NOVEMBER 30, 1988

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Written by William H. Shea
Author: William H. Shea
Study of the biblical passages dealing with alcohol.
Doesn’t the Bible refer in a number of places to wine and strong drink? Don’t we
quite often find people drinking alcohol in the Bible? Can’t we assume, then,
that Scripture generally does not condemn drinking alcoholic beverages?
It’s true that we often find people drinking alcohol in the Bible and that Scripture
speaks of alcoholic beverages, but we need to be careful not to read too much
into a superficial look at such texts. When our English Old Testaments refer to
alcohol, they generally use the words wine or strong drink. So any examination
of the Old Testament’s attitude toward alcohol must take into account the
different Hebrew words translated into these two English terms.
The term strong drink presents no major translation problems because only one
Hebrew word, shekar, lies behind it. But even so, the translation strong drink is
more general than it ought to be. Modern readers may well think of strong drink
as distilled liquor. But that is not what the Bible means by the term shekar.
Since the process of distilling alcohol did not develop until around A.D. 500, the
strongest alcoholic beverage people could make in Bible times contained only
14 percent alcohol by volume, approximately the maximum produced by natural
fermentation. This fact tells us that the scriptural term strong drink certainly
gives us no license to drink what we know today as hard liquor.
If distilled alcohol is not what the Bible means by shekar, what does it mean?
Here is where ancient languages related to Hebrew can be helpful. Documents
written in cuneiform script on clay tablets tell us that the Babylonians had an
alcoholic beverage they called shikaru. (Notice how similar this Babylonian word
is to the Hebrew shekar. It is actually the same word in two related Semitic
languages.) Some of these clay tablets tell how shikaru was made so we can
easily determine what beverage they are describing. From grain, the
Babylonians made a mash which was allowed to ferment. In other words, these
tablets that speak about making shikaru are talking about making beer! Since
the Bible texts that use the word shekar are referring to the same drink, they
are talking about beer as well.
This is something extremely relevant to our modern society. Here are Bible texts
talking about beer–the beverage that is so widely advertized on American TV
and that is so widely consumed by the American public.
And what view does the Bible take of this beverage? A very dim and negative
view indeed. Of 21 Old Testament texts that mention shekar (beer), 19 strongly
condemn it. The other two texts present special cases (we’ll discuss one of
these later). The New Testament mentions this same beverage only once and
prohibits its use by John the Baptist as he grew up.
To give something of the picture these 19 Old Testament texts convey, let’s look
at what some of them say about shekar: Leviticus 10:9 prohibits its use by a
priest in ministry; Numbers 6:2, 3 forbids Nazarites from drinking it; in Judges
13:3, 4 an angel warns Samson’s mother-to-be not to drink it during her
pregnancy; in Deuteronomy 29:5, 6 God tells the Israelites that He did not
provide this drink for them in their wilderness wanderings.
There is also the interesting story of Hannah. She went to the tabernacle at
Shiloh and prayed so earnestly about the fact that she was childless that the
priest accused her of being drunk with shekar. This she denied. See 1 Samuel
1:15.
The prophets of Judah in the eighth century B.C. were especially vigorous in
their condemnation of strong drink, or beer. Isaiah mentions it eight times, and
each reference is strongly negative. He pronounces a woe upon those who drink
it (Isa 5:11) and notes that it would not bring mirth when God cursed the land
(Isa 24:9). He points out that beer causes staggering (Isa 29:9) and that false
priests and prophets were two groups who especially staggered from its effects
(Isa 28:7). The prophet Micah noted that the people wanted precisely this kind
of leader–one who would approve of its use (Mic 2:11). Proverbs 20:1 speaks of
rage and brawling as two of its side effects.
Thus we see an almost universal condemnation of beer in the Old Testament.
But what about Deuteronomy 14:22-28? This text doesn’t seem to fit the
pattern; it seems to indicate that Israelites could actually pay part of their tithe
in beer! Some have seen in this a modern license for beer-drinking.
First, we should carefully note that Deuteronomy 14 is dealing with a special use
under special circumstances. The chapter takes up the subject of the tithe in
verses 22 and 23. In a later section, it speaks about what might be called
“delayed tithe.” It is here that beer occurs as part of the “delayed tithe.”
What is all this talking about?
Deuteronomy 14 identifies the tithe as certain foods and drinks that the Israelite
was to take to the sanctuary located centrally in the nation. When the tithe was
paid regularly and on time, the products offered were to include newborn lambs
and calves, freshly pressed oil, new unfermented wine or grape juice (tirosh),
and grain. All these were fresh products that came from the harvest of the new
agricultural year.
But what was the Israelite to do if for some reason he couldn’t get to the
sanctuary with these fresh products? He was to make a substitution, and it is
this substitution that verses 24-26 describe.
Verse 24 presents the problem: that of an Israelite who was not able to get to
the sanctuary on time. Verse 25 presents the intermediate solution: he was to
convert his tithe into silver and retain the money until he was able to go to the
sanctuary. Verse 26 gives the final step in presenting the delayed tithe. When
he arrived at the sanctuary, the Israelite was to purchase some of the same
agricultural products he should have brought earlier and eat the tithe meal
before the Lord.
But the products he purchased for the tithe meal must be mature to show
symbolically that the tithe presentation was late. Thus he did not present a
lamb; he purchased a mature sheep for presentation. He did not present a calf,
but a mature ox. Instead of fresh grape juice (tirosh) he presented yayin, wine
that had fermented with the passing of time. And he did not present grain; he
presented beer that had been made from grain. In each case, the delayed tithe
meal consisted of things chosen to correspond to and show the development of
the agricultural product which should have been presented originally. Although
not readily apparent, this actually involved an interest penalty since the ox
would cost more than a calf and the sheep more than a lamb.
Under these special circumstances, the symbolic substitution of beer for the
earlier grain when presenting “delayed tithe” can by no means be taken as a
license for unrestricted recreational use of beer–either then or now. Especially
when beer is elsewhere condemned in the Old Testament.
When we turn to the subject of wine in the Scriptures, we find two main words-
tirosh which usually refers to grape juice in its unfermented state, the way it
comes from the press as a new agricultural product, and yayin, a word with less
clear meanings.
In 30 of the 38 references to tirosh in the Old Testament it is paired with grain
and oil, or oil alone, as products of the harvest used for tithe and taxes, etc.
Three texts (Mic 6:15; Isa 62:8; 65:8) refer to tirosh as the product of the grape;
four texts (Prov 3:10; Joel 2:24; Mic 6:15; and Hos 9:2) speak of tirosh as
produced by pressing. Only one text (Hos 4:11) suggests that tirosh may
produce intoxication–and this text may actually be referring to early
fermentation or to the practice of mixing new and old (fermented) wine.
Thus tirosh appears to refer almost exclusively to unfermented wine or grape
juice. But yayin, the other main word that the Bible uses for wine, clearly means
fermented wine in most cases.
The Old Testament uses the word yayin some 140 times. Before dealing with
specific texts, let’s get a general overview of its use in the Bible. By my count,
the Bible presents yayin in a negative light 60 times; in about 60 more cases it
simply mentions it without making any value judgment, and in only 17
references does it possibly say something positive about it. Thus yayin,
fermented wine, is spoken of negatively much more often that it is positively.
On the negative side, first of all, are the stories in which fermented wine
produces bad results. Not many (if any) historical narratives in the Old
Testament mention a beneficial outcome from the use of wine, but several end
disastrously: the drunkenness of Noah (Gen 9:21); Lot (Gen 19:32-35); Nabal (1
Sam 25:36, 37); Amnon (2 Sam 13:28); Belshazzar (Dan 5:1-3); and Ahasuerus
(Esth 1:1-10), for example.
Isaiah (51:21); Jeremiah (23:9); Hosea (4:11; 7:5); Joel (1:5); and Habbakuk
(2:15) are among the Bible prophets who point out the ill effects, both physical
and moral, which intoxicating wine produces.
Proverbs 23:29-35 describes wine’s immediate physical effects (red eyes and
blurred vision), its immediate social effects (strife and wounds), as well as the
long-term results (woe and sorrow). Elsewhere, the book of Proverbs refers to
wine as producing poverty (21:17) and violence (4:17). Isaiah adds that it
deceives the mind (28:7), inflames a person, and leads to forgetfulness of God
(5:11, 12).
Those texts which point to certain useful functions of wine should not be
overlooked, but they should be placed in perspective. Three texts (Ps 104:15;
Eccl 9:7; 10:19) mention that wine can make the heart glad and bring cheer.
This indicates an awareness of the immediate physiological effects of alcohol,
but these texts need to be placed along side the many other Bible statements
mentioning its nonbeneficial long-term results.
Ecclesiastes 9:7 and 10:19 might superficially appear to give approval for
indulging in alcohol. In a bit of ancient philosophy, Ecclesiastes 9:7 says, “Go,
eat your bread with enjoyment, and drink your wine with a merry heart; for God
has already approved what you do.” RSV. It is a description of the author’s
search for those things that bring meaning in life. This text is pointing out that
man should be content with certain common duties of life–including eating and
drinking, even wine. However, the book ends with the author’s finding a greater
good to provide meaning in life–that man should fear God and keep His
commandments. See chapter 12:13. All the other experiences in which the
author tries to find meaning fade in significance beside this.
At least seven other Bible texts which appear to speak favorably of yayin do so
merely by means of comparison; they are not speaking directly about wine
itself. For example, the Song of Solomon uses a comparison with wine four times
(1:2, 4; 4:10; and 7:9) to bring out the beloved’s beauty. Hosea 14:7 uses the
fragrance of wine from Lebanon as a comparison. Proverbs 9:5, 6 uses wine
figuratively in talking about the “banquet of life” that wisdom provides. Amos
9:14 and Zechariah 10:7 use the merriment that wine creates as a figure of how
God’s people will rejoice at the time of His final victory.
Wine was also used as a drink offering in the temple service, just as we have
seen that beer was used in the presentation of delayed tithe. These drink
offerings were poured out beside the altar; they were not drunk by the priests.
Thus most of the texts which mention wine favorably actually use it figuratively
in comparisons. A few speak of its immediate physiological effects. But by far
the majority describe its detrimental results–such as wicked acts committed in
connection with drinking wine. Isaiah, for example, associates wine with the
taking of bribes. See Isaiah 5:22, 23. Amos combines wine with profaning sacred
things. See Amos 2:8.
In summary, the writers of the Old Testament raise four indictments against
drinking wine. First, they recognize its immediate adverse physical effects–
redness of the eyes, blurring of vision, staggering, and drunkenness in general.
Second, they recognize its long-term moral effects–various kinds of immoral and
unethical behavior along with the social results of such actions. Third, they
identify particular instances of such behavior and connect them with specific
persons. Fourth, because of its effects, they prohibit certain classes and specific
individuals from drinking any wine.
In contrast to this large negative picture, about the only positive images the
Bible gives of alcohol are three texts that note alcohol can produce a state of
levity (certainly a valid physiological observation). The Bible writers also
occasionally use wine to draw some favorable comparisons in figures of speech.
(Yet they also use wine to symbolize some unfavorable comparisons as well. See
the “wine of wrath” in Psalm 75:8 and Jeremiah 25:15).
How then should we personally relate to alcohol in view of the overall picture
given in the Old Testament? If one takes the whole picture into account and
evaluates all the evidence, the most reasonable conclusion is that the only safe
course is complete abstinence from alcohol in any form.
Scriptures quoted from RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible,
copyrighted 1946, 1952 © 1971, 1973.
Reprinted from Signs of the Times, November 1988.