Description
Wine was a fermented drink made from the juice of grapes. The grape harvest season began in the land of Israel around the start of July and went on through the summer. The process of extracting the juice (see Wine press) and fermentation meant that the first wine (the “new wine”) was available in September. Fully fermented wine could be stored for several years, although not as long as is possible today with modern methods of pasteurization and storage. It was common practice to dilute wine with water before drinking it (as much as 50 percent or more). Similarly, wine could also be sweetened with some agent such as honey.
Translation
Some people have argued that whenever mention is made of Jesus either making or drinking wine, we must assume that this was only unfermented grape juice. There is no real basis for such a conclusion. Only where “new wine” is mentioned can we assume that this is unfermented grape juice or grape juice in the initial stages of fermentation (see New wine).
In a number of languages there is no indigenous term for “wine,” and some expression may simply be borrowed from a dominant language. On the other hand, it is sometimes possible to use a descriptive phrase, for example, “fermented fruit juice.” In some languages the equivalent for “wine” is more specifically “palm wine,” which is a wine made from the sap of certain palm trees. Such a term may also have a more generic meaning and may be applicable to any kind of wine. The term used must be an alcoholic drink (not, for example, simply “grape juice”), otherwise references to its intoxicating power will not make sense.
ISA 27:2: The Hebrew text contains the word chemer, meaning “wine.” However, there has probably been a corruption in the final letter of the word, making the proper reading “pleasant” or “delightful.”
GEN 9:24; 1SA 1:14; 1SA 25:37: Some translators render the Hebrew word yayin in these verses as “drunkenness.”
The Hebrew words mezeg and mesek indicate a mixture and probably refer to wine that was diluted with water. In SNG 7:3 some interpreters and translators understand the meaning to be “spiced wine” (GNT, GW). Other translations are “mixed wine” (NRSV) and “blended wine” (NIV).
The Hebrew word nesek literally indicates a liquid poured out. In practice, it was the pouring out of wine as an offering to God or other gods. It will sometimes be possible to translate it simply “wine.” Usually, however, something like “drink offering” is to be preferred.
When juice was pressed from grapes, a certain amount of small solids escaped the filtering process. When the juice stood in containers to ferment into wine, these solids (called in English “dregs” or “lees”) sank to the bottom and even aided in the fermentation process, adding to the quality of the wine. They could be filtered out of the wine before it was served. The Hebrew word for these settled solids is shemer. Depending on the context, it can symbolize the quality of the wine (ISA 25:6), the fact that the wine had not yet been disturbed (JER 48:11; ZEP 1:12), or simply what remains at the very bottom of the container (PSA 75:9). Common-language translations, especially in those places where winemaking is unfamiliar, avoid a literal rendering of shemer. Here are the renderings of GNT for the four appearances of shemer: “to the last drop” (PSA 75:9), “the finest wine” (ISA 25:6), “like wine left to settle undisturbed” (JER 48:11), and “who are self-satisfied and confident” (ZEP 1:12).
There are a number of passages in the New Testament where translators must be particularly careful in the selection of terms to render “wine”; for example, in EPH 5:18 a literal translation of “do not get drunk with wine” (RSV) could be interpreted to mean that it is permissible for people to get drunk on other types of intoxicating drinks. Therefore it may be necessary in some languages to render this clause simply as “do not get drunk.”
In LUK 10:34 the second and third clauses are literally “he bandaged his wounds, pouring olive oil and wine over [them].” Here it is important to recognize the medicinal value of oil and wine. In some languages translators have indicated the purpose of such an activity by saying “to cleanse and heal his wounds, he poured wine and oil on them and bandaged them.” It may also be helpful to add a footnote about the antiseptic quality of the wine and the value of the oil in the healing process.