RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Wine, Hebrew Winer
i. 12); and afterward it was transferred to other vessels. Before drinking, it had still to be strained through a cloth for purification (Isa. xxv. 6; Matt. xxiii. 24).
Besides the wine, the dried grapes were and still are much esteemed (Num. vi. 3). The so-called raisin cakes (zimmukim) of the Old Testament are not a product of the baker’s art, but dried grapes pressed in the form of a cake (I Sam. xxv. 18, xxx. 12; I Chron. xii. 40); with these may be compared the modern apricot cakes of Damascus, thin cakes of the crushed and sun-dried mass of apricots, that can be rolled like flexible leather. The other word for raisin cakes, ashishah, probably denotes baked cakes of dough, containing raisins (II Sam. vi. 19; I Chron. xvi. 3).
The use of wine was quite general; it belonged to the list of indispensable provisions (Judges xix. 19; I Sam. xvi. 20, xxv. 18). It rejoices the heart of
man, even of God (Judges ix. 13; Ps.
5. Use of civ. 15; Ecclus. xxxi. 27, 28). Hence
Wine. it was not to be lacking as a drink offering on God’s table. The vice of drunkenness was not unknown to the ancient Israelites, as is shown by the often quite caustic descriptions of the prophets (Isa. xix. 14, xxviii. 7 sqq.). Only the Rechabites and Nazirites drank no wine, and it was forbidden the priests during the time of ministration (Lev. x. 8sqq.). It was drunk undiluted; addition of water was deemed a deterioration (Isa. i. 22). It was only in later times, under the influence of Greek and Roman manners, that the usage of mixing it with water came into vogue (II Macc. xv. 39). Yet the addition of spices was favored (Ps. Ixxv. 8; Cant. viii. 2; Isa. Ixv. 11), such as myrrh, honey, frankincense (cf. III Mace. v. 2), oil of roses, wormwood, pepper, etc. Wine mingled with myrrh was employed as a narcotic (Mark xv. 23); while as a milder sort of intoxicant it was a favorite beverage of women among the Greeks and Romans. The use of such spiced wine in the sanctuary service was not allowed.
Artificial wines (shekhar, see below; cf. Deut.
xxix. 6; Judges xiii. 4 sqq.; I Sam. i. 15), which were drunk among the ancient Israel- 6. Artificial ites, are not to be defined with much
4. Dried Grapes.
Wines. certainty apart from the general meaning of the word shekhar, ‘‘ intoxicating drinks.’ Even Jerome was not sure what drinks
were indicated by the term. In Cant. vii. 2, a drink from pomegranates is mentioned along with spiced wine. The rabbis use the term to designate Egyptian beer (zythos), brewed of barley, saffron, and salt, and also the Median barley liquor. They also mention cider and mead. Owing to the active commerce with Egypt, possibly zythos was known even in ancient times; at all events, this is true of palm wine, which was pressed from the pulp of ripe dates, and so drunk throughout the early orient. Artificial wine was forbidden in the sanctuary service.
From wine and shekhar, vinegar (homez) was prepared; and this was also forbidden to the Nazirites (Num. vi. 3), though else enjoyed, when diluted with water, as a refreshing and thirst-quenching drink, at least by the humbler people (Ruth ii, 14;
‘Mark xv. 36; on the other hand, cf. Ps. Ixix. 21). The same was true among the Romans, where essica was the usual beverage of slaves and soldiers, just as it still nowadays is in the East.
I. BENZINGER.
Brsiiocraruy: A. Henderson, Hist. of Ancient and Modern Wines,; ..ondon, 1824; A. M. Wilson, The Wines of the Bible, ib. 1877; C. H. Fowler, The Wine of the Bible, New York, 1878; H. B. Tristram, Natural Hist. of the Bible, 5th ed., London, 1880; Anderlind, in ZDPV, xi (1888), 160 sqq.; Benzinger, Archdologie, pp. 71-72, 143 et passim; G. M. Mackie, Bible Manners and Customs, Edinburgh, 1898; V. Hehn, Kulturpflanzen und Haustiere, 7th ed., Berlin, 1902; W. Ebstein, Die Medizin im Neuen Testament und im Talmud, i. 36, 167, ii. 250, Stuttgart, 1903; DB, ii. 33-34; iv. 868-870; HB, iv. 5306-22; J#, xii. 532-535.