Don’t eat. Don’t drink. And you best be careful of that “marry” part.
We are very enthusiastic coffee drinkers. Though we prefer dark roasts (Italian to French), we are actually not fussy as long as it’s hot and free of cream and sugar. We also enjoy red wine, leaning into Cabernet or Pinot, but open to any decent red. We also enjoy occasional cocktails (savory are better than sweet) and beers (stouts, porters, and ales, but not usually pilsners or lagers). And of course, we drink water. Lots of water.
While we drink all of these things, we do them at specific times. That is, we drink different things at different times during the day, different days during the week, and different weeks during the year. For instance, we do not drink cocktails in the morning, and we do not usually drink coffee after sunset. W avoid soda and other soft drinks because they carry too much sugar.
We regulate what we put into our body because bad things happen to that body if we do not. Samson’s story, at the surface level, is one of someone who is supposed to self-regulate, but who does not. We will explore part of that story through two verses in Chapter 13 of the Judges.
Now
see to it that you DRINK no WINE or other FERMENTED DRINK
and that you do not EAT anything UNCLEAN. You WILL BECOME PREGNANT and have a
son whose HEAD is NEVER to BE TOUCHED by a RAZOR
because the boy is to be a NAZIRITE, DEDICATED to God from the WOMB.
He will take the lead in DELIVERING
Israel from the hands of the Philistines.’
Judges 13:4-5
There is a lot to unpack in these two verses from Judges, theologically speaking and historically speaking. But from the viewpoint of this page, there are also fascinating words that give hints and peeks at what God is doing in His story as He lets His people tell it. Let’s explore some of these words, teasing out some theology and history along the way. The next few posts will explore 14 Hebrew terms given to us in these two verses (in bold and ALL CAPS). And we will begin with the basics: drinking and eating.
Drinking and eating are as essential to life as breathing
is. All beings created by the Father in
Genesis 1 must drink and eat. Jesus (of
course) and His followers did – and talked about doing – both of these essential
functions.
Therefore I tell
you, do not worry about your life, what you will EAT or DRINK;
or about your body, what you will wear.
Is not life more than food, and
the body more than clothes?
Matthew 6:25
Stay there, EATING and DRINKING
whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
Luke 10:7
For the kingdom
of God is not a matter of EATING and DRINKING,
but of righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit…
Romans 14:17
Therefore do not let anyone
judge you by what you EAT or DRINK, or with regard to a religious
festival, a New Moon celebration, or a Sabbath day.
Colossians 2:16
Eating and drinking are obviously common occurrences for everyone reading this post because we all must do these two things to live. And yet for G-d’s people in the Hebrew Bible, these essential functions are constrained by food laws spelled out in the TORAH. Eat this, but not that. And for Samson, born to be a Nazirite, they are even more constrained, even in utero. Before poking around at the significance of this, let’s do the Word Nerd thing.
“To drink” is the Hebrew verb SHATHAH (שָׁתָה), a word used over 200 times in the Text. Its first appearance is in a story of human failure. Noah, fresh off the Ark, plants a vineyard, makes wine, and drinks to excess.
When he DRANK some of its wine,
he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.
Genesis 9:21
Rebekah gave Abraham’s servant a drink at the well:
‘DRINK, my lord,’ she
said, and quickly lowered the jar to her hands and gave him a drink.
Genesis 24:18
Habakkuk describes a scene of drinking wine to excess:
You will be
filled with shame instead of glory. Now it is your turn! DRINK
and let your nakedness be exposed! The cup from the Lord’s right hand is coming round to you,
and disgrace will cover your glory.
Habakkuk 2:16
In Numbers, Balaam prophesied against Balak with these
words:
The people rise
like a lioness; they rouse
themselves like a lion that does not
rest till it devours its prey
and DRINKS
the blood of its victims.’
Numbers 23:24
The Hebrew Bible uses SHATHAH to describe all forms of
drinking, from water to wine to blood.
There is theological significance hiding there in plain sight,
particularly if you think about the stories of the Jewish Rabbi Jesus. At a wedding, He turns water into wine, which
the guests then drink. And in His Last
Supper – the climactic Passover meal – He proclaims that the wine is His own
blood. Samson is forbidden to drink. Jesus invites us all to partake and drink deeply.
Then he took a
cup, and when He had given
thanks, He gave it to
them, saying, ‘DRINK
from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many
for the forgiveness of sins.
Matthew 26:27-28
May we all drink freely from the Well of Living Water. Tomorrow, Lord willing, we explore eating.
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