Bible Geek Word Nerd – Samson – ALAH

And she's buying a stairway to heaven

(Six-minute read)

In late 1971, English rock band Led Zeppelin released one of the greatest rock songs ever written or played, “Stairway to Heaven”.  Nearly eight minutes in length, the song is beautifully crafted and magnificently played, with three movements, from folk to classic guitar rock, slowly rising to its crescendoing climax.

It would be a fair question to ask what Robert Plant and Jimmy Page’s composition has to do with Bible words.  Well read on, good friend!  Read on!

We have been talking about Samson, and have been exploring several of the words from this passage in the Book of 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

Today, let’s take a look at the phrase (from the NIV) “his head is never to be touched by a razor”, but with a focus on the verb.  The NASB, ESV, Amp, and KJV translate the Hebrew phrase as “no razor shall come upon (or “on”) his head”.  The HCS and NLT simply say, “his hair must never be cut”.  It is clear from these various translations what the point of this phrase is, but it’s interesting what different choices the translators have made to describe this simple prohibition.  There is a mysterious choice of Hebrew the author has made in crafting this phrase, and that Hebraic mystery might say more to us than the simple act of not cutting hair suggests.

There are many, many words in the Hebrew lexicon that mean “to cut”.  Pair any of them with the Hebrew for “no” (e.g., LO, AL, AYIN), and you say “do not cut” as the NLT says it.  The author had choices to convey the plain meaning (PSHAT) of “do not cut his hair”.  But we are suggesting there might be some symbolic meaning that we miss with the plain wording of English.

Here are some of the words for “to cut” which the author chose not to use in this expression:

KARATH (כָּרַת) – “to cut, cut off, cut down”, 289 uses in the Hebrew Bible; it is the verb behind the expression “make a covenant” because to do that, one has to cut up an animal.  The expression literally means “to cut a covenant”.

On that day the Lord MADE a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates…
Genesis 15:18 NIV

QATSATS (קָצַץ) – “to cut off, cut in two”; 14 occurrences, including this one which is about cutting hair:

Egypt, Judah, Edom, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and all who dwell in the desert that CUT the corners of their hair; for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.”
Jeremiah 9:26 RSV

NATHACH (נָתַח) – it can mean “to cut”, but most often, it means to cut into pieces or divide:

[Saul] took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man.
1 Samuel 11:7

GAZAR (גָּזַר) – “to cut, divide”

So he went with them.  And when they came to the Jordan, they CUT DOWN trees.
2 Kings 6:4

GADA (גָּדַע) – “to hew, hew down, cut, cut off”

“I will go before you and level the mountains, I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and CUT ASUNDER the bars of iron…”
Isaiah 45:2

Each of these verbs could have worked in the phrase, but the author did not choose them for some reason.  He chose a different verb, coupled with the rarely used noun for “razor” (MOWRAH (מוֹרָה) always used in conjunction with a vow of this nature).  Nothing the LORD does is random or haphazard.  His Holy Spirit chose the verb with deliberate intent, which might tell us something about this particular Text and the deeper purpose of this separation to G-d.

The Hebrew verb in question is ALAH (עָלָה), which sounds exactly as you think it sounds (as the Arabic name of the god is Islam).  The homophonic closeness of the two words is not surprising.  ALAH, as a Hebrew verb, means “to ascend, to go up, to climb”.  It is used 888 times in the Hebrew Bible, beginning on the second page of the Text:

…but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground…
Genesis 2:6

ALAH is the verb related to travel.  People “go up” to Jerusalem because of its elevation, including ways that strike modern readers as odd:

but ‘As the Lord lives who BROUGHT UP the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land which I gave to their fathers.
Jeremiah 16:15

ALAH sounds odd in this context because we are accustomed to modern maps, where travelers come DOWN from the North, and UP from the South.  But obviously, the ancients did not have maps with an overhead perspective to study.  They had sunrise and sunset for their orientation and the heights of hills to give them perspective.  To reach Jerusalem or any high place, you must ascend (ALAH).  This notion lies behind Psalms 120 – 134, which are called “songs of Ascent” (MA ALAH – what comes up) – you ascend to reach Jerusalem. 

ALAH is the verb in the famous passage about the Shining One (sometimes translated as Morning Star – son of the dawn):

You said in your heart, ‘I WILL ASCEND to heaven; ABOVE the stars of G-d I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far north; I WILL ASCEND ABOVE the heights of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.’
Isaiah 14:13-14

In Genesis 28:12, the angels of G-d ASCENDED to the Heavens in Jacob’s dream (a stairway to Heaven – one imagines Robert Plant’s vocals).  In Genesis 35:13, G-d Himself ASCENDED from Jacob.  In Exodus 2:23, the prayers of G-d’s people ASCENDED to G-d.  And Moshe ASCENDED the Mountain of G-d to meet with the LORD there throughout the TORAH.

The verb is obviously flexible in its use, meaning much more than “ascend” and similar English words.  For instance, how do translators make sense of ALAH in this context?

Every animal that parts the hoof and has the hoof cloven in two, and CHEWS the cud, among the animals, you may eat.  Yet of those that CHEW the cud or have the hoof cloven you shall not eat these: the camel, the hare, and the rock badger, because they CHEW the cud but do not part the hoof, are unclean for you.
Deuteronomy 14:6-7

It does not make sense until you consider cow or ruminant biology, and why they chew the cud.  Cows eat fibrous grass and hay, which are actually quite difficult to digest.  The first section of the cow’s stomach has a bacteria called rumen, which break down the fibrous grass and hay into what we call cud.  The cud is regurgitated – that is, it ASCENDS up the digestive track – into the cow’s mouth, where she chews it again, before sending it back to her stomach to complete digestion.  The cud ASCENDS…which explains ALAH in the nine verses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy translated as “chew the cud”.

ALAH can also mean “offer”, as it does in Genesis, when Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac.

He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Mori′ah, and OFFER him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and OFFERED IT UP as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Genesis 22:2,13

ALAH is also “to offer” in several other passages in the TORAH: Genesis 8:20, Exodus 30:9, Exodus 32:6, Exodus 40:29, and more.

Now let’s return to the question of why the author of Judges chose ALAH in this passage instead of another verb that means “to cut”.  It seems that the answer might lie in ALAH’s association with that which is above us.

In ancient cosmogony, the Israelites imagined a three-part universe.  There is the land – HA ERETS (הָאָֽרֶץ) – where man and all created life dwells.  Then there is the underworld – SHEOL (שְׁאוֹל) – the place of the dead, which is under the land.  And finally, there is the Heavenly space – HA SHAMAYIM (הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם) – where the gods and G-d dwell.  Each space is divided from the others.  Created life is separated from the Heavenly realm by the RAQIA (רָקִיעַ).  SHEOL is separated from ERETS by the ground.

Things that ASCEND – smoke, vapors, Moses up the mountain, angels on ladders – move closer to G-d’s space in the Heavenly realm.  It seems that the author of Judges wants to draw our attention more to LIFTING a blade to the Nazirite’s head than he does to the act of cutting.  He wants to remind us, in subtle ways, that the Nazirite – Samson in particular – is devoted to Him who dwells in the Heavenly spaces.

Connecting ALAH with ROSH, one does not approach that summit because it is Holy (QADOSH) and set apart.  One does not simply buy a stairway to Heaven...

Bible Geek Word Nerd – Samson – HARAH / YALAD

 

We don't know what we think we know.

 Thelma McQueen was born in Tampa, FL, in 1911.  Educated by nuns in Augusta, GA, she hoped to be a nurse, but a high school teacher encouraged her in the theatrical arts.  Thelma McQueen blossomed as an actress and a dancer.  She performed as a faerie in Max Reinhardt's Hollywood Bowl staging of Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream", where she acquired the nickname "Butterfly" due to her fluttering hands.  She was spotted by talent scout Kay Barrett while performing on Broadway.  Barrett encouraged her to screen test for David O Selznick, who was in pre-production for "Gone with the Wind".  Selznick cast her as the simple-minded housemaid Prissy, and McQueen forever became known for one line: "Oh, Miss Scarlett!  I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!" 

Prissy shares that ignorance with most of us.  We probably think we know something, but as Slowman and Fernback relate in their book, The Knowledge Illusion, we actually know quite a bit less than we think we do about a great many commonplace things, including the experience that every human on the planet shares: birth.

Manoah and his wife are not dissimilar to us.  Even though births – and deaths – were everyday occurrences in their lives, they would need help to not only bring their promised child into the world, but also to raise him as the LORD intended.  For his birth, they would have the support of a local midwife.

The Hebrew Bible tells notable stories of the service of midwives.  Genesis 35 relates that Rachel's labor with Benjamin was attended by a midwife (Genesis 35:17).  At the birth of the twins, Jacob and Essau, the midwife tied a scarlet thread (SHANI (שָׁנִי) is the same word used in Rahab's story in Joshua 2) around the wrist of Essau.  Perhaps the most famous story involves the midwives in Egypt, who refused to submit to Pharaoh's evil command to murder the baby boys at birth.

 Then the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, 'Why have you done this?  Why have you let the boys live?' The midwives answered Pharaoh, 'Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive.' So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous.  And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own.
Exodus 1:18-21

We are going to look at two phrases from our passage 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

The phrases are "will become pregnant" and "have a son", announcements that no doubt brought a mixture of joy and trepidation, as any parent well knows.

The Hebrew word HARAH (הָרָה) means "to conceive, to become pregnant".  This word only occurs 43 times in the Hebrew Bible, despite this being such a commonplace event.  After all, every human who's ever lived – except for two – has lived because their mothers became pregnant.  But there you have it: Scripture is not telling a pregnancy story.  It is, however, telling a birth story, which we shall get to momentarily.

HARAH's first appearance is in Genesis, when Mother Eve becomes pregnant:

Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she CONCEIVED and bore Cain, and said, "I have acquired a man from the Lord."
Genesis 4:1 (NKJV)

HARAH is used three times in Hosea, describing Gomer's pregnancies, such as,

So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she CONCEIVED and bore him a son.
Hosea 1:3

The word can also be used figuratively.  For instance, Hosea uses Gomer's unfaithfulness as a condemnation for the iniquities of G-d's people:

For their mother has played the harlot; she who CONCEIVED them has behaved shamefully.  For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink.'
Hosea 1:5

HARAH is used figuratively also in Job 15:35, Psalm 7:14, and Isaiah 59:4, where mischief is conceived.  In Isaiah 59:13, words are conceived.  And then there is this in Isaiah 33:11:

You shall CONCEIVE chaff, you shall bring forth stubble; your breath, as fire, shall devour you.

The Hebrew word behind "have a son" is YALAD (יָלַד), a verb that is used nearly 500 times, many of them in conjunction with HARAH, as in Job 15:35, Psalm 7:14, Isaiah 33:11, Isaiah 59:4, among other references.  YALAD gets translated as "to bear (offspring)", "to bring forth", "to give birth", and "to have a son", as it does in Judges 13.  It also means "beget".  So all that begetting in your King James Bible are YALAD.

YALAD is also the word used for "midwife" every time the word appears (for example, Genesis 35:17, Genesis 38:28, Exodus 1:16, Exodus 1:21).  YALAD gives birth to other forms (see what we did there?), such as the noun YELED (יֶלֶד), meaning boy, child, or youth.  It's used 89 times in the Text.  The feminine form is YALDAH, meaning girl or maiden, but it's found only three times.  YALDUTH (יַלְדוּת) is the plural form, and it also is used three times.  For instance, it's applied to Joseph when his brothers have dragged him from the pit and sold him into slavery.

Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph was not in the pit; and he tore his clothes.  And he returned to his brothers and said, "THE LAD (YELED) is no more; and I, where shall I go?"
Genesis 37:29-30

YELED is used eight times in Exodus 2 when describing Moshe.  In Daniel 1, the word is used five times for the youths of Judah who are led into captivity to Babylon.  Zechariah uses both YELED and YALDAH:

The streets of the city shall be full of BOYS and GIRLS playing in its streets.'
Zechariah 8:5

The Messianic Psalm 110 uses the plural YALDUTH:

Your people shall be volunteers In the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your YOUTH.
Psalm 110:3

Yes, "youth" is plural in that verse: YALDUTH.  Does it give off a different slant when you read "youth" as "youths"?

HARAH and YALAD are significant words in the cycle of life.  Their appearance in Scripture marks the beginning of a new cycle, particularly when conception and birth are miraculous, as Samson's is.  Miraculous or unexpected conceptions and births are signs placed in the Text to grab our attention to something big the LORD is doing.  This verse is usually read around Christmas, rather than Passover or Easter.  Nevertheless, it fits the theme.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: the virgin will CONCEIVE and GIVE BIRTH to a son, and will call him Immanuel.
Isaiah 7:14

And we can all echo Butterfly McQueen's Prissy and say, "We don't know nothing about birthing" that miracle Baby.  And yet we rejoice, as we do in all births.

Bible Geek Word Nerd – Samson – TAME / TAHOR

Mr. Clean

I love old advertisements that have staying power.  Mr. Clean, from consumer goods behemoth Proctor & Gamble, has been around since 1957, when he was introduced as the company's mascot by advertising agency, Tatham-Laird & Kudner.  In the beginning, there was even a jingle (all advertising have jingles).  How does Mr. Clean fit into Samson's story?  Well, we are glad you asked! 

We have been looking at the tragic life of the Biblical Judge, Samson.  Not only are the object lessons plentiful and familiar in his story, but there are also remarkable insights to draw from some Hebrew words that underlie the Text.

We have been unpacking some of the terms in this verse from 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

We have thus far explored eating (AKHAL), drinking (SATHAH), wine (YAYIN), and fermented drink (SHEKHAR).  Today, let’s look at “unclean”, which comes from the Hebrew word TAME (טָמֵא), pronounced, “TAH-MAY”.

TAME – and words that derive from it – occurs 124 times in the Hebrew Bible, first in Leviticus 5:

If anyone becomes aware that they are guilty – if they unwittingly touch anything ceremonially UNCLEAN (whether the carcass of an unclean animal, wild or domestic, or of any UNCLEAN creature that moves along the ground) and they are unaware that they have become UNCLEAN, but then they come to realise their guilt; or if they touch human UNCLEANNESS (anything that would make them UNCLEAN) even though they are unaware of it, but then they learn of it and realise their guilt…

Its opposite is expressed with the Hebrew word TAHOR (טָהוֹר), which is usually translated as clean or pure, a word that appears 188 times in the Text.

So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, ‘Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and PURIFY yourselves and change your clothes.
Gen 35:2

 Saul said nothing that day, for he thought, ‘Something must have happened to David to make him ceremonially UNCLEAN – surely he is UNCLEAN.’  (in both uses, the Hebrew Test says “not clean”)
1 Samuel 20:26

The majority of the uses of TAME relate to ritual purity.  Anyone – such as a Priest – who approaches the LORD in the Tabernacle or the Temple must be TAHOR, or must not be TAME.

Neither word is necessarily pejorative.  There is not usually guilt associated with the terms.  For instance, when a person touches a corpse, they are ceremonially unclean.  When a woman is menstruating or has just given birth, she is unclean.  If someone is bleeding, they are unclean, as is anyone who comes in contact with her.  TAME and TAHOR do not typically have a moral connotation, but rather a technical, ceremonial one. 

Tim Mackie, one of the founders of The Bible Project, uses a helpful analogy to explain it.  In the operating room of a hospital, everyone and everything must be in a clean state.  The medical staff wears clean OR scrubs and gloves to maintain the cleanness of the room.  Instruments are sterilized to ensure they are clean.  Someone who is not clean – not washing his hands or not wearing OR scrubs  – does not belong in the OR.

This ritual aspect adds texture to many stories from the Gospels.

In the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Levite and the Priest usually get grief for ignoring the near-dead traveler on the road.  Neither was willing to risk his ritual purity by approaching a corpse.  Jesus, on the other hand, elevated compassion over TAHOR and TAME by making the disfavored Samaritan the hero of the parable.  The Samaritan did not regard his state of purity above the well-being of his fellow man.

TAHOR and TAME interplay throughout the Gospels as Jesus interacts with and touches ritually impure people: Gentiles, tax collectors, lepers, and others.  A well-known story is about a woman who has been bleeding for years.  Her bleeding put her in a state of TAME.  And anyone who touched her would also be TAME.  Imagine the isolation that must have been her lot in life.  Her own family could not be near her without taking on her impurity.  Told in three of the Gospels, here is the version from Matthew:

Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak.  She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.”  Jesus turned and saw her.  “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.”  And the woman was healed at that moment.
Matthew 9:20-22

Why did the Messiah’s close contact with the unclean and impure not make Jesus unclean?  I think the answer is found in Leviticus, in the instructions for the Sin Offering.

Whatever touches any of the flesh will become holy
Leviticus 6:27

Jesus is the Perfect Sin Offering, and anyone who touches him becomes Holy by that touch.  We are made TAHOR (pure) by our embrace of the Risen Messiah.  Jesus is the real Mr. Clean.  Blessed be His Name.

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).