Biblical Wine: Blessing or Curse?
The Bible’s treatment of wine can, on the surface, be very puzzling. Proverbs warns, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler and whosoever is led astray by them is not wise” (20:1), and “it is not for kings, O Lemuel, to drink wine, nor for princes to say, where is strong drink?” (31:4). So also Isaiah: “Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink” (Isaiah 5:22). In these verses “wine” and “strong drink” are strictly forbidden.
On the other hand, the same Solomon who warned men to stay away from wine in Proverbs 20:1 urges his readers in Ecclesiastes 9:7 to “eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart.” Even more significant, Jesus miraculously provided wine to a wedding feast in Cana, and Paul urged ‘Timothy to “use a little wine for your stomach’s sake and your frequent infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23). So wine in the Bible is seen both as a blessing and a curse.
This apparent discord has precipitated many a dispute among Christians. What are we to make of it? The solution to this seeming contradiction has to lie in the differing meanings attached to the word “wine” in the Bible. That the normal meaning of “wine” in both Old and New Testaments is that of the fermented juice of the grape seems evident (Arndt & Gingrich, p. 564), but it is not without exception. The two words most translated wine in the Old Testament are also used to describe juice fresh pressed from the grape (Isaiah 16:10; 65:8).
It may well be that the positive biblical references to wine are speaking simply of the juice of the grape. But another important distinction needs to be observed as well. The Bible treats wine in two ways, as a drug or social drink (bad), as a food or table drink (good). Some have suggested that the only difference between the two is in the amount one drinks and not in the nature of the beverage. The extra-biblical evidence does not point that way.
The wine used as a table drink in the ancient world was not pure wine, but was liberally diluted with water. It was a family food, not a social beverage. The wine was customarily stored in large pointed jugs called amphorae, and from these jugs was poured into large bowls called kraters where it was mixed with water (Greek for unmixed or pure is akratos). From there it was poured into cups. The ratio of water to wine varied, perhaps with the strength of the wine. Homer mentions a ratio of 20 to 1 (Odyssey). In the first century, Pliny refers to the mixture in the same district as 8 to 1 (Natural History). The fullest source of information is Athenaeus (A.D. 200) who in his The Learned Banquet quotes earlier writers who spoke of mixtures of 3 to 1, 4 to 1, 2 to 1, 5 to 2, and called 3 to 2 “strong”. Mnesthus of Athens observed: “Mix it half and half, and you get madness; unmixed, bodily collapse.” Plutarch, early in the second century A.D., said, “We call a mixture ‘wine,’ although the larger of the components is water.” In both the Greek and Roman world, to drink unmixed wine was considered intemperate (Will Durant, Caesar and Christ, p. 71).
The Talmud states that the wine of the four Passover cups was to be three parts water to one part wine (note also Maccabees 15:39). Justin Martyr (A.D. 150), speaking of the Lord’s Supper, wrote, “bread is bought, and wine and water…” (Apology I, 67, 5). Clement of Alexandria (late 2nd cent.) said, “It is best for the wine to be mixed with as much water as possible…(Instructor II, ii, 23.3-24.1). Hippolytus (A.D. 215) and Cyprian (A.D. 250) speak of the same practice. (Most of the above information from “Wine as a Table Drink in the Ancient World,” Everett Ferguson, Restoration Quarterly, 3rd Quarter, 1970, and “Wine-Drinking in New Testament Times,” Robert H. Stein, Christianity Today, 6-20-75).
The ancient world knew nothing of distillation, of the modern alcoholic drinks that are 40-50% alcohol. Their wines were a maximum of 14% alcohol and Palestinian wines no more than 8%. Unless diluted with three or more parts of water, even pagans considered them strong drink to be avoided. The purpose of that dilution was to make the wine a harmless non-intoxicating table food. By these standards every modern alcoholic beverage from beer to whiskey is strong drink. Christians should avoid all of them. Surely the Bible’s demand for sobriety must be more stringent than that of ancient paganism.
But what about carefully diluted wine as a table drink today? The problem for the Christian in America is that we have no tradition of wine as a table food. Since the beginning, alcohol has been used as a drug, a “feel good” beverage, and the use of the most innocent non-intoxicating wine would likely be perceived that way by others. We’re living in a drugged society where God’s child must walk circumspectly, neither bringing an occasion of stumbling to others (Romans 14:21) or shutting hearts against the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). Better it is by far that we avoid even the most diluted form of beverage alcohol so that our “good” may not “be evil spoken of” (Romans 14:16) and Christ may be exalted.