Bible Geek Word Nerd – Samson – YAYIN and SHAKHAR

Please Stop "Wining", Samson

In 1869, a British-born Methodist minister, Thomas Bramwell Welch, developed a method to pasteurize grape juice to stop fermentation.  Yes, that Welch.  He was a member of Wesleyan Methodist Connexion, a group which opposed intoxicating liquors, including communion wine.  These Methodists were teetotalers and temperance advocates, and figuring out how to keep the communion wine alcohol-free was akin to their Holy Grail.  Welch was undoubtedly quite pleased with the Nazarite vow, recorded in Judges 13.

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

Drinking (SHATHAH) and eating (AKHAR) were the word topics of our two most recent posts.  Let’s talk about what not to drink: wine and fermented drink.

The word for wine is YAYIN (יַיִן), a word as much fun to say as wine is to drink.  (Sorry, Mr. Welch.  We are not teetotallers.  But then, neither was Jesus.)  You can find YAYIN 150 times in the Hebrew Bible, and its use runs the gamut of debauched to celebratory, which ought not to surprise you if you have any experience with wine and wine drinkers.

 

The first recorded Biblical use of YAYIN is the story of Noah after he and his family left the Ark.  G-d has just established what’s come to be known as the Noahic Covenant, and Noah – “a man of the soil” or ground (ADAMAH) – plants a vineyard, resulting in a harvest.  Scripture obviously leaves part of the story out (the harvest, grape processing, and subsequent fermentation of those grapes) because the next verse is something that goes awry.

When he drank some of its WINE, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.
Genesis 9:21

The story of Lot and his daughters in Genesis 19 is also a cautionary tale of what wine abuse can lead to (and the story is very high cringe).  For obvious reasons, then, Scripture offers warnings about wine.  It can also symbolize G-d’s judgment, as in this Psalm:

In the hand of the Lord is a cup full of foaming WINE mixed with spices; he pours it out, and all the wicked of the earth drink it down to its very dregs.
Psalm 75:8

On the other hand, wine is connected with positive aspects.  Melchizedek brought wine, along with bread, to celebrate the victory over the Five Kings.

Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and WINE.  He was priest of God Most High…
Genesis 14:18

In the TORAH, wine is integral to religious ceremony and worship.

With the first lamb offer a tenth of an ephah of the finest flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil from pressed olives, and a quarter of a hin of WINE as a drink offering.
Exodus 29:40

With each lamb for the burnt offering or the sacrifice, prepare a quarter of a hin of WINE as a drink offering.
Numbers 15:5

 Ziba brought the fleeing King David wine to refresh him and his men as they journeyed through the wilderness:

The king asked Ziba, ‘Why have you brought these?’  Ziba answered, ‘The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the WINE is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.’
2 Samuel 16:2

Wine is mentioned with other inebriants, as in Judges 13.

WINE is a mocker and BEER a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.
Proverbs 20:1 

It is not for kings, Lemuel – it is not for kings to drink WINE, not for rulers to crave beer… Let BEER be for those who are perishing, WINE for those who are in anguish!
Proverbs 31:4,6

If a liar and deceiver comes and says, “I will prophesy for you plenty of WINE and BEER,” that would be just the prophet for this people!
Micah 2:11

The word translated in these passages as “beer” is the same Hebrew word we have in Judges 13, translated as “fermented drink”: SHEKHAR (שֵׁכָר).  It is a noun used 23 times in the Hebrew Bible.  It is derived from the verb SHAKHAR (שָׁכַר), which is used 19 times and means “to be drunk”.  So the noun is something that gets you drunk.  Could it be beer?  Beer was quite common in the Ancient Near East.  And so were distilled spirits.  We do not really know what SHEKHAR is, except that it is intoxicating.  And SHEKHAR, like YAYIN, has both positive and negative associations in the Text.

The accompanying drink offering is to be a quarter of a hin of FERMENTED DRINK with each lamb.  Pour out the drink offering to the Lord at the sanctuary.
Numbers 28:7

Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine, or other FERMENTED DRINK, or anything you wish.  Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice.
Deuteronomy 14:26

No longer do they drink wine with a song; THE BEER is bitter to its drinkers.
Isaiah 24:9

So are wine and fermented drinks good or bad?  The answer appears to be “yes”.  Or perhaps it’s “no”.  In other words, like any tool that is, in and of itself, benign, morality depends on the humans who use the tool. 

While we can appreciate the good intentions of temperance advocates, such as Thomas Bramwell Welch, even Jesus Himself seems to endorse wine drinking.  His first recorded miracle, after all, is turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana.  And on the night He was betrayed, He drank wine (lots of wine, as is traditional at Passover – no wonder the Disciples were sleepy).