides the grape. 3. the vapours of wine, as wine disturbs his reason."7 It is noteworthy that here the first meaning of "wine" is "the juice of the grape," without any reference to fermentation.
A clear example of the use of the term "wine" to refer to unfermented grape juice is provided by William Whiston’s translation of Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, first published in 1737. Referring to Joseph’s interpretation of the cupbearer’s dream, Josephus writes: "He therefore said that in his sleep he saw three clusters of grapes hanging upon three branches of a vine, large already, and ripe for gathering; and that he squeezed them into a cup which the king held in his hand and when he had strained the wine, he gave it to the king to drink . . . Thou sayest thatthou didst squeeze this wine from three clusters of grapeswith thine hands and that the king received it: know, therefore, that the vision is for thy good."8
In this translation Whiston uses "wine" as a proper rendering for fresh, unfermented grape juice (gleukos), obviously because in this time "wine" meant either fermented or unfermented grape juice. Josephus’ statement offers another significant insight, namely, that it was customary long before Israel became a nation to squeeze the juice from grapes and drink it immediately in its fresh, unfermented state. This is what Josephus calledgleukos, the term which our English translators render "wine" or "new wine" in Acts 2:13. Does not this translation support the conclusion that unfermented grape juice was called "wine" in older English usage?
Bible Translations. The above sampling of definitions of "wine" from older English dictionaries suggests that when the King James Version of the Bible was produced (1604-1611) its translators must have understood "wine" to refer to both fermented and unfermented wine. In view of this fact, the King James Version’s uniform translation of the Hebrew yayin and Greek onios as "wine" was an acceptable translation at that time, since in those days the term could mean either fermented or unfermented wine, just as the words it translates (yayin or oinos) can mean either. Today, however, when "wine" has assumed the sole meaning of fermented grape juice, modern translations of the Bible should indicate whether the text is dealing with fermented or unfermented grape juice. By failing to provide this clarification, uninformed Bible readers are misled into believing that all references to "wine" in the Bible refer to fermented grape juice.
2. The Meaning of the Latin Vinum
Latin Usage of Vinum. It is significant that the Latin word vinum, from which the English "wine" derives, was also used to refer to fermented or unfermented grape juice. A large four-volumes Latin lexicon, Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, published in 1740, gives several definitions for vinum, all supported by ancient Roman authors. Two of these are especially relevant: "Aigleuces vinum—("sweet wine"), "Defrutum vinum—("boiled wine"), both of which are unfermented grape juice.9 The lexicon further explains that "vinum vocantur ipsae etiam uvae"—("even the very grapes are called wine"). The latter statement is supported by Marcus Cato’s designation of grape juice as "vinum pendens," that is, "wine still hanging on the grapes."10Parkinson in his Theatrum Botanicum published in 1640, explains that "The juyce or liquor pressed out of the ripe grapes, is called vinum, wine. Of it is made both sapa anddefrutum, in English cute, that is to say, boiled wine, and both made of mustum, new wine; the latter boyled to the halfe, the former to the third part."11 This explanation is significant because it attests that the juice pressed out of ripe grapes was called "vinum, wine," and when boiled it became "sapa" or "defrutum," depending on how much it was boiled down.12
Pliny (A. D. 24-79), the renowned Roman scholar and author of the celebrated Natural History, lists the boiled wines sapa and defrutum among the vinum dulce—"sweet wine." To these he adds other kinds of unfermented sweet wines known as semper mustum—"permanent must," passum—"raisin wine," and militites—"honey-wine." The last was made from must "in the proportion of thirty pints of must of a dry quality to six pints of honey and a cup of salt, this mixture being brought to the boil."12
W. Robertson in his Phraseologia Generalis, published in 1693, defines the Latin mustum as "new wine" and the phrase vinum pendens as "wine yet on the tree."13 Thomas Aquinas, the "Angelic Doctor" of the Roman Catholic Church, explains that "grape juice—mustum" can be used for the Eucharist, because it already "has the specific quality of wine [speciem vini]."14
The foregoing examples suffice to show that the Latin wordvinum, like its derived English wine, has been historically used to refer either to fermented or unfermented grape juice. Further documentation from ancient Roman writers supporting this conclusion will be given in Chapter 4, where we shall examine the ancient methods for preserving wine unfermented.
3. The Secular Usage of the Greek Oinos
Oinos: Only Fermented Grape Juice? It is widely believed that both in secular and Biblical Greek the word oinos, from which derive both the Latin vinum and the English wine, meant exclusively fermented grape juice. For example, in his book The Christian and Alcoholic Beverages, Kenneth L. Gentry states: "Classical Greek—the historical forerunner of the New Testament (koine) Greek—employs the term as a fermented beverage. The Liddell and Scott Greek-English Lexicon of classical Greek defines oinos as ‘the fermented juice of the grape.’ Interestingly, classical Greek apparently used oinos as a functional equivalent for ‘fermented juice,’ as Liddell and Scott note . . ."15 Gentry goes on quoting New Testament lexicographers to show that "no major New Testament lexicon disputes the fermented character of oinos."16 After examining some New Testament passages, Gentry concludes: "The case is clear: oinos is an alcoholic beverage. Yet nowhere is wine per se forbidden."17In the light of such a categorical claim, it is important to ascertain if indeed it is true that in classical Greek oinos meant only fermented grape juice. If this claim can be shown to be untrue—by submitting literary examples whereoinos refers also to unfermented grape juice—then it is certainly possible that the same dual meaning of oinos is present also in the New Testament and in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, known as the Septuagint.