THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
re De
WINE, HEBREW.
Names (§ 1).
Cultivation of the Vine (§ 2). The usual designation for fermented grape juice is yayin, a loan-word in the Hebrew, corresponding to Greek oinos and Latin vinum; tirosh is used to denote the newly extracted grape juice 1. Names (Lat. mustum; cf. Mic. vi. 15) and also the juice yet contained in the cluster (Isa. lxv. 8). There is, however, no special emphasis herein upon the distinction “not yet fermented,” since in the orient fermentation begins very quickly after the pressing, and even the tirosh is accredited with intoxicating effects (Hos. iv. 11; ef. Deut. xi. 17, xviii. 4). Less frequent terms are hemer (Deut. xxxil. 14), aram, hemra (Hzra vi. 9, ete.). Poetical forms are ‘asis, sobhe, etc. On the other hand, mesekh and mimsakh denote mixed wine (see below) ; while shekhar comprehensively applies to all intoxi-
cating drinks (cf. shikari, in the Amarna Tablets). Both by climate and by the character of its soil Palestine is adapted to vine-growing. Indeed the vine has been cultivated there from 2. Cultiva- high antiquity (Gen. xiv. 18, xix. 32 tion of the sqq., xxxvil. 25). In the Old Testa- Vine. ment, vineyards and the vine invariably betoken the fruitfulness of the promised land (Deut. vi. 11, viii. 8, 1. 14, etc.). And the vine is nearly everywhere grown, both on the hills and in the plains, and in the valley of the Jordan (I Kings xxi. 1; Cant. i. 14, viii. 11; Hos. xiv. 7; Isa. v. 1; Jer. xxxi. 5; Josephus, War, III., x. 8). Eastward of the Jordan the Moabites, Ammonites, Amorites, and the inhabitants of Auranitis had vineyards in early times (Num. xxi. 22, xxxii. 24; Judges xi. 33; Isa. xvi. 8). In the later Jewish period the vine appears as an emblem on coins. For the messianic times, in turn, the prophet announces that the mountains shall flow with new wine (Amos ix. 13; Joel iii. 18, etc.). After the Moslem conquest the culture of the vine was some-~ what retarded, but it is once again assuming importance. The vine largely runs wild in the ridges of central and northern Syria, and in Palestine the wild vine was known, bearing sourly astringent grapes (Isa. v. 2; Jer. ii. 21). The species now in cultivation bear mostly white oblong fruit. Clusters from twelve to fifteen inches long and weighing from two to three pounds are no rarity. While the species of vines planted in antiquity can not be positively identified, generally they appear to have been the black and purplish sorts whose juice is described as red “blood of the grape’’ and also typifies the blood, as in the Eucharist (Gen. xlix. 11; Deut. xxxil. 14; Isa. lxii. 2 sqq.; I Mace. vi. 34; Matt. xxvi. 27 sqq.; Rev. xiv. 19 sqq., etc.). The vine termed sorek appears to have been a noble variety (Isa. v. 2, xvi. 8; Jer. ii. 21), according to Kimchi a grape with small, seedless, white fruit. The Israelites borrowed viticulture from the Canaanites. Like the cultivation of figs and olives (see Frui1-Trrns IN THE OLD TESTAMENT), it is everywhere the token of a higher civilization; hence the Greeks manifest much discernment in referring the intellectual and material culture of their country to the introduc-
Making of Wine (§ 3). Dried Grapes (§ 4).
Use of Wine (§ 5).
Artificial Wines (§ 6).
tion of vine- and olive-growing. Conversely, as among the Rechabites, antagonism to viticulture found expression in the particular fact that they abstained as a matter of principle from the enjoyment of wine. The cultivation of the vine requires much labor (Isd. v. 1 sqq.); and whoever plants a vineyard is to be sure that the field remain even for decades in the family possession, because only then is the cultivation remunerative. The preparation of the land exacted much toil. Along hillsides, the land had to be reclaimed by wearisome terrace cultivation, and the soil secured from erosion. Then
‘the ground was to be cleared of stones, the plot sur-
rounded with a wall or hedge (Ex. xxii. 5; Ps. Ixxx. 14; Jer. xii. 10; Cant. ii. 15, etc.), and stone watch-towers, together with a booth or hut, had to be built for the vintners at the ripening season (Isa. i. 8, v. 1 sqq.). Lastly, a wine-press had to be hewn out in the rock (see below). Equally wearisome was the work of maintenance (Prov. xxiv. 30 sqq.); twice or thrice a year the vineyard needed to be plowed or hoed, that the soil might stay constantly mellow (Isa. v. 2, 6, vii. 25); weeds were to be removed, and large stones picked out again and again. The vines were carefully pruned, and rank shoots cut away (Lev. xxv. 3 sqq.; Isa. 1.4). The plants were either allowed to trail along the ground (Isa. xvi. 8; Ezek. xvii. 6), or trained up to stakes or trees (Isa. vii. 23; Ps. lxxx. 11), whence the phrase “‘dwelling beneath the vine”’ (I Kings iv. 25; Mic. iv. 4). The time when grapes ripen varies with local conditions; in the district of Tiberias and in the valley of the Jordan, some kinds are ripe in June; in the coast plain, the vintage season
3. Making occurs about the middle of August; in of Wine. the mountainous country, during September. This was ever a joyful season
(Isa. xvi. 10; Jer. xxv. 30). Then it was that the Canaanites celebrated their great harvest festival (Judges ix. 27), the Israelites their Feast of Tabernacles; and both these feasts, besides their special features, bear the stamp of a harvest thanksgiving (ef. I Sam. 1. 1-18; the threatened curses in Deut. xxvill. 30, 51; Amos v. 21).- The wine-press (gath) was hewn from the rock in the vineyard itself. It consisted of two round or angular basins. The upper one was as much as thirteen feet wide, but only from seven to twelve inches deep. In this the grapes were trodden or pressed with stones (cf. Isa. xvi. 10; Jer. xxv. 30). The second, rather lower basin, was of smaller area, but about three feet in depth. This was the receiving basin (yekebh; Num. xvill. 27; Deut. xv. 14). Sometimes there was still a third basin, receiving the flow of partially clarified new wine from the vat (for drawings of existing wine-presses cf. ZDPV, vol. x., plates 5 and 7). From the vats the wine was dipped into leather bottles or earthen jars (Josh. ix. 18; Jer. xiii. 12). There it was allowed to ferment, and this process began within from six to twelve hours after the pressing. Next the wine remained settling for some time on the lees (Isa. xxv. 6; Jer. xlviil. 11; Zeph.